Happy September 1st: Eurovision 2026 Season Officially Begins!

The Eurovision Song Contest marks a key milestone today on the road to the grand final, scheduled for May in Vienna. After revealing the host city for Eurovision 2026, the season is now official: today, September 1st, signals the start of the 70th edition’s contest cycle. As per contest regulations, any song aired on radio, released on albums, or distributed on streaming platforms from now on becomes eligible for consideration by artists seeking to represent their countries.

Some countries have announced they will not return: Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovakia.

Others, like Belgium, North Macedonia, Poland, San Marino, and Slovenia, remain undecided, with internal deliberations or pending confirmation. For instance, after previously confirming participation, Belgium denied rumors about having selected Loïc Nottet as its artist.

In North Macedonia, Macedonian-Australian singer Bobby Andonov (who represented the country at Junior Eurovision 2008) is actively working to bring his nation back to Eurovision after three years away.

Poland has not yet confirmed participation but is reportedly considering a selection via The Voice. San Marino’s government has approved participation, but the national broadcaster SMRTV clarifies that no final decision has been made. Slovenia threatens withdrawal over transparency concerns in vote counting from previous editions. Alenka Gotar, Slovenia’s 2007 representative, has stated: “I believe Slovenia will withdraw because of Israel’s participation”.

When will each country select its Eurovision song?
In the coming weeks, participating nations will release more details about their selection processes for Eurovision 2026 alongside anticipated additional participation confirmations. Information on selection methods (national finals or internal selections), rules, and timetables will be unveiled soon.

Albania is expected to hold the season’s first national selection in December, but the Albanian national broadcaster has yet to publish details. The complete list of participating countries will be finalized in the coming months, per the ORF.

National selection schedule:

• January 24th: Luxembourg
• February 14th: Denmark, Latvia, Spain
• February 27th: Lithuania
• February 28th: Finland, Italy

Countries announcing intended national selections but without detailed schedules: Austria (February), Iceland, Malta, Montenegro, Norway, Serbia, Sweden, and Ukraine.

Nations already confirming internal selection for their representatives: the Netherlands and Switzerland.

Flexible rules evolve over time

Previously, songs released well in advance of the contest faced disqualification, sometimes resulting in entire countries being banned. Today, regulations are more flexible, allowing songs released before September 1st to compete if they were not widely distributed or publicized. For example, prior to Eurovision 2016, Jamala performed her eventual winning Ukrainian entry “Bizim Qirim” (“Our Crimea”) about a year before the contest at a local event, later re-titled “1944“. Nevertheless, the European Broadcasting Union allowed its participation, stating the song had not endured public or official commercial release. Ukraine went on to win for the second time and hosted the event the following year.

Another controversy occurred with Eurovision 2019 champion Duncan Laurence. Prior to the contest, it emerged that Laurence had uploaded himself singing his winning track “Arcade” online years earlier. Since these uploads were not widely publicized or officially released, “Arcade” remained eligible, allowing Laurence to win and subsequently bring Eurovision 2021 to Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Eurovision 2026: The 70th Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Austria, following the country’s third historic win with the song “Wasted Love” performed by JJ. This will be the third time the contest is hosted in Austria, after 1967 and 2015.