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Eurovision 2026: What We Know

Eurovision 2026: What We Know
An European Broadcasting Union promotional graphic for the 70th Eurovision Song Contest, held in Vienna on May 12, 14, and 16, 2026.

Summer may be coming to a close, and while that means the start of pumpkin spice latte season and fall foliage, it also means the unofficial start of a new Eurovision cycle. Today is September 1st, the day where any released song is eligible to be performed at the next year's Eurovision. The next few months will be packed with sequins, glitter, and more songs than you know what to do with. Here's a little guide to help keep your head on straight to all the chaos.

Eurovision 2026

Eurovision 2026 (the 70th anniversary of the contest) will be held in Vienna, Austria's Wiener Stadthalle (the same venue that hosted the 60th contest in 2015) after JJ's win in May on the 12th, 14th, and 16th. It'll be Vienna's third time hosting after it did the same in 2015 and in 1967, matching Copenhagen, Malmö (Sweden), and Stockholm in terms of times hosting. Only Dublin (6), London (4), and Luxembourg City (4) have hosted the contest more times.

More news on participating broadcasters, ticket sales, and information about the shows themselves is set to be released later this year, but here's what we know so far about who's in and who's out:

  • Albania (Festivali i Kenges to be held, probably in late December)
  • Austria (national final in February)
  • Australia (will be selected internally)
  • Belgium
  • Cyprus
  • Denmark (Dansk Melodi Grand Prix will be held on February 14)
  • Finland (Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu will be held on February 28)
  • Greece (national selection)
  • Israel (though Iceland & Spain have formally announced plans lobbying for their exclusion)
  • Italy (Sanremo will be held February 24-28, later than usual because of the Winter Olympics)
  • Latvia (Supernova will be held TBD)
  • Lithuania (national final to be held)
  • Luxembourg (Luxembourg Song Contest will be held January 24)
  • Malta
  • Norway
  • Serbia
  • Spain (Benidorm Fest will be held February 14th with semifinals February 10th and 12th)
  • San Marino (has considered withdrawing but no decision yet)
  • Sweden (Melodifestivalen will be held, likely Saturdays from February-mid March)
  • Switzerland
  • United Kingdom

There are rumors of Kazakhstan being added to the main contest as a special guest (similar to Australia in 2015). While nothing's been announced yet, Kazakhstan does have some Eurovision history as they've participated five times in Junior Eurovision from 2018-2022. They 've been quite successful coming in as runner up in both 2019 and 2020. You might know Kazakhstan's 2018 representative Danieliya Tuleshova from her time on America's Got Talent. Kazakhstan's not participated for the last three years because of financial constraints, the contest moving to a later Saturday evening time slot starting at 6pm CET (9pm local time in Kazakhstan), and the ramp up to a potential Eurovision participation in 2026.

Junior Eurovision 2025

If that's too long to wait, fear not because Eurovision's younger sibling Junior Eurovision is ramping up fast to being on screens on December 13th live from the Olympic Palace in Tbilisi, Georgia. It's a great appetizer for the main event in May as one two-hour show where participants (all between the ages of 9 and 14) are required to sing majority of their song in their country's native language though many will also use a few lines in English.

Tbilisi previously hosted from the Palace in 2017, and Georgia has proven themselves very successful at Junior Eurovision with a record four wins (2008, 2011, 2016, and 2024).

18 countries will participate this year, with Estonia, Serbia, and Germany withdrawing. Montenegro returns for the first time in 10 years. I've linked to the songs where available:

  • Albania
  • Armenia
  • Azerbaijan
  • Croatia (Martino Vrgoč, song not announced)
  • Cyprus
  • France
  • Georgia
  • Ireland (Junior Eurovision Éire selection begins September 21)
  • Italy
  • Malta (selected via The Voice Kids Malta)
  • Montenegro
  • Netherlands (Junior Songfestival selection show will be held September 20th)
  • North Macedonia (Nela Mančeska, song not announced)
  • Poland (Marianna Klos, song not announced)
  • Portugal (Inês Gonçalves, song not announced)
  • San Marino
  • Spain (Gonzalo Pinillos, song not announced)
  • Ukraine (national selection will be held in October)

ESC 250

Kick off the New Year with an epic countdown to find out what the best Eurovision song is as voted by Eurovision fans. It's a fantastic time filled with forgotten gems and beloved bangers. French radio station EFR 12 hosts the annual ESC 250 countdown of the top 250 Eurovision songs of all time at 11am CET (5am ET/2am PT) on New Year's Eve, ending just before midnight in Central Europe.

Loreen held the title for nine consecutive years with the iconic entry Euphoria, but recent years have proven more interesting for the countdown.Spanish act Chanel won in 2022 with her then-new entry SloMo (falling to fourth in the next two years) while Käärijä won in 2023 with rap song Cha Cha Cha (dropping to third last year). Loreen is the defending champ once again with both of her entires making up the top two: Euphoria first and her 2023 winner Tattoo in second.