RTL Luxembourg, the Luxembourgish national broadcaster, has revealed that it has received 83 songs for the forthcoming edition of Luxembourg Song Contest 2026 with 58 candidates vying to compete in the national final.
Auditions for LSC 2026 ran from 24-26 October. A special international jury of music experts have been responsible to whittle down the candidates for the Luxembourgish 2026 national final:
- Karin Gunnarsson, contest producer for Sweden’s Melodifestivalen
- Gísli Berg, executive producer of Iceland’s Söngvakeppnin
- Paul ‘Dr Eurovision’ Jordan, UK Eurovision expert
- Ludovic-Alexandre Vidal, lyricist and co-writer of Luxembourg’s 2025 entry
- Elsie Bay, Norwegian singer-songwriter
The Luxembourg Song Contest 2026 is scheduled to be held on 24th January at the Rockhal.
RTL’s official press release reads:
From 24 to 26 October, 2025, RTL will host auditions for the upcoming edition of the Luxembourg Song Contest. A total of 58 artists will compete for a spot in the final, which will take place at Rockhal on 24 January, 2026.
To be eligible, artists had to meet one of three criteria: either hold Luxembourgish nationality, have resided in Luxembourg for at least three years, or demonstrate a proven connection to the country’s cultural and musical scene. Among the 58 candidates, 70% hold Luxembourgish nationality, 25% qualify through residency, and 5% through cultural ties.
With 17 different backgrounds represented, the candidates reflect the diversity of the Grand Duchy. 47% are exclusively Luxembourgish nationals, 22% hold dual nationality (Luxembourgish and another), and the remaining 30% come from a variety of countries, including France, Belgium, the Mediterranean region, Africa, South America, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East. Gender representation is roughly equal.
The press release continues to read:
At the end of the three-day audition process, an international jury will select from a strong lineup of 83 original songs, most of which were specially written for the occasion.
Once again, linguistic diversity stands out in the lyrics. English unsurprisingly leads with 59% of entries. Interestingly, many artists, reflecting their multilingual daily lives in Luxembourg, use two different languages in their songs-this is the case for nearly 30% of the entries. The most common combination is English and French, while 7% of the songs also include
Luxembourgish. Ten percent of the entries are written exclusively in French. In total, six different languages are represented in the submitted songs, including Portuguese, Spanish, and German.Two changes were introduced this year to the process. Each artist was allowed to submit up to three songs, compared to five the previous year. Additionally, a new intermediate step was created to support new talent. A team-up list was made available to connect artists with songwriters interested in contributing songs for Luxembourg. Of the 28 eligible singers who
registered, 23 ultimately submitted a song for the auditions. Last year, 79 songs were submitted by 53 artists.
Luxembourg at Eurovision
Luxembourg is one of the founder members of the Eurovision Song Contest and has won the competition five times. In 2024 the Grand Duchy returned to the contest after a 30 year hiatus. In 2025 Laura Thorn represented Luxembourg at the Eurovision Song Contest with her entry ‘ La Poupee Monte Le Son’.
