Spain, Slovenia, the Netherlands, Iceland and Ireland announced they will not take part in next year’s Eurovision in Vienna and, except in Iceland, their public broadcasters will not air the show, leaving about 74 million Europeans without home public service coverage after the European Broadcasting Union confirmed 35 participants and upheld Israel’s right to compete.Stefán Eiriksson of Iceland’s RÚV said Iceland still wants its audience to have commentators, and British Eurovision expert Paul Jordan warned of reduced sponsorship revenue while predicting many viewers from boycotting countries will watch on YouTube.The EBU and host broadcaster ORF say the contest will go ahead with new voting rules and stronger technical safeguards to curb coordinated voting; ORF executive producer Michael Krön said it looks forward to welcoming delegations, Martin Green noted returning countries, SVT’s Anne Lagercrantz lamented increased politicization, and the allocation draw is set for Jan 12 with semi-finals on May 12 and May 14 and the final on May 16 next year.