Today, the 95th General Assembly of the European Broadcasting Union commences, while the songs competing in the Estonian and Latvian Eurovision 2026 selections will be released.
95th European Broadcasting Union General Assembly – Day One
The 95th General Assembly of the European Broadcasting Union will commence today in Geneva. The meeting brings together the member broadcasters of the European Broadcasting Union, with two General Assemblies held each year.
As part of the 95th General Assembly, the European Broadcasting Union will present new rules for the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 to its members. These changes are:
- Acts and broadcasters are not allowed to actively engage in, facilitate or contribute to promotional campaigns by third parties.
- The number of votes the public can cast per device has been reduced from 20 to 10.
- Juries have returned to the semi-finals for the first time since 2022.
- The size and make-up of the juries has changed. Juries will now be formed of seven jurors, of which at least two of the jurors must now be aged between 18 and 25 years old. The professions that are eligible for being a juror have also been expanded.
- The EBU will work with its voting partner Once to expand the Eurovision Song Contest security systems, “which detect and prevent fraudulent or coordinated voting activity, and strengthen monitoring of suspicious patterns to maintain trust in the results of the audience vote”.
At the meeting, members “will be asked to consider this package of measures and safeguards and decide if they are sufficient to meet their concerns around participation without having a vote on the topic.” The EBU has confirmed that should the members “believe that the measures are not sufficient there will be a vote on who is allowed to compete“.
Going into the General Assembly, a number of broadcasters have stated their intention to withdraw from the contest should Israel be allowed to compete in Eurovision 2026 in Vienna. The broadcasters who have shared this position are:
- 🇮🇸 Iceland: RÚV – The Board of the Icelandic broadcaster will call on Israel to be banned from the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 at the General Assembly. RÚV will determine whether it will participate in Eurovision 2026 after the General Assembly.
- 🇮🇪 Ireland: RTÉ – The Irish broadcaster will withdraw should Israel be allowed to compete.
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands: AVROTROS – The Dutch broadcaster stated in September that it could not justify Israel’s continued participation given the situation in Gaza and cites Israeli government interference in the 2025 contest.
- 🇸🇮 Slovenia: RTVSLO – The Slovenian broadcaster views Israel’s participation as inconsistent with EBU and Eurovision rules and values, and will withdraw from the contest should Israel be allowed to compete.
- 🇪🇸 Spain: RTVE – The Spanish broadcaster has stated it believes the rule changes outlined are insufficient and that Israel’s participation is untenable. It will withdraw from the contest if Israel is allowed to compete.
Additionally, RTBF and VRT of Belgium will decide on participation after the General Assembly. In contrast, ORF, the Austrian host broadcaster, of Eurovision 2026, has stated it wishes to see Israel participate.
🇪🇪 Estonia: Eesti Laul 2026 – ‘Eesti Laul 2026. Start’ – 19:00 CET
The twelve songs competing in Eesti Laul 2026 are set to be revealed during Eesti Laul 2026. Start this evening.
The Estonian broadcaster ERR will reveal the 12 songs competing in Eesti Laul 2026 this evening. The songs will be revealed during Eesti Laul 2026. Start which will be presented by korea and Karl-Erik Taukar. During the show, snippets of the songs will be revealed, while the full songs will be released on the ERR website.
The 12 participants are:
- NOËP – “Days like this”
- Grete Paia – “Taevas jäi üles” (The sky remains above)
- Marta Pikani – “Kell kuus” (At six o’clock)
- Ollie – “Slave”
- Uliana Olhyna – “Rhythm of Nature”
- Vanilla Ninja – “Too Epic to Be True”
- ANT x Minimal Wind – “Wounds (Don’t Wanna Fall)”
- Clicherik & Mäx – “Jolly Roger”
- Getter Jaani – “The Game”
- Laura Prits – “Warrior”
- Robert Linna – “Metsik roos” (Wild rose)
- Stockholm Cowboys – Stig Rästa, Victor Crone – “Last Man Standing”
Watch the show live on ETV here.
Eesti Laul 2026 will be held on February 14 in the Unibet Arena in Tallinn. As in previous years, the winner will be determined in two rounds. In the first round, three songs will be selected through a combination of jury voting and televote. In the superfinal, the winner will be chosen solely by televote. The jury for the final will consist of at least seven members, including international music experts actively involved in the making, publishing, or teaching of pop music.
🇱🇻 Latvia: Supernova 2026 – Songs Release
The 24 songs that are competing in the Latvian selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 will be released today.
LSM will release the songs competing in Supernova, the Latvian selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. The 24 participants were revealed on November 20. Since then, 12 songs have already been released.
The Supernova 2026 participants are:
- Agnesse – “Oh My My”
- Aivo Oskis – “Walking Out”
- Antra Stafecka – “Divejāda” (Dual)
- Atvara – “Ēnā” (In the shade)
- Blurie – “Lovin’ Always Gets Me Down”
- Daba – “Panic Attack”
- De Mantra – “Let Them”
- Edvards Strazdiņš – “I Ain’t Got The Guts”
- ELPO – “Blakus” (Beside)
- Emilija – “All We Ever Had”
- Honey Blue – “Blue Disco”
- Ivo Grīsniņš Grīslis – “Home”
- Jānis Rugājs – “Smoke”
- Kautkaili – “Te un tagad” (Here and now)
- Krisy – “Take It”
- KRISTĪNE MEGIJA – “Insanity”
- LEGZDINA – “Ribbon”
- Miks Galvanovskis – “Cruel Angel”
- NOLARK – “Different Places”
- Papīra lidmašīnas – “You’re My Saviour”
- PAULA – “Dejot vien” (Just dancing)
- Robert Ox – “Ravin’ At The Taj Mahal”
- TIKASHA SAKAMA – “#010126 CODA”
- Vēstnieks – “Vai tas ir kāds brīnums?” (Is this some kind of miracle?)
Supernova’s format for the 2026 contest has changed compared to previous years. The semi-finals will take place on January 31 and February 7, while the final will take place on February 14. Across the two semi-finals, 10 entries will qualify for the final. A wildcard can also be awarded to one entry that did not originally qualify for the final, enabling 11 entries to compete in the final.
Image source: EBU
