TOjust a few more hours and tonight – starting at 8.15pm on Rai 1 – there will be the long-awaited Eurovision final 2026. I 25 European countries competing they will compete the victory in Vienna. The event can also be followed on RaiPlay, Rai Radio 2 and the official social channels of ESC 2026. As with the semi-finals, the commentary will be by Gabriele Corsi and Elettra Lamborghini. Who will be the winner?
Eurovision Song Contest 2026: who are the 25 finalists
After the two fierce semi-finals on Tuesday and Thursday, we finally know the names of the 25 finalists of Eurovision 2026. In each semi-final, 10 artists were selected for today’s final. They were added to these the 4 Big 4 countries (Italy, France, Germany and the United Kingdom) and Austria. Automatically qualified for the final after JJ’s victory last year.
Many important exclusions: first and foremost San Marino with Senhit paired with Boy George in the piece Superstar but also Azerbaijan, Luxembourg, Armenia, Switzerland. The 25 finalist countries are therefore: Albania, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Cyprus, Croatia, Denmark, FinlandFrance, Germany, Greece, Israel, ItalyLithuania, Malta, Moldova, Norway, Poland, United KingdomRomania, Serbia, Sweden, Ukraine.
The final lineup and the order of the singers. When Sal Da Vinci sings
Denmark: Søren Torpegaard Lund with Før Vi Går Hjem
Germany: Sarah Engels with Fire
Israel: Noam Bettan with Michelle
Belgium: Essyla with Dancing on the Ice
Albania: Alis with Nân
Greece: Akylas with Ferto
Ukraine: Leléka with Ridnym
Australia: Delta Goodrem with Eclipse
Serbia: Lavina with Kraj Mene
Malta: Aidan with Pretty
Czech Republic: Daniel Zizka with Crossroads
Bulgaria: Dara with Bangaranga
Croatia: Lelek with Andromeda
UK: Look Mum No Computer con Eins, Zwei, Dre
France: Monroe with Regarde!
Moldova: Satoshi with Long live, Moldova!
Finland: Linda Lampenius x Pete Parkkonen with Liekinheitin
Poland: Alicja with Bray
Lithuania: Lion Ceccah with Only I want more
Sweden: Felicia with MySystem
Cyprus: Antigoni with Jalla
Italy: Sal Da Vinci with Forever yes
Norway: Jonas Lovv with Ya Ya Ya
Romania: Alexandra Căpitănescu with Choke Me
Austria: Cosmó con Tanzschein
Linda Lampenius x Pete Parkkonen competing for Finland at Eurovision 2026.
Eurovision 2026: how to vote
Viewers will be able to vote via the official Eurovision Song Contest app (or following the on-screen instructions) during the semi-finals and final. The app is available for Android and iOS. You can also vote by telephone and/or by text message: The numbers will be displayed on the screen and on esc.vote. Golden rule of the event: no country will be able to vote for its own competing artist.
The final ranking will combine the points given by the national juries (12 for the best song and then 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and 0 for all the others) to those of televoting. We also vote from Italy, but obviously we cannot express a preference for Sal Da Vincivia text message, telephone or on the site esc.vote. For each user it is possible to cast a maximum of five votes for various singers or for the same one.
Sal Da Vinci at Eurovision 2026. (Getty Images)
The guests of the grand final and who the favorites are
The evening will open with the paper boat performance of 2025 winner JJ which from Switzerland, which hosted the ESC last year, travels along the Rhine and Danube and arrives in Vienna.
Between one performance and another, he will also be there a moment of celebration of 70 years of Eurovision with some stars of the past and they will also perform Parov Stelar and Cesár Sampsonthe latter dealing with a version of Vienna by Billy Joel. The ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna will be present.
According to the most important European betting sites, the victory will be for Finland, followed by Australia and the surprising Greece. Our Sal Da Vinci, on the other hand, only ranks 7th in the international bookmakers’ rankings but Italian betting sites are the fourth probable winner listed at 12.
