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While much of Europe was switching off for Christmas and New Year, Eurovision 2026 quietly kept moving. Broadcasters used the downtime to lock formats, publish songs, and start easing audiences back into national-final season.
ORF and the City of Vienna kicked off the Eurovision year in public rather than press-release fashion.
On 1 January, Vienna unveiled a Eurovision 2026 countdown clock in the city centre, marking the days until the Grand Final in May. It’s the first visible sign of host-city activation beyond internal planning and confirms that Eurovision branding is now firmly embedded into Vienna’s cultural calendar.
Bulgarian broadcaster BNT published the official rules and format for its Eurovision 2026 national selection. Two shows will pick the artists and one the actual song. In show 1 on 24 January, 15 acts perform songs for which they’re already known. Then, in show two on 31 January, seven shortlisted acts perform again. The selected artist then performs three potential songs in the final show on 28 February. Points will be awarded from a split of jury and viewer votes.
The fifteen in the running are Dara, Data Ekimova, Dia, Elizabet, Fiki, Innerglow, Kerana and Cosmonauts, Mihaela Fileva, Mihaela Marinova, Molec, Mona, Preyah, Roksana, Vai and Veniamin.
Croatian Dora fans will need to pencil in 8 January for a first listen to the 24 songs competing for a spot in May’s Vienna lineup.
Greek broadcaster ERT used the quiet period to formally launch its 2026 season. ERT confirmed a three-hour televised programme tonight (4 January) titled Sing for Greece, during which 28 shortlisted artists and songs will be revealed. We’re promised excerpts of their songs too and a draw for the running order of the next phase. It kicks off at 18:00 CET and runs for three WHOLE hours. If that sounds like something more sensible than sorting through your pencil case ahead of back to school Monday, tune in here.
ERT also unveiled the visual identity and logo for its national final, confirming a multi-show selection process later in winter. Greece’s approach this year feels notably structured, with a clear broadcast arc rather than drip-feeding information through press releases.
Over in Latvia, LSM has confirmed who’s singing in which semi-final for the 2026 edition of Supernova. You can see details on their Instagram page.
Lithuania’s Eurovizija.LT 2026 selection quietly accelerated over the holidays. Several competing songs were released publicly, giving fans their first proper listen to parts of the Lithuanian field well ahead of the heats. New confirmed song releases include Šiluma by Akire and Dabar ir čia by Mėnulio Fazė. These join other entries already public such as Lumina by Hansanova, Nessuno by Selene Ice, U Broke Me by Emi Acidic, Tu mano by Aurimas Papečkys and The Offering by Melanija. The competition will culminate in a grand final on 27 February 2026 at the Twinsbet Arena in Vilnius, with multiple heats preceding it.
A complete list of competing artists and song titles is available for picking to pieces right here.
Malta had one of the busiest holiday periods of any participating country. Broadcaster PBS Malta released all 18 competing songs for the Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2026, making the entire field available online ahead of the live shows. PBS also confirmed the hosts for MESC 2026. The show will be hosted by Keane Cutajar, with former Junior Eurovision winners Destiny Chukunyere and Gaia Cauchi presenting. Tommy Cash (Estonia 2025) is confirmed as a guest performer in the semi-final, and Croatian artist Baby Lasagna will perform in the final.
In addition, official promotional portraits, and branding imagery for the artists circulated, signalling a polished and confident rollout. Malta has clearly opted for maximum transparency and early exposure this year. You can also buy tickets now if you’re up for being there mid January.
Here’s a list put together by the wonderful esc_discord people.
Portugal’s RTP confirmed the semi-final allocation for Festival da Canção 2026. The acts were officially split between the two semifinals (21 and 28 February). Another act (AGRIDOCE) confirmed they wouldn’t go to Eurovision if picked. This leaves just three in the running saying they might take part in the Vienna contest.
Spain remains absent from Eurovision 2026, but domestic activity continues. Benidorm Fest 2026 was confirmed to go ahead as planned, complete with two semi-finals and a grand final.
We’ll be back with you on Friday afternoons with our weekly line-up of the smaller snippets of news, stuff that probably doesn’t need a full-on shout-all-about-it article, but still worth knowing. In the meantime, the evil empire that is the EBU has a new ident for Eurovision programming (it’s not just the song contest). Let’s pretend that’s all about us too, eh?
