🇸🇪 News from the HoD meeting

Today, there is some interesting news from the Head of Delegation meeting. This meeting took place today, and some decisions are made about the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest:

Iceland

It was a big questionmark whether Iceland was going to take part or not. Icelandic broadcaster RUV stated that they, together with the artist, would make a decision. Icelandic artists expressed serious concern about their country taking part in a contest with Israel being there.
The decision now made is that Iceland will take part. Big releave for singer Hera Björk, who now will for sure represent her country.

Marcus & Martinus

Always, the place for the host country gets drawn at the HoD meeting. So this time, it was decided where Sweden would perform in the final. And the result is: they will open it! In 1984, Sweden opened the show too and won. Is it an omen?

Big Five

For the very first time, the artists from the Big Five countries – France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom – and host nation Sweden will each perform their entries in full live during the Semi-Finals. In other years, a part of the rehearsals was shown, but never the entire performance. Longer ago, even that didn’t happen and only a part of the video was shown.

The voting

A new feature for Malmö 2024 includes extending the timeframe for voting during the Grand Final.

Voting will start just before the first song is performed on Saturday, 11 May. This allows viewers to vote for the songs in real-time as they are being performed, a departure from the traditional method where voting commenced after all the entries were showcased. This approach was the standard since the introduction of public voting in 1997, with the exceptions of 2010 and 2011 when voting opened at the show’s start.

Moreover, fans from countries not competing (Rest of The World) will be given almost 24 hours to vote for their preferred songs before the start of each live show. For these international fans, online voting will be available right after the conclusion of the second dress rehearsal for each Semi-Final and the Grand Final, continuing until the commencement of the live broadcasts.

Related news

Eurovision 2026

Weekly Update

It’s Tuesday, January 27, 2026, and time for another Eurovision 2026 weekly update. This week brought two new confirmed entries for Vienna. NF season also moved forward in several countries. We also saw fresh news about Loreen and Eurovision In Concert in Amsterdam. It’s Tuesday, January 27, 2026. Time for another Eurovision 2026 weekly update. Israel and Luxembourg have chosen their acts for Vienna. Bulgaria’s NF moves to the final. San Marino has started its casting shows. Loreen and Eurovision in Concert also made headlines. New Entries 🇮🇱 Israel has picked Noam Bettan for Eurovision 2026. He won the talent show HaKokhav HaBa on January 20 in Neve Ilan. Israel will announce his Eurovision song later. 🇱🇺 Luxembourg selected Eva Marija in the Luxembourg Song Contest. The NF took place on January 24 at Rockhall in Esch-sur-Alzette. Eva Marija won with “Mother Nature”. She will represent Luxembourg in Vienna. National Finals 🇧🇬 Bulgaria opened its NF with a semi-final on January 24 in Sofia. Eight artists qualified for the final: Dara, Innerglow, Kerana & Cosmonauts, Mihaela Marinova, Molec, Mona, Preyah and Roksana. BNT will air the final on January 31 from BNT Studio 1. The show starts at 20:00 CET. A five-member jury and online voting will choose the winning artist. 🇨🇿 Czechia is still waiting to reveal its 2026 artist and song. ČT has said it plans a January announcement, but it has not shared a date yet. Fans have started to guess online, especially with the month almost over. 🇸🇲 San Marino has launched the Dreaming San Marino Song Contest. SMRTV shows the castings from Monday to Saturday at 19:15 on channel 550. The broadcaster says it received over 800 applications from 48 countries. The castings run until February 1. Next, the Stage & Live Academy runs from February 13–15. The San Marino Song Contest final is set for March 6. Other News Loreen teased a new project with projections in Berlin, London and Paris. The visuals show the date February 20. Her official website also shows a countdown that ends at 00:00 CET on February 22. (source: Eurovoix) Eurovision in Concert confirmed its first act for 2026. Tamara Živković will perform “Nova Zora” at AFAS Live in Amsterdam on April 11. The event shared the news on Instagram: Instagram EIC Agenda January 31 Sweden Semifinal 20:00 CET SVT Play January 31 Lithuania Semifinal 20:00 CET LRT and YouTube January 31 Bulgaria Final 20:00 CET BNT January 31 Latvia Semifinal 20:00 CET LTV Next week Next week should bring more national decisions and more confirmed entries. Bulgaria chooses its artist on January 31. San Marino continues its casting shows until February 1. Czechia also still has a few days left for its promised January reveal.

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Eurovision 2026
Martijn

Weekly Update

It’s Tuesday, January 27, 2026, and time for another Eurovision 2026 weekly update. This week brought two new confirmed entries for Vienna. NF season also moved forward in several countries. We also saw fresh news about Loreen and Eurovision In Concert in Amsterdam. It’s Tuesday, January 27, 2026. Time for another Eurovision 2026 weekly update. Israel and Luxembourg have chosen their acts for Vienna. Bulgaria’s NF moves to the final. San Marino has started its casting shows. Loreen and Eurovision in Concert also made headlines. New Entries 🇮🇱 Israel has picked Noam Bettan for Eurovision 2026. He won the talent show HaKokhav HaBa on January 20 in Neve Ilan. Israel will announce his Eurovision song later. 🇱🇺 Luxembourg selected Eva Marija in the Luxembourg Song Contest. The NF took place on January 24 at Rockhall in Esch-sur-Alzette. Eva Marija won with “Mother Nature”. She will represent Luxembourg in Vienna. National Finals 🇧🇬 Bulgaria opened its NF with a semi-final on January 24 in Sofia. Eight artists qualified for the final: Dara, Innerglow, Kerana & Cosmonauts, Mihaela Marinova, Molec, Mona, Preyah and Roksana. BNT will air the final on January 31 from BNT Studio 1. The show starts at 20:00 CET. A five-member jury and online voting will choose the winning artist. 🇨🇿 Czechia is still waiting to reveal its 2026 artist and song. ČT has said it plans a January announcement, but it has not shared a date yet. Fans have started to guess online, especially with the month almost over. 🇸🇲 San Marino has launched the Dreaming San Marino Song Contest. SMRTV shows the castings from Monday to Saturday at 19:15 on channel 550. The broadcaster says it received over 800 applications from 48 countries. The castings run until February 1. Next, the Stage & Live Academy runs from February 13–15. The San Marino Song Contest final is set for March 6. Other News Loreen teased a new project with projections in Berlin, London and Paris. The visuals show the date February 20. Her official website also shows a countdown that ends at 00:00 CET on February 22. (source: Eurovoix) Eurovision in Concert confirmed its first act for 2026. Tamara Živković will perform “Nova Zora” at AFAS Live in Amsterdam on April 11. The event shared the news on Instagram: Instagram EIC Agenda January 31 Sweden Semifinal 20:00 CET SVT Play January 31 Lithuania Semifinal 20:00 CET LRT and YouTube January 31 Bulgaria Final 20:00 CET BNT January 31 Latvia Semifinal 20:00 CET LTV Next week Next week should bring more national decisions and more confirmed entries. Bulgaria chooses its artist on January 31. San Marino continues its casting shows until February 1. Czechia also still has a few days left for its promised January reveal.

Read More »
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