Recommendations of the Editorial team
The barriers at the Wiener Stadthalle have been removed. The acts at the European Song Contest (ESC) from 35 European countries have mostly taken a chill break.
British malice after “Zero Points”
Meanwhile, in international media and in the social media cosmos, there is a turbulent coming to terms with it. In the UK in particular, the reaction to the “Zero Points” performance of storm hairstyle electronics company Look Mum, No Computer has been devastating. Comments like “What a dumpster fire” – literally: “What a dumpster fire”, i.e. total catastrophe – or “BBC didn’t want to boycott, so they decided to send this instead” confirm what many UK fans had already expected in advance. In a posting they politely apologized to Europe: “Honestly we are so awful…”
The ESC as a cultural barometer
In more analytical comments, the ESC 2026 was diagnosed as a “mirror of the European present”. Far more than just strange music, it was about identity politics, diaspora, soft power and digital mobilization. The competition has long functioned as a cultural barometer.
Added to this is the Spotify and TikTokization of pop. Many contributions today appear to be maximally data-optimized: the tracks are immediately understandable and are based on bright, internationally rollable hooks.
Outliers and streaming surprises
Nevertheless, there are outliers. The more traditional song “Per Semper Si” by Sal da Vinci from Naples, for example, is setting unimagined records on Spotify and the streaming competition.
Many fans are also discussing whether the ESC has finally broken away from its decades-long trash image. Bulgaria’s victory is seen as a symbol that it is no longer purely fun acts that win today, but rather hyper-professional works of art with a clear visual identity. The question behind it: Does this make the ESC more high-quality – or more sterile?
Folklore as a countermovement to streaming aesthetics
A striking number of highly placed ESC contributions once again worked with folkloric elements, ethnic sounds and national pomp – for example Croatia. Some commentators see this as a backlash against the interchangeable streaming aesthetic.
There is still debate in fan forums about whether the songwriting teams are now writing songs for 15-second clips instead of for the stage. Several posts appeared to be perfect social media snippets, but only function very poorly live. Germany has often been accused of not being able to master viral hooks or great live drama – and of being stuck between all strategies, so to speak.
The crisis of the “Big Five”
The crisis of the “Big Five” also remains virulent: as smaller countries have acted more courageously, the debate about the automatic final qualification of the big budget contributors has been reignited.
Vienna: Praise and criticism of the production
As the host, Vienna received a lot of praise for the production and the cheerful atmosphere in the city – despite the Manchester weather. However, there was controversy about whether the ESC had become too “clean”, too perfect and too well-designed. Some fans missed the slightly chaotic element of previous events – the feeling that the ESC was allowed to get a little out of control.
Political debates and EBU credibility
After the boycott of several countries and the renewed debates about Israel, many commentators are wondering whether the EBU can still credibly represent its principle of “apoliticalness”. It was particularly controversial that EBU boss Martin Green did not rule out a theoretical return of Russia despite the Ukraine war.
The reaction of the five Dutch TV stations in an interview with Rolling Stone in the Media Center in Hall F was also revealing: “OK, our boycott comes from the public broadcasters. But we are here with a lot of silverware. We still watch the show massively, as if your country wasn’t taking part in the World Cup.”
AI pop and algorithmically smoothed sound
The “AI pop” debate surrounding Sarah Engels’ “Fire” has sparked a second discussion: the quarrel with algorithmically smoothed pop. The accusation “as written by AI” appeared surprisingly often – and not just in the German article. Many fans complain that more and more ESC tracks sound as if they emerged from the same songwriter camps combined with meticulous data analysis.
Gigantic attention, hardly any long-lasting stars
People are increasingly asking why the competition generates gigantic attention but hardly produces any long-lasting European pop stars. The comparison with ABBA or Céline Dion comes up constantly. Today, even successful ESC acts often disappear from public view after a few weeks.
We’ll see where the Bulgarian winner Dara’s enthusiasm for Berlin leads with “Bangaranga”. According to voices from the tabloids, her next single will be released in German. After all, Darina Jotowa, her real name, has a long-standing musical partnership and close friendship with Lucy Diakovska from the No Angels.
