VIENNA  –  The Eurovision Song Contest gets off to a tense start in Vienna on Tuesday with the first semi-final featuring Israel, whose attendance prompted five countries to boycott over the Gaza war, though an initial street protest was barely noticeable. The contest, traditionally a good-natured celebration of pop music and high camp now in its 70th year, has become mired in crisis over Israel’s military offensive in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023. The public broadcasters of five countries – Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Iceland and Slovenia – are boycotting this year’s event, making it the smallest since 2003 with 35 entries. That will also most likely reduce viewership ⁠from last year’s estimated 166 million, more than the Super Bowl’s 128 million.  The tension in the city was palpable ahead of the semi-final scheduled for 9 p.m. (1900 GMT), though a pro-Palestinian protest in the afternoon initially expected to involve around 500 people fizzled out, only drawing about 30.  “We won’t let ourselves be terrorised into silence,” Vienna Mayor Michael Ludwig of the Social Democrats said on Friday in an angry response to a small group of pro-Palestinian protesters who blew whistles at a concert he was speaking at. “Unfortunately we will need large security measures because of people like you, for example. That will incur great expense, but we will nevertheless hold a festival of togetherness, I can promise you that,” he said.  The joint head of Amnesty International Austria, Shoura Hashemi, said on X that Ludwig should apologise for his “unbearable, false, divisive” remarks aimed at peaceful protesters.  Austrian officialdom is strongly supportive of Israel, and pro-Palestinian protests are small. A handful of protests are planned this week, with attendance estimated at up to 3,000.