Today we received the sad news that Dries Holten passed away on April 15. Dries is better known as Andres, who achieved great fame as half of the duo Sandra & Andres. The duo got together in 1966 and sang together until 1975. After that Andres continued as half of the duo Rosy & Andres, and in the early eighties with Debbie & Andres. In 1969 Andres also had a solo hit in the Netherlands, “Zij is verliefd op een frikandel”.
In 1972 Sandra & Andres participated in the Eurovision Song Contest for the Netherlands and reached fourth place. Four years later, Rosy & Andres also took part in the national final with the song “I was born to love”. The duo did not win.
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Weekly update: Confirmations, Host City Bids & National Finals
Another weekly update comes up. This time we tell you more about confirmations, host city bids and national finals. Countries Confirmed for Eurovision 2026 Three more countries have officially confirmed their participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026. The United Kingdom, Serbia, and Malta have all announced that they will compete in next year’s contest in Austria. Each country’s broadcaster has affirmed that they will send an entry to Eurovision 2026. These confirmations continue to build excitement as more nations sign up for the 70th edition of the contest. Host City Selection Update Austria has started preparations for Eurovision 2026. ORF, the country’s national broadcaster, met with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) in Vienna this week to begin organizing next year’s contest. ORF confirmed that it will announce the host city on August 8, 2025. Several Austrian cities have already entered the race to host the event. Vienna, which hosted in 2015, is among the candidates, along with Graz, Innsbruck, Linz (in a joint bid with nearby Wels), St. Pölten, Oberwart, and Ebreichsdorf. Each city has expressed strong interest and is currently preparing detailed proposals. Fans and organizers alike are now counting down to August 8, when ORF will reveal which city will welcome the Eurovision Song Contest in 2026. National Final News Several countries are starting to plan how they will select their Eurovision 2026 entries. They will have a mix of national finals and song submission processes. Key updates from this week include: 🇲🇹 Malta: Malta’s broadcaster PBS has announced it will hold a national selection for Eurovision 2026. The Malta Eurovision Song Contest (MESC) will be held to choose Malta’s entry (Eurovoix). 🇦🇹 Austria: Austria is looking to organize a televised national final to pick its 2026 act. According to Kleine Zeitung, an ORF spokesperson stated that the 2026 representative will not be chosen internally, paving the way for Austria’s first public selection since 2016 (Kleine Zeitung). 🇪🇸 Spain: Spain has opened song submissions for Benidorm Fest 2026, its national selection event. RTVE (the Spanish broadcaster) began accepting entries on June 5, 2025 (Eurovoix, June 5, 2025). Spanish artists and songwriters have the chance to submit songs for Eurovision 2026. 🇮🇹 Italy: Italy’s famous Festival di Sanremo 2026 has confirmed its dates. The festival will take place from February 24 to 28, 2026, slightly later than usual to avoid overlapping with the Winter Olympics (Quotidiano.net, June 2025). These dates were announced to ensure Sanremo – which often determines Italy’s Eurovision act – does not conflict with other major events. Each of these developments shows how countries are gearing up early for Eurovision 2026. With more participants confirmed, host city bids in progress, and national finals being planned, the road to Eurovision 2026 is already taking shape. We all can look forward to further updates in the coming weeks as Europe prepares for another exciting song contest season. We will keep you updated next week with another weekly update. Share
June 10, 2025
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