The 70th Eurovision Song Contest holds its Grand Final at Vienna's Wiener Stadthalle Saturday May 16 at 21:00 CEST — eleven days out, with the running order locking after the second semifinal Thursday May 14 [1]. Austria, the host nation and defending champion, has been drawn into the closing performance slot — the host's traditional last-on-stage position, set this year by Auri, the contest mascot [2].

The paper carried Eurovision's collision with the Iran war and eurozone inflation Monday — the Belgian VRT walkout over Israel's continued participation, the eurozone's 3.0% Q1 inflation print with energy up 11% [3]. Tuesday's read is the production register: Victoria Swarovski and Michael Ostrowski front the night, with Emily Busvine working the green room. The Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra opens the flag parade. JJ, last year's winner, returns to perform The Queen of the Night [4].

Austria competes with Tanzschein, written by Benjamin Gedeon, Elias Stejskal, and Ella Stern, and performed by Gedeon under his stage name Cosmó. Twenty-five countries reach the final after the two semifinals — May 12 and May 14 — with the Big Five (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom) plus host Austria pre-qualified [1]. Eurovisionworld's odds keep Finland the favorite at roughly 31%, with Sweden, Romania, and Israel inside the top six.

The interval act stitches together Lordi, Verka Serduchka, Il Volo and Erika Vikman in a 70th-anniversary tribute set [4]. The contest's tagline — "United By Music" — runs against an EBU that has spent the cycle litigating which kinds of unity it can afford in a year of war and broadcaster boycotts.

The post-JJ-victory Eurovision is the first into the war-energy register. Austria's closing slot is the staging-floor answer.

-- CAMILLE BEAUMONT, Los Angeles