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Eurovision Host Austria Backs Israel’s Participation, Aims to Stage Record Event

A view of the main hall of Wiener Stadthalle the venue of next year's Eurovision Song Contest, in Vienna, Austria, November 18, 2025. (Reuters)
A view of the main hall of Wiener Stadthalle the venue of next year's Eurovision Song Contest, in Vienna, Austria, November 18, 2025. (Reuters)
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Eurovision Host Austria Backs Israel’s Participation, Aims to Stage Record Event

A view of the main hall of Wiener Stadthalle the venue of next year's Eurovision Song Contest, in Vienna, Austria, November 18, 2025. (Reuters)
A view of the main hall of Wiener Stadthalle the venue of next year's Eurovision Song Contest, in Vienna, Austria, November 18, 2025. (Reuters)

Austrian national broadcaster ORF, which will host next year's Eurovision Song Contest, said it wants Israel to take part despite several countries' objections and hopes it can host the biggest event in years despite boycott threats.

Eurovision, an annual feast of pop music and high camp from around Europe and as far afield as Australia, became embroiled in a dispute over the war in Gaza in 2025 and 2024 and was hit by street protests over Israel's participation.

The national broadcasters of five countries - the Netherlands, Slovenia, Iceland, Ireland and Spain - have called for Israel to be excluded from the contest over the number of civilians killed during Israel's war against Hamas.

Those broadcasters have said they will boycott the 70th song contest in Vienna or consider not taking part if Israel does.

"Now is the time for diplomacy," ORF Director General Roland Weissmann told a press conference when asked about talks ahead of next month's annual meeting of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), at which the issue will be discussed and potentially voted on.

The EBU is an alliance of public broadcasters that organizes and co-produces the annual event.

"We have used the time wisely, we have held diplomatic talks behind the scenes, and I am very, very optimistic that we will have a record number of participating broadcasters," he added.

Austria and Germany are among Israel's staunchest allies in the European Union, on account of their historical atonement for the Nazi Holocaust. They hope a US-brokered ceasefire that took effect in Gaza on October 10 will soften opposition to Israel taking part.

Hamas-led fighters took 251 hostages during the October 7 attacks on southern Israel and killed another 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed nearly 69,000 Palestinians, health officials in the enclave say.

Three countries' broadcasters are likely to rejoin the song contest next year, organizers said: Romania, Bulgaria and Moldova. They withdrew over costs. Canada has also been reportedly considering joining, which would make it the Americas' first participant.

Asked if Canada should join, Weissmann said: "Hurrah, hurrah, Canada! Yes, of course. Everyone is welcome. We are happy to host the world."

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Entertainment

In Hollywood, AI's No Match for Creativity, Say Top Executives

US filmmaker Steven Spielberg says he has never used AI in his award-winning films, and he doesn't support AI if it takes work from creatives. Jean Baptiste Lacroix / AFP
US filmmaker Steven Spielberg says he has never used AI in his award-winning films, and he doesn't support AI if it takes work from creatives. Jean Baptiste Lacroix / AFP
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In Hollywood, AI's No Match for Creativity, Say Top Executives

US filmmaker Steven Spielberg says he has never used AI in his award-winning films, and he doesn't support AI if it takes work from creatives. Jean Baptiste Lacroix / AFP
US filmmaker Steven Spielberg says he has never used AI in his award-winning films, and he doesn't support AI if it takes work from creatives. Jean Baptiste Lacroix / AFP

Artificial intelligence is transforming Hollywood at a pace that has sent shockwaves through creative industries, but human creativity will always prevail, a leading executive at the cutting edge of that change told AFP.

The disruption was a dominant theme at this week's South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas where veteran director Steven Spielberg made clear he was drawing a line in the sand.

"I've never used AI on any of my films yet. We have a writer's room. All the seats are occupied," Spielberg said. "I am not for AI if it replaces a creative individual."

Joshua Davies, chief innovation officer of Artlist -- an AI video platform that has most recently been positioning itself as a supplier of creative tools to filmmakers -- told AFP the technology would never eclipse the human creative.

If given the choice between something made using an AI told by a techie and a creative, "I know which one I would rather watch at the end," said Davies, who founded video editing software company FXhome before it was acquired by Artlist in 2021.

Davies acknowledged the industry's anxiety was not unfounded, with new video models having "struck fear in the hearts of everybody" -- not just over copyright and personality infringement, but over the fundamental question of how film and television production will look in a matter of years.

"If I was bringing out an Iron Man movie in 2027, 2028 -- would I be going to multiple visual effects houses, would I expect them to be utilizing AI? We're all kind of working out our way through that," he said.

Davies described the platform's AI video tools as a way to "fill in the bits that you can't shoot, or didn't shoot, or you don't have the budget to shoot," rather than a wholesale substitution for going out on location.

- 'Holy grail' -

Yet the timing is charged. Editors, visual effects artists and other Hollywood professions have watched the rapid advance of generative AI with alarm, fearing that tools capable of producing broadcast-quality footage at a fraction of traditional costs could hollow out entire job categories.

Major studios are actively evaluating how AI can be integrated into production pipelines, foreshadowing significant workforce changes across an industry that has already endured a bruising period following the covid pandemic and writers' and actors' strikes of 2023.

Artlist made headlines in February when it produced a Super Bowl LX spot in under five days using its own products, at a fraction of the multi-million-dollar cost typical of Big Game advertising.

Davies was keen to push back on the narrative that the ad represented the future of production without human involvement.

That wasn't what it was, he said. It was creatives "using the tool to get the very best out of it."

A self-described "techie guy," Davies said the platform's current obsession is on giving creators nuanced control over creating or editing footage -- something he described as the company's "holy grail."

Existing models, he said, handle simple static shots reasonably well but struggle with complex camera movements and consistent performance across multiple takes.

You can prompt an elaborate shot, but for now "you'll get something random" that you can't work with.

On cost, Davies cautioned against unrealistic expectations, suggesting AI would reduce production expenses significantly but not eliminate them.

Davies said his long-term hope was that AI would serve as a leveling force for independent filmmakers and content creators who currently lack the budgets to realize their ambitions.

"There are definitely YouTubers who make some of the best action work out there on no budget," he said.

"AI will level that playing field completely -- the story will be what matters."

He struck a cautiously optimistic note on the creative industry's direction, dismissing the most dystopian predictions.

"The idea that no one works at the end of it is the bit that doesn't hold any water with me," he said.

"There's been more and more of everything, not less and less -- and the cream rises to the top anyway, because the human element is what we crave."

Entertainment

BTS Say They’re ‘Just Country Kids’ Ahead of Comeback Mega-Gig

People walk past a billboard promoting a comeback concert of K-pop boy group BTS at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul on March 17, 2026. (AFP)
People walk past a billboard promoting a comeback concert of K-pop boy group BTS at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul on March 17, 2026. (AFP)
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BTS Say They’re ‘Just Country Kids’ Ahead of Comeback Mega-Gig

People walk past a billboard promoting a comeback concert of K-pop boy group BTS at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul on March 17, 2026. (AFP)
People walk past a billboard promoting a comeback concert of K-pop boy group BTS at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul on March 17, 2026. (AFP)

K-pop megastars BTS still see themselves as "country kids from South Korea", according to a trailer for a new documentary released Tuesday ahead of their huge comeback concert this weekend.

More than a quarter of a million fans are expected to throng central Seoul on Saturday for BTS's open-air gig, the first performance in almost four years by the boy band seen as the biggest in the world.

A day before, the group's fifth studio album, "ARIRANG" -- named after a beloved folk song about longing and separation, something of an unofficial national anthem of South Korea -- will be released.

The documentary, "BTS: The RETURN", will be released on Netflix on March 27, chronicling the seven-member group's comeback after completing their military service, widely seen as a grueling experience for young conscripts.

"We are still just country kids from South Korea," the group's leader RM says in the trailer.

"We are trying to find out what makes us BTS," the 31-year-old added.

At the height of their fame prior to their hiatus, BTS frequently ranked among the most popular artists on music streaming platform Spotify, mixing with the likes of Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber.

After visiting the White House, releasing hugely successful English-language albums and performing at famous venues around the world, the group has chosen a historic stage at home for the grand comeback this weekend.

The concert will be staged at Seoul's sweeping Gwanghwamun Square, near the historic Gyeongbokgung Palace.

The area is also where many of South Korea's political protests have taken place, including those following former president Yoon Suk Yeol's declaration of martial law in December 2024.

The trailer featured the melody from "Arirang" the folk song, which is associated by many with themes of resilience and enduring longing.

"Arirang is a song imbued with han," an unidentified BTS member says in the trailer, referring to the Korean term for an unresolved grief rooted in the country's history, including war, division and family separation.

Entertainment

Oscar-Winner Sean Penn Skips Ceremony to Visit Kyiv

In this handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on March 16, 2026, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) meets with US actor Sean Penn (R) at his office in Kyiv, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Handout / Ukrainian Presidential Press Service / AFP)
In this handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on March 16, 2026, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) meets with US actor Sean Penn (R) at his office in Kyiv, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Handout / Ukrainian Presidential Press Service / AFP)
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Oscar-Winner Sean Penn Skips Ceremony to Visit Kyiv

In this handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on March 16, 2026, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) meets with US actor Sean Penn (R) at his office in Kyiv, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Handout / Ukrainian Presidential Press Service / AFP)
In this handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on March 16, 2026, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) meets with US actor Sean Penn (R) at his office in Kyiv, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Handout / Ukrainian Presidential Press Service / AFP)

Sean Penn, who won an Oscar for best supporting actor for "One Battle After Another" on Sunday, was in Ukraine on Monday where he met President Volodymyr Zelensky in a show of support for the war-torn country.

An AFP reporter saw the "Mystic River" star getting out of a black car in central Kyiv earlier Monday, wearing sunglasses and carrying a box of cigarettes.

Penn -- a vocal advocate for Ukraine who has visited the country several times -- on Sunday won his third acting Oscar but was not at the ceremony.

"We can say that he's in Ukraine, but it's his personal visit; that's how he sees it, that he needs to be in Ukraine," a senior Ukrainian official told AFP, adding: "He just wants to support Ukraine."

Penn -- who co-directed a 2023 documentary about Zelensky -- met the Ukrainian president on Monday.

"Sean, thanks to you, we know what a true friend of Ukraine is," Zelensky said on social media, posting a picture of the pair sat down in the president's office.

"You have stood with Ukraine since the first day of the full-scale war. This is still true today," Zelensky said.

In an interview with AFP in February, Zelensky listed "One Battle After Another", starring Penn, among his most recently watched movies and said he "liked it".

A second source told AFP that the actor was also "planning to go to the front" in eastern Ukraine.

The film Penn co-directed, an admiring portrait of Zelensky about his rise from comedian to war leader when Russia invaded in 2022, premiered at the Berlin film festival in 2023.

In 2025, Penn and rock star Bono made an impassioned plea at the Cannes film festival for the West to stand by Ukraine, posing for pictures on the red carpet with Ukrainian soldiers.