Eurovision winner decided today. Sweden, Austria and France favourites

The 26 countries competing in today's final are, in order of performance: Norway, Luxembourg, Estonia, Israel, Lithuania, Spain, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Austria, Iceland, Latvia, Netherlands, Finland, Italy, Poland, Germany, Greece, Armenia, Switzerland, Malta, Portugal, Denmark, Sweden, France, San Marino and Albania.

According to the average of several bookmakers, calculated by the website eurovisionworld.com, which specializes in the contest, at 5:00 pm on Friday, the three favorites to win the contest this year are Sweden, Austria and France.

Sweden is represented by KAJ, a trio formed in Finland, which brings together singers and comedians Kevin Holmström, Axel Åhman and Jakob Norrgård.

The group performs the song 'Bara Bada Bastu' ('Go have a sauna', in a free translation into Portuguese), which is the first Swedish song that Sweden has competed with since 1998.

Representing Austria is Austrian-Filipino countertenor JJ, who participated in the Austrian TV talent show 'Starmania' and currently performs at the Vienna State Opera, having already participated in several productions.

In addition, the singer of the song 'Wasted Love' studies classical music at MUK -- the Private University of Music and Art in Vienna.

France is represented by Louane, the daughter of a Portuguese-Brazilian woman who died in 2014 due to cancer, when the singer was 17 years old, and to whom the song 'Maman' is dedicated, which the young Frenchwoman will perform on the Eurovision stage.

Louane Emera, 28, is also an actress, having been distinguished in 2015 with the César award (the 'French Oscars') for Newcomer Actress, for her role in 'The Bélier Family', by Eric Lartigau.

Like many other singers, Louane became famous in her country when she participated in the television talent show 'The Voice' in 2013. In 2016, she released her debut album, 'Chambre 12', which was the best-selling album in France that year.

The singer is scheduled to make her debut on Portuguese stages on April 16th next year, at LAV -- Lisboa ao Vivo.

The top 5 favourites to win this year's Eurovision are completed by the Netherlands, with the song 'C'est l'a vie', performed by Claude, and Finland, with 'Ich Komme' performed by Erika Vikman.

Portugal appears far from the podium. At 5pm on Friday, the Portuguese song "Deslocado", by Napa, appeared in 25th place.

The bookmakers' predictions are nothing more than predictions. This year, Portugal's progress to the final was not expected, with the country appearing among the five least voted in the first semi-final, according to the bookmakers. Against these expectations, Napa will take to the stage at St. Jakobshalle today.

The 69th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest began with 37 competing countries, but only 26 are in the final today.

Ten were chosen in the first semi-final on Tuesday, another ten in the second on Thursday, and there are six with direct entry to the final: the so-called 'Big5' (Germany, Spain, France, Italy and the United Kingdom) and the host country, Switzerland, winner of the contest last year.

This edition is being marked by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, similar to what happened in 2024, although this year has been calmer, according to reports from several media outlets that are following the competition in Basel.

Last year, in Malmö, Sweden, there were protests in the streets and inside the arena that hosted the contest, regarding Israel's participation, with its representative, Eden Golan, booed during several performances.

On Thursday afternoon, during the official rehearsal, six people were expelled from the St. Jakobshalle for "interrupting" the performance of the Israeli representative, Yuval Raphael, with boos and whistles.

According to the EFE agency, in the evening, the second semi-final took place without incident, with some almost inaudible boos at the beginning of the Israeli representative's performance.

A year ago, there were around 30,000 recorded deaths of Palestinians, caused by the Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip, a number that is currently around 53,000, the majority of whom are civilians, including many children.

Yuval Raphael is one of the survivors of the attack by the Islamist extremist group Hamas on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023, which caused around 1,200 deaths and more than two hundred hostages, and after which the current Israeli military offensive began.

Israel's presence in the contest this year was contested by artists who have already participated in the contest and by Spanish public television.

More than 70 musicians, including Salvador Sobral, António Calvário, Fernando Tordo, Lena D'Água and Paulo de Carvalho, appealed to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to exclude Israel's participation.

In an open letter, the signatories justify the appeal by saying that they consider Israeli television KAN "an accomplice in the genocide against Palestinians in Gaza."

The letter, published jointly by the non-governmental organization Artists For Palestine and the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement (BDS), is signed by singers, songwriters, musicians, dancers and choir members from several countries.

Spanish public television, RTVE, called for the "opening of a debate" on KAN's participation in the Eurovision song contest, in a letter addressed to the EBU.

RTVE's request came after petitions were launched in Finland in late March asking Finnish public broadcaster Yle to pressure the EBU to exclude Israel from the 2025 edition because of the war in Gaza.

Today's final can be watched live in Portugal, from 8pm, on RTP1, RTP Internacional and on the RTP Play platform.

Read Also: Where to watch? Which countries? And in what order? All about the Eurovision final