Semi-final 1 of the Eurovision Song Contest 2026
The seventieth version of the Eurovision Song Contest begins tonight!
15 songs will compete, however solely 10 will qualify for Saturday’s Grand Finale. The present begins at 21:00 CESTbroadcast stay from Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria. The hosts are Victoria Swarovski and Michael Ostrowski. The running order was determined by Austrian broadcaster and producer ORF based mostly on an allocation draw.
On Thursday, Semi-final 2 will discover the final 10 qualifiers from 15 songs.
Lineup Semi-final 1
| 1 | Moldova | Viva, Moldova Satoshi | Satoshi | |
| 2 | Sweden | MySystem Felicia | Felicia | |
| 3 | Croatia | Andromeda Lelek | Lelek | |
| 4 | Greece | Ferto Akylas | Akylas | |
| 5 | Portugal | Pink Singing Bandits | Singing Bandits | |
| 6 | Georgia | On Replay Bzikebi | Bzikebi | |
| business break | ||||
| Italy | Per semper sure Sal Da Vinci | Sal Da Vinci | ||
| 7 | Finland | Liekinheitin Linda Lampenius & Pete Parkkonen | Linda Lampenius & Pete Parkkonen | |
| 8 | Montenegro | Nova Zora Tamara Živković | Tamara Živković | |
| 9 | Estonia | Too Epic To Be True Vanilla Ninja | Vanilla Ninja | |
| 10 | Israel | Michelle Noam Bettan | Noam Bettan | |
| Germany | Fire Sarah Engels | Sarah Engels | ||
| business break | ||||
| 11 | Belgium | Dancing on the Ice Essyla | Essyla | |
| 12 | Lithuania | I simply need extra Lion Ceccah | Lion Ceccah | |
| 13 | San Marino | Superstar Senhit | Senhit | |
| 14 | Poland | Pray Alicja | Alicja | |
| 15 | Serbia | Kraj mene Lavina | Lavina | |
Two of the pre-qualified international locations, Italy and Germany, will carry out their songs in Semi-final 1, however they aren’t up for competitors tonight.
Opening: “L’amour est bleu”
The first Semi-final opens with a movie titled By Your Side for 70 Yearstelling the story of the Eurovision Song Contest’s seven-decade historical past by means of the eyes of Toni, an Austrian boy who grew up watching Eurovision. We’ll see clips of some of the most legendary acts by means of the a long time, as Toni grows older.
Now we’re stay from Wiener Stadthalle, the place the older Toni is behind a piano and a 70-member choir pay tribute to “L’amour est bleu“, initially carried out by Vicky Leandros at Eurovision 1967 — the yr Vienna hosted the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time. Vicky Leandros enters the stage and joins in the tune (the tune completed 4th, and simply 5 years later, she returned to Eurovision and gained with “Après toi” in 1972).
Our hosts Victoria Swarovski and Michael Ostrowski take the stage, and after the voting guidelines are defined in each English and French, it is time…
Let the Eurovision Song Contest Begin!
After roughly 10 minutes, the first nation on stage is Moldova.
Postcards
Before every of the songs, we’ll see a brief “postcard” whereas the stage is being ready for the subsequent efficiency.
The postcards for Eurovision 2026 mix actual footage from places throughout Austria with studio recordings of the artists, layered collectively to create imaginative and visually putting scenes.
The artists will seem in a spread of settings – from using a chairlift above snow-covered mountains to wandering as miniature figures by means of forests and meadows amongst big crops, or strolling throughout spectacular metropolis skylines.
The custom additionally has a particular Austrian connection. The first postcard was invented in 1869 by Emanuel Herrmann.
Commercial Breaks
After Georgiathe night’s first business break takes place:
For viewers with out commercials, Victoria is in the inexperienced room presenting a pre-recorded video section about Eurovision recollections from followers and former contestants (Sissal, Miriana Conte, J.J., Eleni Foureira, Victory) in addition to Will Ferrell (Eurovision movie).
After the video, Victoria introduces the “Big Four” and the subsequent nation to take the stage: Italy.
After Germanythe second business break takes place. For viewers with out commercials, a pre-recorded video options host Victoria as “Professor Eurovision”, taking us by means of some Eurovision stats. This time, the focus is on “null points”, together with which language you will have acquired the most zero factors (German), which nation you will have acquired the most zero factors general (Austria), and the first host nation to attain zero factors (Austria 2015).
Interval Acts: Zurcaroh and Kangaroo
After all 15 songs have been carried out, it’s time to begin the voting. All international locations taking part in Semi-final 1, together with the two pre-qualified international locations (Italy and Germany), can vote on this Semi-final.
The presenters clarify the guidelines and rapidly open the voting:
Start Voting Now!
After the first recap, we transfer to the inexperienced room, which has been reworked right into a Viennese café. Victoria explains why it’s known as the “Green Room.” The colour inexperienced is claimed to have a chilled and stress-free impact, so Michael attire in conventional Austrian clothes and talks with some of the artists.
We transfer from the pressure of the inexperienced room to the magic of Vienna: the Prater, one of the oldest amusement parks in the world. Austrian dance firm Ecaflip takes us again to Prater in 1900 with a stage efficiency combining acrobatics and dance, remodeling the area into a large circus. A spectacular journey by means of time.
Stop Voting Now!
The voting is now closed, however we nonetheless have a number of moments to attend.
Next up is one other business break. For viewers with out commercials, the “Douze Points – Eurovision Quiz” is offered, with Michael as quizmaster and several other commentators as contestants.
The hosts Victoria Swarovski and Michael Ostrowski, along with the “Milkshake Man“Go-Jo, who represented Australia final yr, performs the subsequent interval act,”Kangaroo“. It is a light-hearted musical quantity explaining the distinction between Austria and Australia.
We then see brief clips of the songs in Semi-final 2 on Thursday.
We at the moment are prepared to seek out out which ten international locations have certified, determined by public voting and nationwide juries.
Good Night Europe!
Voting
Each nation taking part can have two units of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 12 factors to provide. One set for every nation’s juryand one set for every nation’s televoting. Viewers in some of the non-participating international locations (“the rest of the world”) will be capable to vote on-line. The “rest of the world” on-line votes can have the identical weight as one taking part nation.
- The 10 songs with the most factors will qualify for the Grand Final.
- Each of the 15 international locations taking part in Semi-final 1 will vote.
- The pre-qualified international locations Italy and Germany will broadcast and vote in Semi-final 1.
- Each nation has a nationwide jury who gave one set of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 12 factors.
- Each nation can have televoting, which additionally ends in a set of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 12 factors.
- Online voting “rest of the world” has the identical weight as one taking part nation: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 12 factors.
- The voting outcomes is not going to be revealed earlier than the Grand Final has completed on Saturday.
- Only the 10 certified songs might be revealed, and in random order.
Eurovision Song Contest 2026
The seventieth Eurovision Song Contest takes place in May 2026. The contest might be held in Vienna, Austria and produced by Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF).
- Location: Vienna, Austria
- Participants: 35
- Semi-final 1: 12 May 2026: The 10 finest songs qualify for the Grand Final
- Semi-final 2: 14 May 2026: The 10 finest songs qualify for the Grand Final
- Grand Finale: 16 May 2026: 25 members – Austria, Big-4 (Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom), 10 finest from Semi-final 1, 10 finest from Semi-final 2