And so it is Switzerland’s turn to test the slogan 'United By Music'.The words have been adopted by Eurovision to spell out what the competition strives for. And in so many ways it works.

37 countries send their choice of musicians to the location of the previous year’s winner. The TV audience is huge, 163 million last year.

It is quite an achievement that an endeavour created post-war to unite European countries is now the world’s largest televised music event.

Having covered the event several times, there is genuine joy among fans and, for the most part, the contestants too.

I will never forget the scenes in Liverpool in 2023, the city standing in for war-torn Ukraine. It was glorious, perhaps the best Eurovision ever in my experience.

But last year, the slogan came under pressure because of the involvement of Israel in the competition.

It meant big protests in the days leading up to the competition, with the contestant Eden Golan largely spending the week holed up in a hotel with her team.

When I went there to speak to her, I found her playing table tennis with a security guard, while the other contestants were partying at the many pre-Eurovision events.

In the past year, opposition to the war in Gaza has ramped up, and so has opposition to Israel’s place in the competition.

70 previous contestants have written to the European Broadcasting Union, which runs Eurovision, asking for Israel to be banned. They want the same action to be taken as when Russia invaded Ukraine.

Some broadcasters are asking for an open debate about Israel’s inclusion. Meanwhile, organisers say this is a competition between qualifying broadcasters, not governments.

Already during one Eurovision event in Basel this week, the Israeli contestant Yuval Raphael faced protests on the street.

She has already said that she and the Israeli team expected to be booed during their performances.

What could be an uncomfortable week for Yuval Raphael is well underway.

She is a survivor of the Hamas attacks at the Nova Festival on October 7, hiding under the bodies of her fellow festival goers for hours.

This horrific experience spurred her on to pursue her music afterwards. For her, music has given her a vehicle to shut out the noise.

Protests have already taken place on the streets of Basel, albeit silent ones. Police in Switzerland expect there to be more before and during the competition.

As always, the Eurovision crowd will bring their colour and atmosphere. Usually, there are lots of flags, however, the rules have been tightened this year.

Performers can only display the flag of the country they are representing. This includes pro-Palestinian and LGBT flags.

That this ban on stage also includes Pride flags is being seen as a slap in the face for the LGBTQ+ communities, who are traditionally massive Eurovision fans.

Restrictions for audience members have been loosened – they can now wave any flag legal under Swiss law, including Palestinian flags and all iterations of LGBTQ+ flags.

Basel is ready. The audience is always ready. Some of the songs are good.

The stage will be fantastic as always. Controlling what’s offstage will once more be the challenge.