San Marino’s national broadcaster SMRTV has revealed the ten major artists who will advance directly to the national final on March 6th. Who competes for San Marino’s ticket to Vienna?
Today (Thursday), San Marino’s national broadcaster SMRTV, published the full list of the ten major artists who will participate directly in the final of “San Marino Song Contest”. The winner will go on to represent San Marino at Eurovision 2026, which will be held in Vienna, Austria.
These ten artists will compete in the grand final of San Marino’s national selection, to be held on March 6th at the Teatro Nuovo in Dogana. Opposite them will stand ten qualifiers from the semi‑final phase. Among the semi‑final entries is also the Greek‑American singer Xannova Xan, Estonian singer Elysa, Poland’s representative in Eurovision 2011, Magdalena Tul, and Slovenia’s representatives in Eurovision 2015, Maraaya.
The Big Ten – The First Confirmed Finalists:
- Andreas Habibi ft. Aura – “All We Need Is Love”
- Dolcenera – “My Love“
- Edward Maya ft. William Imola – “Ball”
- Inis Neziri – “Aurora”
- Kelly Joyce – “Oh Là Là”
- L’Orchestraccia – “Cara Madre Mia”
- Molella ft. Maxè – “Fever”
- Paolo Belli – “Bellissima”
- Rosa Chemical – “Mammamì”
- Senhit ft. Boy George – “Superstar”
Among the Finalists are Many Familiar Names:
- Boy George – A British singer and songwriter, he served as the lead vocalist of the band Culture Club. He was among the 400 artists who signed the letter opposing a boycott of Israel at Eurovision 2024.
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Senhit – Represented San Marino at Eurovision 2011 with the song “Stand By”, with which she failed to qualify for the final, she supposed to represent San Marino at Eurovision 2020, which was canelled due to Covid-19 with the song “Freaky“, and she returned again at Eurovision 2021 with the song “Adrenalina” together with Flo Rida, finishing 22nd in the grand final. This year too, Senhit returns with an intriguing collaboration, performing a song together with Boy George.
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Inis Neziri – Took part in“Festivali i Këngës 56” in 2018 with the song “Piedestal”. She finished in third place and was not selected to represent Albania at Eurovision. In 2020, Neziri again competed in the Albanian selection for Eurovision 2021 with the song “Pendesë”, but was once more not chosen to represent her country. This year she returned yet again to the Albanian selection with “Ta Kam Fal”, which also was not selected.
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Edward Maya – Expected to compete this year in the Romanian “Selecția Națională” with the song “Everybody Needs Somebody”.
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Rosa Chemical – Took part in Italy’s “Festival Di Sanremo 2024” with the song “Made in Italy”.
“San Marino Song Contest”: Semi-Finals Line-Up
First Semi-Final – Wednesday, March 4th:
- 4CALAMANO – “Twilight” – Italy
- Alien Cut feat. Tayma – “competing with song in progress” – Italy
- Anna Smith – “Bruised” – Switzerland
- Capabrò – “Lavorare fa schifo” – Italy
- DAUDIA – “Talk about it” – Italy
- ERISU – “Ghost of Ninive” – Italy
- Giacomo Voli – “Figaro” – Italy
- Lorenzo Bonfire – “Ode to Guilt” – Italy
- MATIAS FERREIRA – “PAURA” – Spain
- METIRIA – “Attention Seeker” – Italy
- MRTINA – “My Insanity” – Italy
- MYKY – “Outta Tune” – Italy
- N’ice Cream – “Not the winner” – Italy
- ORPHY – “Rise Again” – Czechia
- Pellegrina Pibigas – “Il Giorno Che” – Italy
- Ryan Song – “Break the Cage” – The Netherlands
- Samuele Di Nicolò – “Non ritorno più” – Italy
- Sheila – “Zemra e Tokes” – Albania
- Star Guy – “Star Shadez” – Norway
- Stefano – “Pesce rosso” – Italy
Second Semi-Final – Thursday, March 5th:
- Atwood – “Midnight Alibi” – Italy
- DEVA – “America Hurts Me” – Italy
- ELYSA – “THE ALCHEMIST” – Estonia
- IlRed – “Playlist in loop” – Italy
- IUNA – “Freedom Calling” – Italy
- KLEM – “OK RESPIRA” – Italy
- LUKA – “Where It Ends” – Slovenia
- Luka Basi – “CHICOLO” – Slovenia
- Lupi Mannaggia – “Ignorantity” – Italy
- Magdalena Tul – “I’ll Be Around” – Poland
- MARAAYA – “ALU ALU” – Slovenia
- Marco Sbarbati – “Pretty Little Secret” – Italy
- Maya Azucena – “My Sin” – USA
- Nicolò Deori – “You’ll Kill Me Forever” – Italy
- NovaBlue – “I’m Starving” – Italy
- Paolo Martini – “Fase REM” – Italy
- PARK – “AMORE CHE SEI VERITA’” – Italy
- Sezina Kelsey – “You Raise Me High” – Netherlands
- UtopiaTwins and Valerie – “Fake Smile” – Italy
- Xannova Xan – “Unbreakable” – USA
Among the Contestants are Many Familiar Names:
- Sheila – Took part in this year’s “Festivali i Këngës”, and is competing with the same song – “Zemra e Tokes”.
- Magdalena Tul – Represented Poland in Eurovision 2011 with the song “Jestem”, and finished 19th in the first semi-final.
- Star Guy – The brother of Emmy, who represented Ireland in Eurovision 2025 with the song “Laika Party”, and he appeared with her on stage.
- Elysa – Took part in “Eesti Laul” in 2015, 2022, 2023 and 2025.
- Maraaya – Represented Slovenia at Eurovision 2015 with the song “Here for You”, and finished in 14th place.
- Xannova Xan – Had been slated to participate in “Sing for Greece 2026”, and is competing with the same song – “Unbreakable”.
How Will the Selection’s Format Work?
All 240 participants were divided into eight heats, each featuring 30 contestants. From each heat, five artists will advance to the semi-finals – narrowing the list to just 40 acts.
Out of these, ten semi-finalists will qualify for the Grand Final. Ten additional “established” artists will join the finalists, who will be announced during a press conference held in Sanremo, Italy, on February 26th.
The winner of San Marino Song Contest 2026 will be chosen solely by a professional jury, as in previous years. The 2026 panel will feature five judges (one more than last year) including notable figures from the European music and radio industries.
“San Marino Song Contest 2026”: Key Dates
- Semi-final 1 – Wednesday, March 4th, 2026.
- Semi-final 2 – Thursday, March 5th, 2026.
- Grand Final – Friday, March 6th, 2026.
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 will be 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”.
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Ilay Gaist is a leading Israeli content creator and writer specializing in the Eurovision Song Contest. He is a well-known commentator with extensive expertise in the contest’s history, rules, and dynamics. His passion for Eurovision drives him to deliver rich, professional, and innovative content to his audience.
Ilay holds a bachelor’s degree in Arabic and has a multilingual background. He also engages in cultural research, with a particular focus on global culinary traditions and the evolution of local cuisines around the world.
