“Expression of interest is not a participation commitment”: San Marino national broadcaster distances itself from the government document interpreted as confirmation of Eurovision 2026 participation!
After the Sammarinese State Congress has officially approved participation in Eurovision 2026, which will be held in Austria, the Sammarinese national broadcaster, SMRTV, emphasizes that the official decision has not yet been made!
In a document issued by San Marino’s Congress of State (its government) on July 8th, it was stated that it acknowledges the Eurovision contest’s contribution to San Marino’s global visibility and also approves the continuation of the national selection, the “San Marino Song Contest”, for another year. This was taken as official approval of San Marino’s participation in Eurovision 2026.
However, it has now been published that the decision regarding national participation has not yet been made, nor has it been sent to the European Broadcasting Union. The Sammarinese national broadcaster wishes to clarify that the Congress’s decision is an expression of interest and does not constitute an official commitment to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest. The final decision rests with the management of the national broadcaster, and official confirmation will be issued after all disagreements within the broadcaster have been resolved.
As a reminder, the Sammarinese national broadcaster has previously expressed uncertainty about their participation in the upcoming Eurovision due to concerns about the results and voting methods, and as of today, they are still considering their involvement.
San Marino at Eurovision 2025
“Tutta L’Italia” (in English: “All of Italy”) is the song that Gabry Ponte has performed to represent San Marino at Eurovision 2025 in Basel, Switzerland. He finished 10th in the semi-final and qualified with 46 points, for the fourth time ever for San Marino. In the final, Ponte came last (26th) with 27 points only.
Eurovision 2025: This was San Marino’s 15th participation in the Eurovision Song Contest. San Marino joined the competition in 2008 and achieved its best result in Eurovision 2019 when the singer Serhat finished in 19th place with the song “Say Na Na Na” .
