Key Takeaways
- Vienna hosts edition 70. Wiener Stadthalle Halle D โ 16,000-capacity arena that also held the 2015 contest after Conchita Wurst's win.
- 35 countries on stage, the smallest line-up since 2003. Big Five plus host go straight to the final โ Italy, France, Germany, the UK and Austria โ with 30 more split across two semi-finals.
- Three live shows: 12, 14 and 16 May 2026. Each starts at 21:00 Central European Summer Time. The Grand Final is the Saturday show on 16 May.
- It's late on a Saturday in Europe โ and breakfast in Sydney. 21:00 in Vienna translates to 20:00 in London, 15:00 in New York, 12:00 on the US West Coast and 05:00 Sunday in Sydney.
- Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain are sitting it out. Five non-participants โ the largest boycott since 1970 โ citing Israel's continued participation during the Gaza war.
The 70th Eurovision Song Contest returns to Austria after eleven years away, anchored at Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna on the back of JJ’s 2025 win for the home country with “Wasted Love.” Thirty-five nations are bringing acts to the stage โ three returning, five sitting it out, and the entire Big Five intact apart from Spain. Below is the full map of who’s in, who’s on which night, and exactly when the Grand Final airs in your time zone.
The Map: 35 Countries Heading to Vienna
Thirty countries are competing across the two semi-finals on 12 and 14 May 2026. Five more โ the Big Five automatic qualifiers (Italy, France, Germany, the UK) plus host country Austria โ go straight through to the Saturday Grand Final on 16 May. The map shades all 35 by their route to the final, and flags the five European broadcasters that have stepped back from this year’s contest.
Vienna, the Host City
This is the third time Austria has hosted Eurovision, after Vienna 1967 and Vienna 2015, and the second time at the same venue. Austria won the right to host with JJ’s falsetto-driven entry in Basel last May โ “Wasted Love” โ and ORF moved fast to confirm Wiener Stadthalle’s vast Halle D, the largest event hall in the country.
- Venue: Wiener Stadthalle, Halle D, 15th district of Vienna
- Capacity: Up to 16,000 spectators (about 10,500 seated for ESC, with standing room)
- Hosts: Victoria Swarovski and Michael Ostrowski (main stage); Emily Busvine (green room)
- UK commentary: Graham Norton, BBC One and BBC iPlayer
- Live shows: First Semi-Final 12 May ยท Second Semi-Final 14 May ยท Grand Final 16 May โ all 21:00 CEST
Big Five + Host: Direct to the Saturday Final
Four Big Five nations plus the host carry their entries straight into Saturday’s show. Spain, normally a Big Five fixture, has withdrawn โ but the rest are in.
| # | Country | Artist | Song |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ๐ฎ๐น Italy | Sal Da Vinci | Per sempre sรฌ |
| 2 | ๐ซ๐ท France | Monroe | Regarde ! |
| 3 | ๐ฉ๐ช Germany | Sarah Engels | Fire |
| 4 | ๐ฌ๐ง United Kingdom | Look Mum No Computer | Eins, Zwei, Drei |
| 5 | ๐ฆ๐น Austria (host) | Cosmรณ | Tanzschein |
First Semi-Final โ Tuesday 12 May 2026
Fifteen countries compete on the opening night, with the top ten advancing to the Saturday Grand Final. Italy and Germany also perform their Big Five entries during the show but don’t need votes โ they’re already through. Running order announced by the EBU on 2 April:
| # | Country | Artist | Song |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ๐ฒ๐ฉ Moldova | Satoshi | Viva, Moldova! |
| 2 | ๐ธ๐ช Sweden | Felicia | My System |
| 3 | ๐ญ๐ท Croatia | Lelek | Andromeda |
| 4 | ๐ฌ๐ท Greece | Akylas | Ferto |
| 5 | ๐ต๐น Portugal | Bandidos do Cante | Rosa |
| 6 | ๐ฌ๐ช Georgia | Bzikebi | On Replay |
| 7 | ๐ซ๐ฎ Finland | Linda Lampenius & Pete Parkkonen | Liekinheitin |
| 8 | ๐ฒ๐ช Montenegro | Tamara ลฝivkoviฤ | Nova zora |
| 9 | ๐ช๐ช Estonia | Vanilla Ninja | Too Epic to Be True |
| 10 | ๐ฎ๐ฑ Israel | Noam Bettan | Michelle |
| 11 | ๐ง๐ช Belgium | Essyla | Dancing on the Ice |
| 12 | ๐ฑ๐น Lithuania | Lion Ceccah | Sรณlo quiero mรกs |
| 13 | ๐ธ๐ฒ San Marino | Senhit | Superstar |
| 14 | ๐ต๐ฑ Poland | Alicja | Pray |
| 15 | ๐ท๐ธ Serbia | Lavina | Kraj mene |
Second Semi-Final โ Thursday 14 May 2026
Another fifteen countries on Thursday, with three Big Five performances slotted in for staging rehearsals: France after Czechia, Austria after Cyprus, and the United Kingdom after Ukraine. Top ten qualify.
| # | Country | Artist | Song |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ๐ง๐ฌ Bulgaria | Dara | Bangaranga |
| 2 | ๐ฆ๐ฟ Azerbaijan | Jiva | Just Go |
| 3 | ๐ท๐ด Romania | Alexandra Cฤpitฤnescu | Choke Me |
| 4 | ๐ฑ๐บ Luxembourg | Eva Marija | Mother Nature |
| 5 | ๐จ๐ฟ Czechia | Daniel Zizka | Crossroads |
| 6 | ๐ฆ๐ฒ Armenia | Simรณn | Paloma Rumba |
| 7 | ๐จ๐ญ Switzerland | Veronica Fusaro | Alice |
| 8 | ๐จ๐พ Cyprus | Antigoni | Jalla |
| 9 | ๐ฑ๐ป Latvia | Atvara | ฤnฤ |
| 10 | ๐ฉ๐ฐ Denmark | Sรธren Torpegaard Lund | Fรธr vi gรฅr hjem |
| 11 | ๐ฆ๐บ Australia | Delta Goodrem | Eclipse |
| 12 | ๐บ๐ฆ Ukraine | Lelรฉka | Ridnym |
| 13 | ๐ฆ๐ฑ Albania | Alis | Nรขn |
| 14 | ๐ฒ๐น Malta | Aidan | Bella |
| 15 | ๐ณ๐ด Norway | Jonas Lovv | Ya Ya Ya |
When to Watch: Show Times Around the World
All three live shows start at 21:00 Central European Summer Time (UTC +2). For the Grand Final on Saturday 16 May, that means a comfortable Saturday-night slot across most of Europe, mid-afternoon on the US East Coast, lunchtime on the West Coast, and a very early Sunday breakfast for viewers in Australia and New Zealand.
| City / Region | Day | Local time | Time zone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles, San Francisco | Sat 16 May | 12:00 | PDT (UTC โ7) |
| Mexico City, Chicago | Sat 16 May | 14:00 | CDT (UTC โ5) |
| New York, Toronto, Miami | Sat 16 May | 15:00 | EDT (UTC โ4) |
| Sรฃo Paulo, Buenos Aires | Sat 16 May | 16:00 | BRT/ART (UTC โ3) |
| Reykjavรญk | Sat 16 May | 19:00 | GMT (UTC ยฑ0) |
| London, Dublin, Lisbon | Sat 16 May | 20:00 | BST (UTC +1) |
| Vienna, Berlin, Paris, Stockholm, Madrid | Sat 16 May | 21:00 | CEST (UTC +2) |
| Athens, Helsinki, Kyiv, Tel Aviv | Sat 16 May | 22:00 | EEST (UTC +3) |
| Moscow, Riyadh | Sat 16 May | 22:00 | MSK/AST (UTC +3) |
| Dubai, Baku | Sat 16 May | 23:00 | GST/AZT (UTC +4) |
| Karachi, Tashkent | Sun 17 May | 00:00 | PKT/UZT (UTC +5) |
| Delhi, Mumbai, Colombo | Sun 17 May | 00:30 | IST (UTC +5:30) |
| Bangkok, Jakarta | Sun 17 May | 02:00 | ICT/WIB (UTC +7) |
| Singapore, Beijing, Manila | Sun 17 May | 03:00 | SGT/CST/PHT (UTC +8) |
| Tokyo, Seoul | Sun 17 May | 04:00 | JST/KST (UTC +9) |
| Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane | Sun 17 May | 05:00 | AEST (UTC +10) |
| Auckland, Wellington | Sun 17 May | 07:00 | NZST (UTC +12) |
Who’s Not There: Five Withdrawals
Five European broadcasters declined to send an act this year โ the largest boycott since 1970 โ citing Israel’s continued participation during the Gaza conflict. Two of the five (Iceland and the Netherlands) will still air the contest; the other three are off the schedule entirely.
- ๐ฎ๐ธ Iceland โ RรV will broadcast all three shows but is sitting the contest out.
- ๐ฎ๐ช Ireland โ RTร will neither compete nor broadcast โ a first since 1965.
- ๐ณ๐ฑ Netherlands โ AVROTROS pulled the entry; NPO will still air the shows.
- ๐ธ๐ฎ Slovenia โ RTVSLO is fully out โ no entry, no broadcast.
- ๐ช๐ธ Spain โ RTVE withdrew, ending one of the longest unbroken participation streaks.
Three Returning Nations
Working in the other direction, three countries are back on the Eurovision schedule after taking time off:
- ๐ง๐ฌ Bulgaria โ first entry since 2022, with Dara performing “Bangaranga.”
- ๐ฒ๐ฉ Moldova โ back after one year out, opening Semi-Final 1 with Satoshi’s “Viva, Moldova!”
- ๐ท๐ด Romania โ first appearance since 2023, with Alexandra Cฤpitฤnescu’s “Choke Me.”
Mark the Calendar
Two semi-finals on the second week of May, a Saturday final, and 35 acts representing one of the most geographically stretched lineups in years โ from Iceland’s and Ireland’s notable absence to Australia’s eleventh consecutive entry on the other side of the world. The action lands in Vienna for one week, and then a 36th country gets the chance to host in 2027.
All artist names and songs are drawn from the official EBU line-up and cross-checked with Eurovision World; broadcast times are derived from the Vienna start of 21:00 CEST.
Image Sources
- Mappr maps & illustration โ Static participant map and global broadcast-time map rendered in-house using Natural Earth admin-0 boundaries and the Mappr editorial palette. Featured papercraft hero generated via Gemini.
