The Eurovision Song Contest 2026 is set to commence next week in Vienna, Austria, with 30 countries vying for a place in the grand final. A total of 35 nations are participating this year, but host country Austria and four of the "Big Five" — the United Kingdom, Italy, France, and Germany — are already guaranteed spots in the final. Nevertheless, their delegates will still perform during the semi-finals scheduled for Tuesday, 12 May, and Thursday, 14 May.
Spain, which usually secures an automatic final berth due to its broadcaster's substantial financial contribution to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), withdrew from this year's contest in protest over Israel's involvement. Additionally, broadcasters from Iceland, the Netherlands, Ireland, and Slovenia chose to pull out of Eurovision in response to the EBU's decision to permit Israel's participation.
The 70th Eurovision Song Contest is being held at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna's 15th district (Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus). Below is the running order for the semi-finals. The Eurovision 2026 grand final will take place on Saturday, 16 May.
First Semi-Final — Tuesday, 12 May
- Moldova: Satoshi — "Viva, Moldova!"
- Sweden: FELICIA — "My System"
- Croatia: LELEK — "Andromeda"
- Greece: Akylas — "Ferto"
- Portugal: Bandidos do Cante — "Rosa"
- Georgia: Bzikebi — "On Replay"
- Italy: Sal Da Vinci — "Per Sempre Sì"
- Finland: Linda Lampenius x Pete Parkkonen — "Liekinheitin"
- Montenegro: Tamara Živković — "Nova Zora"
- Estonia: Vanilla Ninja — "Too Epic To Be True"
- Israel: Noam Bettan — "Michelle"
- Germany: Sarah Engels — "Fire"
- Belgium: ESSYLA — "Dancing on the Ice"
- Lithuania: Lion Ceccah — "Sólo Quiero Más"
- San Marino: SENHIT — "Superstar"
- Poland: ALICJA — "Pray"
- Serbia: LAVINA — "Kraj Mene"
Second Semi-Final — Thursday, 14 May
- Bulgaria: DARA — "Bangaranga"
- Azerbaijan: JIVA — "Just Go"
- Romania: Alexandra Căpitănescu — "Choke Me"
- Luxembourg: Eva Marija — "Mother Nature"
- Czechia: Daniel Zizka — "CROSSROADS"
- France: Monroe — "Regarde!"
- Armenia: SIMÓN — "Paloma Rumba"
- Switzerland: Veronica Fusaro — "Alice"
- Cyprus: Antigoni — "JALLA"
- Austria: COSMÓ — "Tanzschein"
- Latvia: Atvara — "Ēnā"
- Denmark: Søren Torpegaard Lund — "Før Vi Går Hjem"
- Australia: Delta Goodrem — "Eclipse"
- Ukraine: LELÉKA — "Ridnym"
- United Kingdom: LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER — "Eins, Zwei, Drei"
- Albania: Alis — "Nân"
- Malta: AIDAN — "Bella"
- Norway: JONAS LOVV — "YA YA YA"
The Independent will be liveblogging the Eurovision 2026 semi-finals and grand final.
