Eurovision 2026: All about the Grand Final

The 69th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest culminates tonight. 25 songs will be performed, and after four hours of music, performances, entertainment and excitement, we'll know the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2026.

The show starts at 21:00 CEST, broadcast live from Wiener Stadthalle, Austria, and can be streamed on YouTube. The hosts are Victoria Swarovski, Michael Ostrowski, and Emily Busvine (Green Room). The running order has been decided by the Austrian broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF) based on an allocation draw.

The qualified countries are:

• Top-10 from Semi-final 1
• Top-10 from Semi-final 2
• Big-4 (France, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy)
• Last year's winner (Austria)

Lineup Eurovision 2026 Grand Final

Opening: Mozart and Flag Parade

The Grand Final opens with a short film looking back at Eurovision Song Contest 2025 and JJ’s victory in Basel. We then follow the paper boat from his winning performance as it makes its way from Basel to Vienna, travelling through rivers, streets and across the Austrian countryside before finally arriving at the Wiener Stadthalle.

Inside Wiener Stadthalle, the ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien performs "The Queen of the Night" from The Magic Flute as JJ appears on stage to perform his new single, "Unknown".

Flag Parade

The traditional Flag Parade introduces the 25 finalists competing in this year’s Grand Final. As each country is announced, a giant national flag appears on the main screen, while the artists walk on the catwalk from the main stage to the Green Room.

After the 10th country (Malta), last year’s winner JJ returns to the stage to perform "Wasted Love". The arena is bathed in red light as dancers and acrobats in red and white costumes perform both on stage and high above the audience.

The parade then continues as the remaining finalists make their way down the catwalk to the green room. At the end of the performance, JJ rises above the stage on a platform to deliver the final chorus.

The hosts Victoria Swarovski and Michael Ostrowski welcome us all. They go through the formal "how to vote" part in both English and French:

Start voting now!

Unlike in the Semi-finals, viewers can vote for their favourite songs from the very beginning of the performances. It is now time for the first country to take the stage: Denmark.

Commercial Breaks

After song number 7 (Ukraine), the evening's first commercial break takes place. For viewers without commercials, a pre-recorded video features host Victoria as “Professor Eurovision”, taking us through some Eurovision history. This time, it is about the most successful Eurovision songs of all time. Looking at points, winning margins, record sales and streaming figures, she explores some of the Contest’s most successful entries.

After song number 15 (France), the second commercial break takes place. Victoria and Michael tell us about Junior Eurovision 2026, which will take place in Malta in October, and show a clip of Lou Deleuze's winning song "Ce Monde" from JESC 2025. The hosts also introduce the new Eurovision Asia, which will be held in Bangkok in November.

After song number 22 (Italy), the third commercial break takes place. Michael introduces a pre-recorded video showcasing the city of Vienna and some of the many events and activities taking place during Eurovision week, including the volunteers, side events and the Turquoise Carpet.

Interval Acts

The hosts advise us to vote for our favourite songs, and the first recap of all 25 performances is shown.

Interval 1: Celebration!

The first interval act of the night is called Celebration! in which a selection of Eurovision all-stars performs songs from the Contest’s history:

Lordi (Finland 2006) • Alexander Rybak (Norway 2009 & 2018) • Ruslana (Ukraine 2004) • Verka Serduchka (Ukraine 2007) • Max Mutzke (Germany 2004) • Kristian Kostov (Bulgaria 2017) • Erika Vikman (Finland 2025) • Miriana Conte (Malta 2025)

...performs a mashup of iconic Eurovision entries:

All Kinds of Everything • Espresso Macchiato • Cha Cha Cha • Rim Tim Tagi Dim • Papa Pingouin • Arcade • Ne partez pas sans moi • Save Your Kisses for Me • Dschinghis Khan • Mon amour • Euphoria • Congratulations • Waterloo • Nel blu dipinto di blu

...unfortunately, the vocals are pre-recorded.

After this another recap followed by promotion of Eurovision merchandise.

Interval 2: Parov Stelar

The second interval act is dedicated to electro swing.

Parov Stelar is an Austrian musician, producer and DJ, widely regarded as one of the pioneers of the electro swing genre. He combines elements of jazz, swing and big band music with modern electronic beats.

After Parov Stelar, another commercial break takes place.. During the commercial break we're back with "Professor Eurovision", taking us through some Eurovision history. This time, the focus is on the many different voting rules that have been used throughout Eurovision history.

And then we'll have the last recap. This time in reverse order.

Stop voting now!

Interval 3: César Sampson

The voting lines are now closed, and a video clip shows Billy Joel telling what his song "Vienna" means. On stage is now César Sampson (Austria 2018) performing a version of "Vienna".

Once that’s a wrap, a very short montage featuring all the Eurovision winners is shown to the tune of "Rise Like a Phoenix".

Results

We're back on the main stage where Victoria Swarovski and Michael Ostrowski are ready for the big voting sequence.

Jury Results

Each of the 35 countries participating in Eurovision 2026 has a jury that decides half of the result. The juries' points are given by a spokesperson from each country, where only the 12 points will be announced orally.

Televoting Results

All televotes from the 35 countries, as well as the online votes from "rest of the world," are bundled and announced for each receiving country. Starting with the country with the least points from the juries.

AND THE WINNER OF EUROVISION 2026 IS...

🏆

Voting

The voting procedure follows the same recipe as the last three years.

Each participating country will have two sets of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 12 points to give. One set for each country's jury, and one set for each country's televoting. The "rest of the world" online votes will have the same weight as one participating country.

• Each of the 35 countries participating in this year's Eurovision will vote.
• Each country has a national jury who gave one set of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 12 points.
• Each country will have televoting, which also results in a set of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 12 points.
• Online voting "rest of the world" has the same weight as one participating country: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 12 points.
• First, the juries' points will be presented individually by a spokesperson from each country.
• Secondly, the points from televoting will be bundled and given combined.
• The national juries voted yesterday evening (Friday, 15 May) during the second dress rehearsal.
• If two or more songs have the same points, the winner of the tie is the song with the highest ranking from the televoting and "rest of the world".

Shortly after the Grand Final, the detailed results, voting and points will be revealed.