Look Mum No Computer to perform in Eurovision final amid boycott over Israel
The UK’s Eurovision entrant Look Mum No Computer is to perform in the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday, alongside Israel’s Noam Bettan, after the country’s inclusion in the competition prompted a boycott by five nations.
Look Mum No Computer, whose real name is Sam Battle, will perform on Saturday at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria, having sung in Thursday’s semi-final despite already qualifying as one of the big four alongside France, Italy and Germany, who contribute the most to Eurovision financially.
Austria’s entrant, Cosmo, also received automatic qualification as the host nation, after Austria’s JJ won the 2025 contest with his song Wasted Love.
Battle, who will perform 14th in the running order at the final, is best known for his YouTube career, which began in 2013.
He makes his own quirky musical instruments, including an organ from Furby toys and a triple oscillator synthesiser made out of Nintendo Game Boy consoles.
Israeli entrant Bettan, 28, was booed by the crowd during his performance in Tuesday’s semi-final. He will perform third in Saturday’s event.
Bettan received a mixed reception from the crowd before his performance began, with some members of the audience shouting, and later booing, during the quiet moments of his song Michelle.
There were a number of protests in the Austrian capital this week over Israel’s inclusion in the contest amid its actions in Gaza. Ireland, Iceland, the Netherlands, Spain and Slovenia have boycotted the event.
The largest protest was the No Stage For Genocide event, organised by Palestine Solidarity Austria, which took place at Venediger Au, a playpark on the outskirts of Vienna, which was attended by hundreds of supporters.
Marco Wanjura, part of the team organising the event, told the Press Association: “The European Song Contest claims to stand for solidarity, love, diversity, and everything, but in reality, this year’s contest is hosting Israel as a country which is right now committing a genocide in Gaza.
“And that’s why we wanted to show that the majority in Austria is actually against that.”
Earlier this week, human rights group Amnesty International criticised the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) for its failure to suspend Israel from the song contest, as it did with Russia after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, calling it an act of “cowardice” and a “blatant double standard”.
Israel’s 2025 entrant Yuval Raphael received the largest number of votes from the public last May, ultimately finishing runner-up to JJ after the jury votes were taken into account.
Two protesters unsuccessfully attempted to storm the stage and throw paint during her performance last year.
Look Mum No Computer will not be the only British-born performer in the final. Former Love Island contestant Antigoni, full name Antigoni Buxton, will perform her song Jalla for Cyprus.
Antigoni competed in the eighth series of the reality TV show in 2022.
Veteran British pop star Boy George was also involved in the competition, but was eliminated in the first semi-final on Tuesday, having joined San Marino’s entrant Senhit to perform the song Superstar, which he co-wrote.
Another famous face for British audiences will be Australia’s entrant, former Neighbours star Delta Goodrem, who will sing her song Eclipse. She had top 10 hits in the UK with songs including Lost Without You, Born To Try and Innocent Eyes.
During Goodrem’s eye-catching performance she is lifted into the air from the top of a golden piano, while quirky acts will include Greece’s Akylas, whose performance of Ferto will feature video game-inspired staging during which he travels through a tunnel and eventually ends up in a tiger-print house.
Romania’s Alexandra Capitanescu will draw attention with her performance of pop metal song Choke Me, during which she sings while attached to her band via illuminated wires; and Lithuania’s Lion Ceccah, who begins his performance painted silver in a grim reaper-style costume.
The final will open with a performance from last year’s winner JJ, and there will also be a medley of classic Eurovision songs to celebrate the competition’s 70th anniversary.
The competing countries in the grand final will be Albania, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Sweden, Ukraine and the UK.
The Eurovision Song Contest grand final will take place on Saturday at 8pm.
Published: by Radio NewsHub