SWR will host its Eurovision 2026 selection in February, featuring international jurors and voters across Europe to decide the country’s representative
The German national selection for Eurovision 2026 will take place at the end of February, the national broadcaster SWR has announced, according to ESC Kompakt. The winner representing Germany will be chosen through a voting model that mirrors the Eurovision Song Contest itself, combining votes from viewers across Europe with an international jury of music industry experts. The final will be broadcast live on the public channel Das Erste.
Preparations: Berlin Songwriting Camp
As part of the preparations for the national selection, Germany relaunched the Berlin Song Fest songwriting camp this past summer. The initiative is designed to bring together writers, composers, and producers from across Europe to create songs fit for the big stage. The camp, held in August following a pilot in April, is gradually becoming one of the industry’s leading creative hubs. Its declared goal is clear: to return Germany to the top of the Eurovision scoreboard after years of disappointing results.
Timeline and Selection Process
Song submissions will close on October 22nd. In the first stage, the editorial team at SWR will evaluate entries based on “artistic and vocal quality”. The subsequent process will include two key components:
- An international jury of professionals from the music industry
- European audiences voting in a Eurovision-style system
At the end of this process, during the February final, Germany’s representative for Eurovision 2026 will be chosen through the combined results of both jury and audience votes.
Germany at Eurovision 2025:
“Baller” (in English: “Shooter”) is the title of the song performed by duo Abor & Tynna, who represented Germany at the Eurovision 2025. The pair finished 15th in the Grand Final with a total of 151 points. The public televote ranked them 11th, while the professional juries placed them 13th.
This marks the second consecutive year in which Germany has achieved a relatively successful Eurovision result, avoiding the bottom of the scoreboard. Last year, singer Isaak secured 12th place in the Grand Final with his song “Always on the Run”.
Eurovision 2026: This will be Germany’s 69th participation in Eurovision. Germany joined the competition in 1956, was one of the seven founding countries, and has won twice over the years. Germany’s last victory was in Eurovision 2010 with the song “Satellite” performed by singer Lena Meyer-Landrut.
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Maor Heumann has been writing about the Eurovision Song Contest and following it for over three decades. He has attended five contests and has found something to appreciate in almost every possible musical genre — from the sugary pop entries that finish last in the semi-finals to the quirky avant-garde pieces that even the competition’s juries struggled to connect with. He usually prefers original languages and songs with depth over Swedish-produced English clones — though he doesn’t promise to stick to that rule.
He grew up on the kibbutz of Sara’le Sharon, who instilled in him a love for music and created his first connection to the contest back in 1993 — before most of the current editorial team was even born.
