Eurovision: Rylan praised for addressing Israel controversy as they reach final

Rylan Clark was praised by Eurovision viewers following Tuesday's semi-final after he directly addressed the controversy around Israel's participation in the song contest. This year a string of countries have boycotted the competition after it was announced Israel would continue to take part. Israel's Eurovision singer Noam Bettan was booed by pro-Palestine supporters during his performance but still qualified during the competition's first semi-final on Tuesday. It was bad luck for British star Boy George, however, who appeared as a guest performer on San Marino's entry, which failed to survive the vote. The show featured 15 performers all competing to qualify for Saturday's final including Sweden, Croatia and current favourites, Finland. Israel sailed through to the final of the competition, with the lovestruck pop song Michelle, performed by 28-year-old Bettan.