With the climax of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest just hours away, today’s rehearsal for the grand final reportedly fell victim to an unfortunate technical issue, meaning the whole show had to be restarted.
Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria, is host to the 2026 competition, and tomorrow (16 May) will see the finalists battle it out after two semi-finals earlier in the week.
The finale reportedly opens with a segment featuring last year’s winner JJ, but according to the Press Association, his appearance was scuppered today when a curtain failed to open.
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As such, he was left partially hidden from some of the audience, prompting bosses to halt the show and restart it.
Sure enough, the curtain seemed to function correctly the second time around, although there were further issues when stage props for Romanian entrant Alexandra Capitanescu were not ready in time.
Presenters Victoria Swarovski and Michael Ostrowski are reported to have stepped up to ad-lib to cover the delay.
It’s been another divisive year for the competition, with five countries boycotting it completely as a response to Israel’s ongoing participation.
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The United Kingdom, meanwhile, is represented by Look Mum No Computer, and the country’s scores will be delivered by Strictly Come Dancing and RuPaul’s Drag Race favourite La Voix.
“I’m absolutely over the moon to be announcing the UK Jury scores at Eurovision 2026,” she said. “It’s the one night where sequins are en masse, key changes are compulsory, and absolutely anything can happen – so naturally I feel right at home. I’ll do my best to behave… but no promises!”
Frontrunners to win include Finland’s Linda Lampenius x Pete Parkkonen with their song ‘Liekinheitin’, and Australia’s Delta Goodrem with ‘Eclipse’.
The Eurovision Grand Final will air on Saturday from 8pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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Shaun is an Evening News Editor at Digital Spy, with over a decade of experience reporting on all things pop culture. He has written for outlets including Metro, Attitude, Huffington Post, The Mirror, Yahoo!, Pink News and Express Online, specialising in TV, movies, soaps, music and LGBTQ+ issues. He is also a BAFTA Rocliffe-winning scriptwriter, having written episodes of the soap Hollyoaks, the official Steps musical Here & Now and multiple Offie Award-nominated plays. He studied English Literature and Drama at the University of East Anglia, and will happily talk at length about Desperate Housewives to anyone who’ll listen.