Eurovision 2026 will be the edition with the fewest participants since 2004. Only 35 countries agreed to participate in a year marked by the expulsion of Israel. Five countries, Spain, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Iceland and Ireland, decided at the beginning of December despite competition not to approve the presence of a country that an independent commission mandated by the UN considers to be the author of genocide.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) saved its aces at the last minute by calling on 35 countries on a list officially announced this month. Since several low points have been announced for the 2026 edition, the festival organizer has been working to reach countries withdrawn for years to increase the number of participants and reach a sufficient number to celebrate the semi-finals and the final in May 2026.
Of all the participants or potential new participants, they only agreed to return to Eurovision in Russia, Bulgaria and Moldova after agreeing with the EBU on the necessary economic conditions, in particular the contribution that must be paid to the EBU in terms of participation and broadcasting rights.
These are very important races for the competition. The Netherlands is one of its founding members. Spain is part of the Big Five and has never missed this event since its debut in 1961. And Ireland is one of its great powers, one of the countries with the most victories in its history (seven, tied with Sweden).
15 countries will participate in the first semi-final, on May 12, and a further 15 in the second, on May 14, with the remaining four Big Five countries and host Austria advancing directly to the final on May 16.
Among the measures approved at the beginning of the month, which mean that the expulsion of Israel will not be voted on, we see that the professional jury will vote again in the semi-final.
Spanish viewers will be able to follow the final on YouTube and vote, although the overall score of their votes will be a mix, which will be part of the “rest of countries” category, but will not participate in this edition.
This Saturday, Spain participated in Junior Eurovision after announcing its departure from the senior competition. Gonzalo Pinillos and his theme Clear una vez (Once upon a time) who occupied fifth place before another victory in France. RTVE has not yet announced whether it will return to the children’s version of the festival, in which Israel does not participate.
Here is the full list of public television channels that will participate in Eurovision 2026:
RTSH (Albania)
AMPTV (Armenia)
SBS (Australia)
ORF (Austria)
İctimai (Azerbaijan)
RTBF (Belgium)
BNT (Bulgaria)
HRT (Croatia)
CyBC (Cyprus)
ČT (Czech Republic)
DR (Denmark)
TRE (Estonia)
YLE (Finland)
FT (France)
GPB (Georgia)
ARD/SWR (Germany)
ERT (Greece)
KAN (Israel)
RAI (Italy)
LSM (Latvia)
LRT (Lithuania)
RTL (Luxembourg)
PBS (Malta)
TRM (Moldova)
RTCG (Montenegro)
TVR (Romania)
NRK (Norway)
TVP (Poland)
RTP (Portugal)
SMRTV (San Marino)
RTS (Serbia)
SVT (Sweden)
SRG SSR (Switzerland)
Suspilné (Ukraine)
BBC (UK)
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