After two semi-finals, the running order of the Eurovision Song Contest grand final for 2026 has been revealed by organisers. Who will take the trophy home from the Austrian capital of Vienna tonight?
25 nations, including the United Kingdom, will be competing for the top spot, where a mixture of public votes and jury scores will determine the final leaderboard.
Everyone has their own theories about how the running order does or doesn’t affect an act’s chances of resonating with viewers – so how is everyone placed this time around?
CHRISTIAN BRUNA//Getty Images
Related: Eurovision hit with last-minute technical issues as grand final nears
The 2026 Eurovision Song Contest final running order is as follows:
- Denmark: Søren Torpegaard Lund – ‘Før Vi Går Hjem’
- Germany: Sarah Engels – ‘Fire’
- Israel: Noam Bettan – ‘Michelle’
- Belgium: ESSYLA – ‘Dancing on the Ice’
- Albania: Alis – ‘Nân’
- Greece: Akylas – ‘Ferto’
- Ukraine: LELÉKA – ‘Ridnym’
- Australia: Delta Goodrem – ‘Eclipse’
- Serbia: LAVINA – ‘Kraj Mene’
- Malta: AIDAN – ‘Bella’
- Czechia: Daniel Zizka – ‘CROSSROADS’
- Bulgaria: DARA – ‘Bangaranga’
- Croatia: LELEK – ‘Andromeda’
- United Kingdom: Look Mum No Computer – ‘Eins, Zwei, Drei’
- France: Monroe – ‘Regarde’
- Moldova: Satoshi – ‘Viva, Moldova!’
- Finland: Linda Lampenius x Pete Parkkonen – ‘Liekinheitin’
- Poland: ALICJA – ‘Pray’
- Lithuania: Lion Ceccah – ‘Sólo Quiero Más’
- Sweden: FELICIA – ‘My System’
- Cyprus: Antigoni – ‘JALLA’
- Italy: Sal Da Vinci – ‘Per Sempre Sì’
- Norway: JONAS LOVV – ‘YA YA YA’
- Romania: Alexandra Căpitănescu – ‘Choke Me’
- Austria: COSMÓ – ‘Tanzschein’
Among the bookies’ frontrunners are Finland’s Linda Lampenius x Pete Parkkonen, who occupy 17th spot on the order, which is said to be the “luckiest” spot of all, with a record seven previous winners performing in the same slot. One of those seven was Finland’s own Lordi in 2006.
On the other hand, no act has ever won from performing in the 2nd, 16th or 25th slots, according to research by fan Plenty_Ad7243 on Reddit. Can Germany, Moldova or the Austrian hosts buck the trend?
Sarah Louise Bennett / EBU
Related: UK Eurovision star calls out contest for “double standard”
Meanwhile, countries such as Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Iceland and Slovenia are absent this year due to boycotts over Israel’s involvement.
Rehearsals for the final were said to have run into technical difficulties yesterday when a curtain malfunction prompted organisers to halt and restart the show. There were reportedly further issues when stage props for Romanian entrant Alexandra Capitanescu were not ready in time, leaving hosts Victoria Swarovski and Michael Ostrowski to ad-lib.
The Eurovision Grand Final will air on Saturday from 8pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
Visit our Streaming Guide now to see at a glance where you can view ALL your favourite shows and movies.
The new edition of Living Legends, a collector’s edition exploring the royal family, is here! Buy The Royals in newsagents or online.
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.