The ESC final 2026 starts on May 16th at 9 p.m. in Vienna. Here you can find the starting order of all 25 acts – including times and Sarah Engel’s performance for Germany.
The ESC final will take place on Saturday, May 16th in Vienna. The music competition starts at 9 p.m. Many viewers are wondering when which country will perform their song. Germany is coming in second this year.
It is not clear when exactly which acts will play – as there will be breaks in moderation, clips and spontaneous delays. However, the order of the acts is fixed. Denmark starts at 9:16 p.m.; Accordingly, Sarah Engels, who is running for Germany, would have her turn at around 9:20 p.m.
The starting order at a glance
- 1. Denmark – Søren Torpegaard Lund (21:16)
- 2. Germany – Sarah Engels (21:20)
- 3. Israel – Noam Bettan (21:24)
- 4. Belgium – ESSYLA (21:28)
- 5. Albania – Alis (21:32)
- 6. Greece – Akylas (21:36)
- 7. Ukraine – LELEKA (21:40)
- 8. Australia – Delta Goodrem (21:44)
- 9. Serbia – LAVINA (21:48)
- 10. Malta – AIDAN (21:52)
- 11. Czech Republic – Daniel Žižka (21:56)
- 12. Bulgaria – DARA (10:00 p.m.)
- 13. Croatia – LELEK (22:04)
- 14. United Kingdom – Look Mum No Computer (22:08)
- 15. France – Monroe (22:12)
- 16. Moldova – Satoshi (22:16)
- 17. Finland – Linda Lampenius & Pete Parkkonen (22:20)
- 18. Poland – Alicja (22:24)
- 19. Lithuania – Lion Ceccah (22:28)
- 20. Sweden – FELICIA (22:32)
- 21. Cyprus – Antigoni (22:36)
- 22. Italy – Sal Da Vinci (22:40)
- 23. Norway – Jonas Lovv (22:44)
- 24. Romania – Alexandra Căpitănescu (22:48)
- 25. Austria – COSMÓ (22:52)
The exact winning times are difficult to predict – in recent years the result has usually been determined around 12:45 a.m. or 1:00 a.m.
Early appearance as a disadvantage?
The early start is not necessarily an advantage for Germany. Because after that, many more candidates follow, and many viewers have already forgotten the first appearances. The audience voting could be worse as a result.
Germany is far behind in the betting odds anyway. The current top favorites are Linda Lampenius & Pete Parkkonen from Finland, Akylas from Greece and in third place Søren Torpegaard Lund for Denmark – at least according to the fan polls on eurovisionworld.com.
Voting at the ESC is the same as in previous years: a jury of music professionals awards individual points that make up 50% of the overall rating. The remaining 50% is determined by the audience via phone call or text message.
