STOCKHOLM (AP) – The Latest on the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest (all times local):
9 p.m.
The director of the TV alliance that produces the Eurovision Song Contest says the show’s message of unity is particularly significant at a time when Europe is seeing its internal borders returning.
European Broadcasting Union Director-General Ingrid Deltenre told The Associated Press before Saturday’s final that the togetherness the event brings is important for a continent in the midst of a refugee crisis and talk of Britain’s possible withdrawal from the European Union.
She says “you have reactions in Europe which are very polarizing … we are sending out a signal. It’s a signal about tolerance, about openness, about diversity.”