By Elisa Bray

Copyright thejc

British former Eurovision winner Jay Aston has lamented how the competition has been “drawn into politics” after Spain threatened to pull out if Israel takes part next year, and urged participating countries to “build bridges” instead. Aston – who triumphed at the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest as a member of Bucks Fizz with the track “Making Your Mind Up” – said of the planned boycott: “It is a shame, because Eurovision is meant to be about building bridges and bringing huge amounts of people together to celebrate music and vote.” Speaking on GB News, the singer said: “I hope we can find peace between now and Eurovision next year, and they can release the hostages, and we can have a peaceful solution there.” She also noted there was a “form of democracy” in the competition because the public vote can have a dramatic effect on the leaderboard following the judges’ vote. “Last year Israel actually got a huge vote,” she said, referring to Nova survivor Yuval Raphael’s second-place position in the most recent contest. “Reflecting on the ongoing war, she said: “I know it must be really hard; the situation is horrendous, obviously, in Gaza, but it was also on October 7 for Israel … It is a shame that Eurovision seems to always just get drawn into politics.” Aston also recalled how the IRA threatened Bucks Fizz when they represented the UK at the contest during the Troubles, and their need for armed guards and multiple vehicles to reach the venue safely. She added: “Each country has their choice. They can decide to withdraw, that’s their democratic right. I do think it’s a shame, because the whole point of Eurovision is to build bridges and it’s about music. I really think it’s a shame that politics gets brought into it, but it does, and it probably will.” This week, Spain’s national broadcaster RTVE announced that it would boycott Eurovision 2026 if Israel competes, making it the fifth country to adopt this position, after the Netherlands, Ireland, Slovenia and Iceland. The announcement came days after Spain’s culture minister Ernest Urtasun wrote on social media site Bluesky: “Spain must do everything possible to ensure that Israel is not included in Eurovision. And if Europe fails to rise to the occasion, our country must act accordingly.” Spain is the first of the “Big Five” countries – also comprising the UK, France, Italy and Germany, so-named because they contribute the most financially, and therefore always have a direct pass to the final – to adopt this position. Aston said she hoped that the UK would remain in the contest, and that the competition could continue as normal: “I hope the competition carries on and that we don’t have five or six different countries pull out, because it will be half a competition. “I hope Eurovision remains. [Bucks Fizz have] been working for 40-odd years now because we had that amazing platform with “Making Your Mind Up” and we’re still working today off the back of it. So, for the artists’ sake and the countries’ sake, it’s an important competition.”