RTBF has announced that Simon Nakhimovitch will represent Belgium at Eurovision Young Musicians 2026 in Yerevan.
19-year-old Simon Nakhimovitch will represent Belgium this June at Eurovision Young Musicians 2026 in Armenia. The marimba player was selected by a jury from nine musicians who performed as part of the Belgian national final, which took place yesterday behind closed doors in the Flagey Arts Centre in Brussels.
Simon is currently studying his bachelor’s degree at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, and is also taking conducting lessons at the Luxembourg City Conservatory. This will be the first time that Simon will compete in an international competition, but he is no stranger to performing with large orchestras. He has previously performed a number of pieces alongside the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra.
Eurovision Young Musicians
Eurovision Young Musicians 2026 will take place on June 6 in Yerevan. This will be the third time that a Eurovision contest has been held in the city. To date, the following countries have confirmed participation:
- 🇦🇲 Armenia: AMPTV
- 🇧🇪 Belgium: RTBF – Simon Nakhimovitch
- 🇨🇾 Cyprus: CyBC
- 🇨🇿 Czechia: ČT
- 🇩🇪 Germany: WDR
- 🇱🇻 Latvia: LSM
- 🇵🇱 Poland: TVP
- 🇵🇹 Portugal: RTP – Beatriz Li Rosão
- 🇷🇸 Serbia: RTS
- 🇸🇪 Sweden: SVT – Edward Ahlbeck Glader
ORF of Austria and NRK of Norway, who competed in the 2024 contest, have both withdrawn from the contest, while France Télévisions of France and SRF of Switzerland have not confirmed publicly whether they will be competing.
Eurovision Young Musicians is a contest for musicians between the ages of 12 and 21. It has been held since 1982, as the first spin-off contest of the Eurovision Song Contest. The event celebrated its 20th edition in 2022, when Montpellier hosted the competition.
A total of 42 countries have competed over 21 editions of the contest. Norway has competed in 20 out of the 21 contests, tied with Austria. Austria is the most successful country, having won six editions and competed in 17 finals. Leonhard Baumgartner from Austria is the latest winner of the contest, taking victory in Bodø in 2024.
Source: RTBF
