(Moscow) Amid a frenzied light show, pyrotechnics and questionable wardrobe decisions, performers from across Europe will seek melodic supremacy Saturday night at the annual Eurovision song contest.

The continent’s gaudiest, loudest and most popular music competition isn’t just a battle of the bands. It’s a 24 million euro ($32.5 million) showcase for the 42 participating nations, which typically attracts 100 million viewers from around the world.

As last year’s winner, Russia is hosting the annual competition for the first time. The contest hasn’t only fired up pop music fans and spawned a host of parties, it has raised issues such as racial tolerance and gay rights only occasionally debated in Russian society.

“You can’t deny that the politics has been very upfront this year,” said BBC broadcaster Paddy O’Connell, who is doing commentary on the competition this year.

Some contestants have tried to use the competition as a venue for settling international scores. Two months ago, the pop group Stephane and 3G from Georgia vowed to perform “We Don’t Wanna Put In,” a thinly veiled jab at Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

They pulled out when organizers warned that politically charged songs would not be permitted. Russia and Georgia fought a war last year.

But Eurovision has also appealed to the gentler impulses of many competing nations, resulting in some odd alliances between traditional foes.

Israel has made an appeal for peace and harmony with “There Must Be Another Way,” sung in Arabic, Hebrew and English by Arab-Jewish duo Noa and Mira.

Russia’s “Mamo,” composed by a Georgian songwriter and partially performed in Ukrainian, is a multicultural cocktail apparently designed to reunite Russia with its former Soviet brethren.

The message of cultural diversity was tarnished when the singer, Anastasia Prikhodko, said on a popular Russian reality TV show that she did “not like black and Chinese people.”

Some fans also complain that solidarity can get out of hand. Former Soviet Eastern bloc nations tend to support one another, helping the region win five of the last eight contests.

The competition is decided by a panel of judges and telephone voting by participating countries. Fans cannot vote for their own nation’s entry, leading to suspicions of regional cabals.

The United Kingdom, an erstwhile Eurovision titan with five victories under its belt, has foundered in recent years and in 2008 placed last.

But the British may have better chances this year, despite the U.K.’s chilly relations with Moscow. Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, who penned Britain’s entry, has won the support of an unlikely ally: Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

“Putin himself has been pacing the hall here and he told us who he was going to vote for,” O’Connell said. “As a result, a lot of the leading Russians here, including some of the hosts, have said they are going to vote for Britain.”

Not all the drama is expected inside the performance hall. Hours before the finale, gay rights activists plan to hold a parade in defiance of authorities. Nationalist and religious foes of gay rights have planned rallies of their own.