Which countries have qualified for the grand final of Eurovision 2026? Discover the qualifiers from the first semifinal

The Eurovision Song Contest 2026 has completed its first semifinal this Tuesday, May 12, in Vienna. From 21:00 CEST, presenters Victoria Swarovski and Michael Ostrowski, together with Emily Busvine in the Viennese green room, were responsible for welcoming the 15 participating delegations onto the Eurovision stage at the Wiener Stadthalle, with Sal Da Vinci (Italy) and Sarah Engels (Germany) joining as exhibition performances (without competing), as they already had a direct place in the grand final.

Despite reaching its 70th anniversary, the European contest is taking place in a climate of tension and protests never seen before. Israel’s presence in the competition has led to the largest boycott in its history, with the withdrawal of five countries (Slovenia, Spain, Ireland, Iceland, and the Netherlands) after refusing to share the stage with the Israeli representative.

Moldova, Sweden, Croatia, Greece, Portugal, Georgia, Finland, Montenegro, Estonia, Israel, Belgium, Lithuania, San Marino, Poland, and Serbia faced the vote of the national juries (which have returned to the semifinals in this 70th edition), together with viewers from the countries participating in the semifinal and from the “rest of the world.” Only 10 of them managed to qualify for the grand final.

Which countries have qualified for the grand final of Eurovision 2026?

Maintaining its current format with two semifinals, 30 countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 are competing for a place in the grand final on Saturday, May 16. From both semifinals, the 20 finalists (10 from each semifinal) will emerge. In total, 25 entries will compete to win the crystal microphone. Notably, the absence of Spain due to the boycott of the festival over Israel’s participation reduces the number of finalist entries, something that had not happened since Turin 2022, the edition organized by Italy, whose broadcaster is a member of the contest’s “Big” group.

These are the countries from the first semifinal this Tuesday, May 12, that secured one of the 10 spots in the grand final:

Let us remember that, in the semifinals, the participating countries are subject to the verdict of the professional jury (49.4%) and the televote plus online vote (50.6%). The viewers from the participating countries vote together with those from the “rest of the world” who are not part of the 70th edition of the European contest. Meanwhile, as a new feature, the expert panels (which increase their composition to seven members) return to the elimination rounds and once again decide part of the final result, just as was the case until the edition of Turin 2022.

In the semifinals, we do not know live the full ranking or the points received by each country. Only the 10 qualified countries are revealed in random order. It will be on Saturday, after the grand final, when the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) publishes the detailed results breakdown.

Relive the performances from the first semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest 2026.

Relive the first semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 below

What has the format of the first semifinal of Eurovision 2026 been like?

The first semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 began at 21:00 CEST from the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna. The show opened with a tribute to the 70 years of the Eurovision Song Contest, especially highlighting Austria’s role in the competition. In 1967, Vienna hosted its first European contest, and one of the most prominent names was Vicky Leandros.

The singer returned to the Eurovision stage to take us back to the beginnings of the Eurovision Song Contest. She represented Luxembourg in Vienna 1967 with «L’amour Est Bleu» (4th place with 17 points), a song that became a worldwide hit. For this occasion, she opted for a new arrangement that served as the opening of the semifinal, accompanied by a 70-member choir.

After the competitive performances, along with the exhibition acts from Italy and Germany, voting was opened for viewers from the participating broadcasters, together with those from the “rest of the world” (which count as an additional country). Let us remember that the online voting has a fixed cost of €0.99 per vote through the new platform vote.eurovision.com. Meanwhile, the jury decision was determined during the jury show this Monday, May 11, during the second dress rehearsal of the semifinal.

During the voting period, the Austrian broadcaster ORF presented a special performance by hosts Victoria Swarovski and Michael Ostrowski together with the Australian representative Go-Jo, in which they attempted to distinguish Austria from Australia in the song «Opposites». They also featured a performance by the acrobatic group Zurcaroh.

The semifinal closed with the expected announcement of the ten finalists for the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2026. After the changes introduced in the previous edition regarding the reveal of qualifiers using a three-screen system, in 2026 the classic format has returned, in which the hosts simply announce the ten most-voted countries of the semifinal.