After previously threatening to withdraw from Eurovision, San Marino’s national broadcaster SMRTV has now confirmed that the small state will take part in Eurovision 2026 in Vienna, Austria. San Marino will once again use the “San Marino Song Contest” as its national selection.
San Marino’s national broadcaster SMRTV has confirmed that the country will participate in Eurovision 2026, to be held in Vienna, Austria. San Marino becomes the 27th country to express interest in joining Eurovision 2026, following Albania, Australia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the host country, Austria.
Since 2022, San Marino has selected its representatives through a national final, until 2024 called “Una Voce Per San Marino”, and this year the tradition will continue. The official confirmation comes just two days after the unveiling of the new logo of “San Marino Song Contest”. SMRTV’s General Director Denny Montesi said:
“San Marino’s national broadcaster confirms its participation in this public mission and promises a high-standard television production that will carry San Marino’s name with pride”.
About a month ago, San Marino’s government indirectly declared the country’s participation in Eurovision, but on the very same day, SMRTV backtracked, distancing itself from the government’s announcement. In an official document published by San Marino’s State Congress (its government) on July 8th, it was written that the institution recognizes Eurovision’s value in promoting San Marino globally and confirmed the continuation of its pre-selection contest, the “San Marino Song Contest”, for another year. This created the impression that the country’s participation had already been approved, though it later emerged that no official decision had yet been reached.
הצגת פוסט זה באינסטגרם
San Marino’s History in Eurovision: Struggles and Setbacks
San Marino is considered one of the least successful Eurovision countries. Out of 15 participations, the microstate has qualified for the Grand Final only 4 times, with the most recent being in the latest contest. San Marino has never won in its history, with its best result standing at 19th place. In its debut in 2008, San Marino finished last in its semi-final with just 5 points. Following that disappointment, San Marino withdrew from Eurovision in 2009 and 2010, but has participated regularly since 2011.
Will San Marino continue its momentum of reaching the final and maybe even break its record? Time will tell.
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 26th and last with 27 points only.
Eurovision 2026: This was San Marino’s 16th 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” .
