🇦🇹 Eurovision 2026: EBU Extends Participation Confirmation Deadline to Mid-December

The EBU has confirmed that the deadline for broadcasters to confirm their participation without suffering a financial penalty for Eurovision 2026 is mid-December.

The EBU has confirmed to ESC Today that the deadline for broadcasters to confirm their participation without suffering a financial penalty for Eurovision 2026 has been extended  from October 13 to mid-December.

This decision was taken by the Eurovision Song Contest Reference Group and means that the official list of competing countries will likely be published at some point post mid-December. This would be in line with 2024 and 2025, which saw the official list of competing countries published on December 5 and 12, respectively. With the comment, there will be no effect on the overall planning of the contest due to this change.

The full statement from the EBU and Martin Green, the Director of the Eurovision Song Contest, to ESC Today is as follows:

“Previously announced in July, we are currently undertaking a wide-ranging consultation with our Member broadcasters around participation in the Eurovision Song Contest.

While this is ongoing, we want to provide broadcasters with additional flexibility and clarity in finalizing their application to take part in next year’s event.

To facilitate this, the Eurovision Song Contest Reference Group, the event’s governing body, has agreed to offer broadcasters the option to confirm their participation at the latest by mid-December.

This is simply a procedural matter and has no effect on the overall planning for the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna next May.” 

A total of 19 countries have publicly expressed their interest in competing in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest so far:

•  Albania
•  Austria
•  Cyprus
•  Denmark
•  Finland
•  Germany
•  Greece
•  Israel
•  Latvia
•  Lithuania
•  Luxembourg
•  Malta
•  Netherlands
•  Norway
•  Serbia
•  Spain
•  Sweden
•  Switzerland
• 🇺🇦 Ukraine
•  United Kingdom

Eurovision 2026

The Eurovision Song Contest 2026 will be held in Vienna following JJ’s victory for Austria with “Wasted Love” in Basel. Both semi-finals are scheduled for May 12 and 14, while the Grand Final will take place on May 16. The contest will be hosted at the Wiener Stadthalle, the same venue used in 2015, which can accommodate up to 16,000 spectators.

Image source: ORF/EBU | Source: ESCtoday