The official Eurovision social media accounts announced this morning that 35 countries will be participating in the 70th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. This will be the fewest participating countries since 2003, which only included 26 countries.
The good news is that this number includes three returning countries: Moldova, who were scheduled to participate in the 2025 contest but withdrew at the last minute; Romania, whose last participation was in 2023; and Bulgaria, whose last participation was in 2022. However, fans have been far more concerned with which countries are not participating.
Earlier this month, the European Broadcasting Union voted on whether or not Israel would participate in the 2026 contest in the wake of controversies surrounding voting practices and political climate. The participation of several countries depended on this consequential vote: If they voted “yes,” four countries—Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Big 5 member Spain—stated they would not participate, while if they voted “no,” Big 5 member Germany stated they would not participate. The EBU ultimately voted in favor of Israel’s participation. Following this decision, Iceland announced that they would join Ireland, Netherlands, Slovenia, and Spain in boycotting the 2026 contest. This will be the first contest since 2002 with no Netherlands, Ireland, or Iceland, since 1994 with no Slovenia, and, most drastically, since 1960 with no Spain.
Only one artist has been confirmed for the 2026 contest so far: Cyprus announced back in early November that London-born singer Antigoni will represent them in May. Her song will be released closer to the date Albania and Montenegro will choose their acts this weekend on the 20th and 21st respectively through their National Selections. Alis with the song “Nân” is currently leading the Eurovision World polls for who should win Festivali i Këngës while Tamara Živković with the song “Nova zora” is leading for who should win Montesong.
The 70th Eurovision Song Contest will take place on 12, 14, and 16 May 2026.
