It’s time to lay out the Europe themed buffets and get your flags ready as the Eurovision Grand Final is here. The annual crowd-pleaser will see 25 countries perform as they bid to be crowned the Eurovision 2026 - and 70th edition - champion.
The UK will be rooting for LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER as they blast out Eins, Zwei, Drei, in what promises to be a kooky style, on the stage in Vienna, Austria. Taking us through the night on UK screens is Eurovision master of ceremonies Graham Norton who will be commentating - and making us giggle - from the event.
Who is performing for the UK in Eurovision 2026?
Sam Battle, who performs as LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER will be representing the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 in Vienna, Austria with his song Eins, Zwei, Dre__i.
When Sam was invited to a writing workshop he thought he was writing for another artist and was thrilled to be asked to perform too, ‘I was invited to a writing session by the BBC with three other writers – I thought to write for other artists to sing at Eurovision,’ he says. ‘Turns out we were writing for me. I had dragged along my synthesizer and when I moved the sofa out the way, and I shouted, ‘Eins, Zwei, Drei’, for some reason and that's basically how it started. Twelve hours later, we had a song that we thought was never going to get picked.’
The fact that not all the lyrics in the song (or indeed the title) are English has raised some eyebrows, but Sam insists there’s nothing to see here. ‘I know the German lyrics might be a bit controversial - but I think it's more controversial that the German entry has no German in it. We were actually experimenting with different languages saying ‘one, two, three’ but ended up settling on just German.'
What will happen at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026?
The Grand Final of Eurovision 2026 will be presented by Austrian stars, Victoria Swarovski and Michael Ostrowski and the opening act, The Queen of the Night, will see 2025 winner JJ showcase his remarkable vocal abilities as he blends Mozart-inspired elements with his own music. Creating a real spectacular will be the 40 plus dancers and acrobats performing alongside him as the storyline - involving a paper boat travelling from Switzerland to Vienna - unfolds. The 25 Grand Finalists are introduced in the iconic flag parade during this segment.
Then the competition really kicks off as 25 competing entries take to the stage one by
one, giving the performance of a lifetime. During the voting period we will be treated to three interval acts - Eurovision All Stars who will perform iconic songs from the Contest’s history to celebrate the 70th anniversary, Austrian electro-swing icon Parov Stelar who is showcasing his distinctive dance sound and striking visuals, and finally Austrian Eurovision legend César Sampson will perform Billy Joel’s Vienna.
Where is the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 held?
This year the Eurovision Song Contest will take place at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria and will be hosted by Austrian stars, Victoria Swarovski and Michael Ostrowski.
When is the Eurovision Song Contest 2026?
We can all wave our flags and argue over the Eurovision scoring on Saturday 16 May.
How does the voting work in the Eurovision Song Contest?
The exciting news is we can all have our say in who wins on the night! Vote for your favourite songs online by heading to Eurovision’s official voting website, esc.vote, or by downloading the official Eurovision Song Contest App. During the voting window, viewers can cast up to 10 votes for their favourite countries – and all 10 votes can be used on one country or spread between up to 10 different countries. But viewers can’t vote for their own country. And votes will cost 15p per vote.
The final result of the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest will be determined by a combination of points from national juries and viewer votes in the participating countries, along with a separate rest of the world vote. Each national jury is made up of a group of seven music professionals in that country.
After viewers have cast their votes, each national spokesperson from the 35 participating countries will present the points of their professional jury live to the world. The scores from the juries and the televoting points are added to create one score for each song.
How many countries will compete in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026?
Austria has welcomed 35 competing countries to the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 with 25 of them gaining a place in the finals following knock out rounds.
Who is favourite to win the Eurovision Song Contest 2026?
According to bookies the odds are that Finland will be the most likely to win - Linda Lampenius and Peter Parkkonen are performing Liekinheitin and their energetic rehearsals have put them at the top of the leaderboard. It’s thought that Greece’s Akylas and the song Ferto are next likely to scoop a spot on the winners podium with Søren Torpegaard Lund and the tune Før vi går hjem a strong third option.
Many people were surprised to hear soap queen Delta Goodrem was representing Australia with the sweeping pop ballad Eclipse and she looks set to land at least a top five ranking for her homeland.
Boy George was a surprise addition to the contestants when he appeared on stage in the earlier rounds, representing San Marino with Superstar. He co-wrote the song with Senhit - who has graced the Eurovision stage twice before for the tiny nation. Sadly they have not made it to the Grand Final.
What is the boycott of the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 about?
In protest of Israel’s inclusion in the 2026 competition, Spain, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Iceland and Ireland have withdrawn from the contest.
There were calls to ban Israel after its government began a massive military offensive in Gaza in October 2023.
Where can I watch the Eurovision Song Contest?
The Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest will air on BBC iPlayer, BBC One, BBC Radio 2, and BBC Sounds from 8pm on Saturday 16 May.
Caroline Blight is a big fan of Vienna but is not sure what former resident Beethoven would make of all this – but Mozart would be on the Eurovision stage without doubt…