Candidates for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 (ESC) in Malmö, Sweden have been finalized about two months before the competition. Co-hosts Sweden and Portugal chose their entries at the weekend. The host nations gain automatic entry into the final contest on May 11. The so-called “Big Five” nations – Germany, Britain, Spain, France and Italy – are also guaranteed a place in the final because of their ESC sponsorship. While the ESC is a self-proclaimed “apolitical” event, the attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas and others and the subsequent war in Gaza is affecting the co…