London: The host nation for next year’s Eurovision Song Contest has moved to save the event from a widening boycott over the inclusion of a singer from Israel, as the war in Gaza brings political heat to the world’s biggest song competition.

Austria, which is due to host the event in Vienna in May, implored European ministers to counter the boycott and keep politics out of the competition so it could remain a symbol of peace and unity through the arts.

But the appeal is unlikely to halt the protests from Eurovision fans and former contestants given the long history of political conflict matching the emotion and drama of the performances onstage.

In a step that highlighted the top-level fears for the event, Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger revealed she had written to her

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