The Austrian host broadcaster of Eurovision 2026 is providing sign language recordings of all of the acts competing in this year’s contest in Vienna, Austria.
ORF is recording sign language versions of 35 songs competing in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026, which will be available to all EBU member broadcasters. This is the first time that a host broadcaster is making available sign language coverage to all EBU members to use as part of their broadcasts of the Eurovision Song Contest, and is part of ORF’s push to make this year’s contest the most accessible to date.
Six international deaf performers have been selected by ORF to record the performances between April 20 and 25, they are: Alice Hu Xiaoshu (Shanghai), Amanda Jovanovic (Vienna), Anja Burghardt (Linz), Carina Kilinc (Vienna), David Obermaier (Graz), and Julia Kulda Hroch (Berlin). They will work with Delil Yilmaz and Magdalena Schramek to ensure each of the sign language performers gets across each nation’s performance at the competition.
As part of its coverage, ORF will air the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 with sign language coverage on ORF 2 Europe and its online platform ORF ON.
Eurovision 2026
As announced by the EBU in August, the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 will be held in Vienna following JJ’s victory for Austria with “Wasted Love” in Basel. 35 countries are set to take part. 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 in the Wiener Stadthalle, the same venue used in 2015, which can accommodate up to 16,000 spectators.
The 70th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Vienna on May 12, 14, and 16, 2026.
Source: OTS / ORF
