VIENNA 2026
Eurovision 2026: Who's in which Semi-final?
See the result of the Semi-final draw for the Eurovision Song Contest 2026. The draw determined what countries will perform in each of the two Semi-finals
SEMI-FINAL 1
12 May 2026
VOTE IN SEMI-FINAL 1:
SEMI-FINAL 2
14 May 2026
VOTE IN SEMI-FINAL 2:
The running order of the Semi-finals will be decided later by the producer of Eurovision 2026, Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF), and approved by the EBU.
The allocation draw took place on 12 January 2026 in Vienna's city hall, Wiener Rathaus.
Facts about the Semi-final draw
- 35 countries are participating in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026.
- Five of the countries are pre-qualified for the Grand Final (Big-4 and Austria).
- The 30 countries were distributed into five allocation draw pots based on the voting pattern between them to avoid too much neighbor voting.
- After a country was drawn, a second draw determined whether that country will participate in the first or second part of the Semi-final.
- The five countries pre-qualified for the Grand Final (Big-4 and Austria) were also drawn to decide which Semi-final these countries will vote in.
- The final running order will be decided later by the Austrian producer ORF and approved by the EBU.
Allocation Draw Pots
To ensure fair voting and competition, the 30 semi-finalists were distributed into five Draw Pots, based on the voting pattern to avoid too much neighbour voting:
- Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, Switzerland
- Australia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Norway, Sweden
- Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Israel, Poland, Ukraine
- Belgium, Czechia, Luxembourg, Moldova, Portugal, Romania
- Cyprus, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, San Marino
How was the draw made?
The draw was divided into two parts:
1) Which pre-qualified countries vote in which Semi-final?
- The first part determined which of the five pre-qualified countries (Winner: Austria. Big-4: France, Germany, Italy, and UK) will vote in which of the two Semi-finals.
2) Who's in which Semi-final?
- The second part determined which of the two Semi-finals (and in which half) each country will compete in.
- The first five countries for Semi-final 1 were drawn: From each of the five allocation draw pots, a country was drawn, and after each country, a second draw determined if the country will perform in the first half or in the second half of Semi-final 1.
- The first five countries for Semi-final 2 were then drawn (same recipe as the five for Semi-final 1).
- This continued until each of the 30 countries had been allocated to one of the two Semi-finals.
