All you need to know about Eurovision before the grand finale.

The 69th Eurovision Song Festival is approaching the grand finale in the Swiss town of Basel.

Musicists from 26 countries will climb the St. Jacobshalle on Saturday, in a contest that has united and divided Europeans since 1956.

Here's all you need to know before the grand finale, held tonight at 9:00.

What's Eurovision?

Eurovision is a contest where performers from different European countries, and some beyond that, compete under national flags with the aim of proclaiming champions of the continent.

Think of Eurovision as the music Olympics or the World Cup singing instead of football.

It is a celebration of entertainment and unifying power of music, but also a country where regional politics and rivalry come out.

“is Europe's biggest cultural event”, said Dean Vuletiq, an expert on Eurovision history for the AP news agency.

The “has continued for almost 70 years and people want to see it, not only for the show, the glow, the effects of the stage, the crazy suits, but also because they see it as a reflection of the spirit of time in Europe”, he concluded.

Who's in the 2025 Eurovision final?

Out of 37 countries that submitted performances at Eurovision, 11 were eliminated from public voting in Tuesday and Thursday's semifinals.

Six others automatically qualified for the finals: the Swiss host and “The Great Pessica”, which contributes most financially to the competition -- France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom -- broadcasts the REL.

The 26 countries competing on Saturday, according to the performance order, are: Norway, Luxembourg, Estonia, Israel, Lithuania, Spain, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Austria, Iceland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Finland, Italy, Poland, Germany, Greece, Armenia, Switzerland, Malta, Portugal, Denmark, Sweden, France, San Marino and Albania.

The favourites, according to the bookmakers, are KAI, representing Sweden with “Bara Bada Bastu”, a cheerful watch for the sauna.

Dutch singer Claudee is also highly regarded with the spiritual ballad “CHest La Vie”, as well as representatives of Albania, the Electronic Shkodra, with the song “Zerm”.

Other factors include the classic Austrian JJ trained with pop-working song “Wested Love”, and Israeli Yuval Raphael with the “New Day Will Reese. ”

What is Eurovision music?

Eurovision has a reputation for Europop with meaningless text ʹ previous winners include songs “La, La” and “Boom Bang-a-Bang.”

But this festival has also produced several steady pop hits. And it helped build stars like ABBA winner in 1974 with “Waterloo” Celine Dion; Austriandrag performer Conchita Wurst; and Italian rock band, Maneski.

This year's finalists depend on the emo Lithuanian rockers, Kataris, the Spanish diva of powerful balloons, Melody, and progressive Ukrainian rockers, Ziferblat.

It was once widely believed that the most successful Eurovision songs were in English, but this is changing. This year's festival includes songs in a record 20 languages.

Vuletiq said that viewers today want “more authenticity in Eurovision presentations”.

“They don't just want a standard pop song in English,” he said. “They also want to see something about the culture of the country representing the” song.

How is the winner chosen?

After all the songs are played in the finals, the winner is selected through a complex combination of telephone and online voting from around the world and rankings by the jury of the music industry in each of the Eurovision countries. As the results are announced, countries go up and down to rank and tension increases.

The zero point conclusion is considered a national disgrace.

Is Eurovision a policy-free area?

The festival motto is “united by music”, but political divisions certainly impact.

Russia was banned after Ukraine's full invasion in 2022, and since then Ukrainian musicians included 2022 winner Calus Orchestra Have competed under the shadow of war at home.

This year's contest has been turbulent for the second year in a row by disagreements over Israel's participation.

Tens of former participants, including Nemo, have sought Israel's exclusion because of the country's behaviour in the fight against Hamas ʹthe Palestinian group declared a terrorist organisation by the US and the EU in Gaza.

Pro-Palestinian and pro-Israelese protests were held at Basel, though on a much smaller scale than last year's competition in Sweden.

A handful of protesters tried to stop a test by Israeli singer Raphael on Thursday with large flags and whistles, but were removed from the arena. Organisers say they have stepped up security measures before the final./Periscopi/