This year's competition has become embroiled in the deep divisions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Last year's winning performance by Israeli singer, Netta Barzilai, with her #MeToo-inspired song"Toy" - which included clucking sounds and chicken-like dance moves - secured her country the right to host this year's televised extravaganza.
Israeli 2018 Eurovision Song Contest winner Netta Barzilai, centre, presents a creation by Israeli designer Bananhot during the Tel Aviv Fashion Week on March 12 2019.Big-name rock stars including Pink Floyd's Roger Waters and British singer Peter Gabriel have unsuccessfully urged that it be relocated to another country.
"We Palestinian singers, songwriters, dancers, musicians and other artists urge all Eurovision 2019 finalists to withdraw from the contest," it said in a statement on its website. A Palestinian boy looks on near a graffiti boycotting Israel in Bethlehem, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on November 3 2018."The prestige and primetime global attention for Israel may prove too big a temptation for Hamas to ignore."Around 200 million people are expected to tune in for Saturday's finals, and to mark the occasion Tel Aviv is also brushing up its gay-friendly image.
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