Nine acts, one chance: On Saturday the audience will decide live who will represent Germany at the ESC 2026 in Vienna in May. All participants and voting information!
The ESC preliminary round will take place in Germany on Saturday, February 28th. This year, the ESC 2026 has the motto “United by Music” and is celebrating its 70th anniversary. The big final show will take place in May in the country of the last ESC winners – this year in Vienna. The preliminary decision is now about choosing the German contenders for the title.
How does the voting work?
Nine acts will present their songs in the “Eurovision Song Contest – The German Finale”. An international jury made up of experts from 20 ESC countries will select three favorites. Then it’s the spectators’ turn – the audience can vote for who can represent Germany in Vienna.
Where is the show?
The preliminary decision will take place on Saturday, February 28th at 8:15 p.m. and will be broadcast live from Berlin. The evening will be moderated by comedian Hazel Brugger, who entertained the big ESC finale in Switzerland last year, and entertainer Barbara Schöneberger, who has led the preliminary show in previous years. The show runs on Erste and can also be streamed in the ARD media library.
These participants will be there on Saturday
The best-known participant this year will probably be Sarah Engels, who was in the final of “Deutschland sucht den Superstar” in 2011 and was married to Pietro Lombardi for a time. She performs the song “Fire”.
Malou Lovis, the winner of the 13th season of “The Voice of Germany”, who already opened for Tokio Hotel, will perform “When I Am With You”.
Molly Sue, who also took part in “The Voice Kids” and “DSDS”, is trying to score points at the ESC with her emotional power pop song “Optimist (Ha Ha Ha)”.
The German-American MYLE wants to represent Germany in the final with guitar-heavy pop about mental health and hope.
Laura Nahr tries to convince the jury and audience with her song “Wonderland”.
Wavyboi combines rock star lifestyle with vulnerability and sings about queer identity and self-acceptance in “black glitter”.
The musician BELA sings in German and wants to compete with his song “Herz” about love and self-doubt.
The duo Ragazzki will also be at the start with “Ciao Ragazzki”, a mixture of Italo disco and Polska pop, as well as the indie pop group “Dreamboys The Band”, consisting of four singer-songwriters, with the song “Jeanie”.
Disappointment of the last few years
The expectations of this year’s German participants are high again. In recent years, Germany has had little success at the ESC: only 15th place in 2025, 12th place in 2024 – and in previous years they always ended up in the bottom three. Things should go better this year.
There will definitely be a great atmosphere on Saturday: the TV studio in Berlin will be full to create a real concert atmosphere. After the jury has chosen its top 3 acts, you can also vote for who should move into the ESC final for Germany on May 16th.
