Good evening Europe and good morning Australia! Here we go again, ready for the… most wonderful time of the year! Tonight, the first semi-final of the 70th Eurovision Song Contest will air, live from Vienna!
11 years after Austria’s last hosting, the same city and venue are welcoming us again. The Eurovision Song Contest 2026 is taking place in the country’s capital, inside the iconic Wiener Stadthalle.
Tonight sees a set of 15 countries compete, but only 10 of them will be granted a spot in Saturday’s grand final. Two of the five pre-qualified countries, namely Italy and Germany, will also perform their entries and vote in tonight’s event.
The running order
- 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 (pre-qualified) - 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 (pre-qualified) - Belgium – Essyla – Dancing on the ice
- Lithuania – Lion Ceccah – Sólo quiero más
- San Marino – Senhit ft. Boy George – Superstar
- Poland – Alicja – Pray
- Serbia – Lavina – Kraj mene
The voting process
But who’s gonna decide which 10 of them will go on with their Eurovision journey? It’s of course all of us, with the televote, along with the national juries, which return the semi-finals for the first time after 2022. Both voting bodies will contribute equally to the results, while a special set of points will be awarded by the Rest of the World, which represents all countries around the globe which do not participate or have voting rights in tonight’s show.
As usual, at the end of the show, the show’s hosts will announce the 10 finalists one by one, in a completely random order.
How to watch
The first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 begins at 21:00 CEST and will be broadcast live by the national broadcasters of all 35 participating countries of this year’s edition, bringing tonight’s spectacular show directly into millions of homes across Europe and Australia.
At the same time, fans from every corner of the world will also be able to follow all the action live through the contest’s official YouTube channel, joining the celebration online as Europe’s biggest music event unfolds in Vienna.
Europe, Are You Ready?
Our hosts Victoria Swarowski and Michael Ostrowski will accompany us through all three live shows, while lots of interval acts and surprises are just around the corner!
So, gather your loved ones, call your friends, prepare drinks and snacks, sit back and enjoy the show, because the magic of the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 is officially underway! A night full of music, emotions, glitter and unforgettable moments awaits, as Europe comes together once again for the most spectacular celebration of the year.
