The contest is enduring the biggest boycott it has ever seen, but 2026 is far from its first year of controversy The contest is enduring the biggest boycott it has ever seen, but 2026 is far from its first year of controversy A song contest intended to promote European harmony and cultural exchange morphs into a battle over human rights. A boycott dominates headlines and polarises opinion. Performers with big hair proclaim art over politics. It could only be Eurovision . But the year was 1969,