Eurovision Song Contest 2026

Welsh Megaman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123886507#Comment_123886507

I’m sensing a lot of anger Fitz, but as for me…I don’t feel hate. 😎

And as mentioned in last year’s thread, this remix of ‘Baller’ is fifty times better than the original. Imagine if they performed this version in Basel… 😮

https://youtu.be/XSJ7kChv110?si=DQ2reIThsBPkj1Tx

Welsh Megaman

Don’t know if this is genuine or not, but I always feel you should trust what random Eurovision fans have said on X…

Oíche Na Gaoithe Móire

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123895465#Comment_123895465

Aimée of Crashing Down, 2013..

https://youtu.be/vqOgtf_VVFM?si=ywo_HLeiPbt-4VDw

yerwanthere123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123895465#Comment_123895465

Saw that earlier, I took it to be a joke. I'd say RTÉ are likely struggling to get anyone to apply this year, let alone having the lineup complete in October.

Famous Seamus

Ceasefire or not I'd be happier if RTÉ stuck to their guns and sat this one out, let's not forgets Israel's manipulation of the voting process over the last couple of years. Shame on those countries who don't have the guts to take take a stand against Israel, they'll say politics has no part in a song contest but it's always been a part of ESC.

Famous Seamus

Finding someone to represent Ireland in 2026 will be like the presidential election.

supereurope

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123895761#Comment_123895761

I suspect "we're all friends now again", Israel will win the vote and keep participating, all the countries that said they'd boycott will turn up and this period will be quietly forgotten.

Then the ceasefire will break, and it'll be 2024 all over again.

Strazdas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123896220#Comment_123896220

I don't think countries like Ireland, Spain, NL, Iceland and Slovenia will be able to back out on what they previously said. Israel are still being investigated for genocide by the ICJ and there is still an arrest warrant out for Netanyahu.

yerwanthere123

Vote to suspend Israel is cancelled, instead an "open discussion" will take place at the EBU general assembly in December. Could see this coming a mile off

https://x.com/ESCdiscord/status/1977748972639781239?t=Xdsu8VdE2pWW0rE3Im-COw&s=19

Israel will be there next year, just remains to be seen whether those who said they'd boycott will stick to it.

Kermit.de.frog

So long as a ceasefire is in place no one is going to want to rock the boat.

In those circumstances we should not exclude ourselves from anything just because Israel takes part.

However I think there should an EBU investigation and subsequent edict to all members around advertising in advance of the contest. What Israel did last year with publicity manipulation for it's entry may have been legal but it was definitely not in the spirit of the competition. Rules are needed otherwise the whole competition becomes just a bigger joke than it already is.

Strazdas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123902404#Comment_123902404

It's a tricky one. Might be best for protesting nations to announce nothing for the moment and see how the land lies in a month's time.

Israel's presence will still be toxic though ; if they are there, no doubt they will win the televote yet again. Not inconceivable they could even win the whole thing.

supereurope

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123902523#Comment_123902523

"We're all friends now." I called it. And if Israel breaks the ceasefire in, say, February 2026, they'll be the evil villains again, but by then it'll be too late to do anything about their participation in Vienna and we'll have another toxic contest. And, they will probably try to manipulate the televote again, which is grounds enough for them to be kicked out.

I'll find something else to do on 12/14/16 May.

saabsaab

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123902561#Comment_123902561

It should be grounds enough as is. If they are allowed again next year it will be the end of the ESC.

supereurope

Just a heads up Eurovision fans: Linda Martin will be on tonight's Late Late Show. She will be judging the Late Late Pet Hero of the Year. With likely no Irish Eurovision entry in 2026, I'm glad she's found a way to fill her time now she won't have to go to the papers to big up Louis Walsh's Eurosong act.

odyssey06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123913867#Comment_123913867

Are trained animals allowed in a Eurovision performance? Asking for a friend.

supereurope

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123913934#Comment_123913934

Live animals are banned from the Eurovision stage, which is a shame, because I suspect Linda knows some dogs that are young, good-looking and could go all the way…

adaminho

German Eurovision legend Bernd Meinunger a.k.a. John O'Flynn has died aged 81. Wrote 19 entries between 1979 and 2015 including Nicole's winner A bit of peace as well as Dschinghis Khan and Johnny Blue.

Welsh Megaman

RIP Bernd 😞

Still glorious nearly fifty years later…

https://youtu.be/xE2Z6eTOIRk?si=ggd0OphqJRUca9IX

supereurope

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123914084#Comment_123914084

RIP, 19 Eurovision contributions I think, with just one win (1982).

To anyone having a party tonight, raise a glass to Bernd.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TT9qfZCOb8c&list=RDTT9qfZCOb8c&start_radio=1

yerwanthere123

Romania and Bulgaria are confirmed back for 2026. It's quite clear the EBU are working overdrive to get as many back as possible to cushion any withdrawals. It's a shame they didn't work as hard to keep them in the competition in the first place though.

Strazdas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123951396#Comment_123951396

One wonders what sort of incentives they offered to get them back in. Their (EBU) working assumption appears to be that Israel will compete no matter what (a second assumption would be that this is the outcome they favour and that the potential boycotters are expendable).

supereurope

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123951396#Comment_123951396

I fully expected this, sadly. I even posted a few weeks back that the EBU was probably phoning everywhere from Bucharest to Bratislava with offers of no participation fees, debts cancelled, and maybe even flight tickets.

I think it's clear now. Israel will participate in 2026 for definite, and the EBU has made sure that there will still be two semi-finals even with Spain, Ireland, Netherlands etc gone.

I didn't watch the last two grand finals and I didn't die. Our lives will go on, and we'll find else to do.

supereurope

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123951849#Comment_123951849

Just saw this on Bluesky, I'm not the only one thinking that way:

yerwanthere123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123951975#Comment_123951975

Israel are participating whatever happens, I made peace with that a while ago. What remains to be seen is if those who boycott will stick to it.

Strazdas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123951980#Comment_123951980

It may even be simpler than that: offering them a huge reduction on their participation fee or even waiving the fee completely.

The next few weeks will be very interesting as will be the big meeting in December to supposedly decide Israel's fate. Either way, there would probably be ructions, no matter whether Israel stays in or was kicked out (it would appear Germany and Austria are doing everything to keep them in).

supereurope

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123953304#Comment_123953304

German guilt might be the reason Eurovision dies. We're paying for the sins of two or three generations ago.

yerwanthere123

Moldova confirmed back for 2026. Rumours abound that Macedonia will be back too, let's see.

supereurope

One of the side effects of the current situation regarding Israel and potential boycotts is that the contest appears to be shifting eastwards again. I remember 2007, when it seemed the former communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe were going to dominate Eurovision for years to come. That didn't materialise, partly due to the change in voting system in 2009, and by 2024, most of them had given up (for various reasons): Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Moldova, Bosnia & Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Bulgaria and Montenegro were all gone and Russia and Belarus had been kicked out. Turkey, while not one of the "new" post-1993 countries, departed as well.

It now feels with countries like Spain, Ireland and the Netherlands possibly leaving, Montenegro back this year and Romania, Moldova and Bulgaria all coming back in 2026, that it's starting to resemble 2007 again, and the only growth for the contest lies in Central and Eastern Europe. It's been known for years that Kazakhstan wants in, it'll be interesting if the EBU finally allows them in for 2026.

As others have said elsewhere, it's a shame the EBU didn't work this hard to bring countries back before the unpleasantness of recent years. It all just feels so obvious that the EBU wants two semi-finals in 2026 and "business as usual."

Rawr

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123962304#Comment_123962304

Kazakhstan is an interesting one geographically in that just like Turkey, a (relatively) small finger of their territory in the west is in fact European. If they are starting to move away from Kremlin domination, it might not be surprising to see them in Eurovision.

Personally I really wish they’d cut out this Two Semi-final nonsense and just run one night will all eligible nations, like they used to. I’m guessing the logic is to spread ad revenue over 3 nights instead of one, but the current format has kind of diluted the experience to the point where I don’t watch any of it. So in my case they’ve gone from one advert revenue night, to none.

LordBasil

I haven't a clue about what's going to happen re. Israel and potential boycotts by Ireland, Spain, Netherlands, Slovenia, Iceland & Belgium.

On one hand it could be seen that the EBU want as many eastern countries back to offset potential withdrawals by Ireland & Co or on the other it could be the case that it has nothing to do with the Israel situation and the EBU want as many countries as possible due to it being the landmark 70th ESC. Poorer countries returning will not be able to offset costs of losing big contributors like Spain and the Netherlands but they could lessen the cost of Israel being kicked out.

If Ireland does end up taking part, it is going to be very difficult for RTE to select an entry. Would they internally select again as a once-off or have a Eurosong competition later than the usual late Jan/early Feb editions of recent years?