How many countries will participate in Eurovision 2026?

[GermanBango]

If the EBU continues to ignore any concern then we will see some major dropouts in the upcoming years. So yea, they should definitely work on keeping the ones that threaten to withdraw and to get the ones back that are not participating anymore first and foremost.

 

[SpiritofKeiino]

If the EBU continues to ignore any concern then we will see some major dropouts in the upcoming years. So yea, they should definitely work on keeping the ones that threaten to withdraw and to get the ones back that are not participating anymore first and foremost.

I've wondered how low the numbers would have to get, in order for EBU to scrap 1 of the SFs. A SF would become very anti climatic if you had 14 or less countries competing for 10 places.

If we got down to 34 countries for example, remove the 6 AQs and you have 28 that would need to compete for a GF place. Maybe the best solution then would be to reduce the GF to 24 countries, and in each SF have 14 countries competing for 9 places.

If we go down to 33 countries or less it starts to get messier and maybe to keep 2 SFs the GF size needs to reduce more in line with the number of participating countries.

 

[SpiritofKeiino]

I agree but the problem is that it's quite unrealistic for most of those countries to return...

Bulgaria, N. Macedonia, Monaco, Moldova and Romania are right now the only ones that I could see returning.

Hungary, Slovakia and Turkey won't because of politics.

Belarus, Russia won't we know why.

Andorra is showing no interest at all...

Bosnia and Herzegovina has money issues and political issues.

Good thing is that both Hungary and Turkey could return quite soon since opposition is doing well in their polls.

Agree with all this, plus (despite their 'see you in 2026' comment) I think Montenegro could be gone next year due to financial pressure and poor results. I'm pretty confident Moldova will return in 2026, and feel that Monaco is 50/50. N Macedonia, hard to say. Bulgaria will only return if the artist funds it I think. I'm not feeling confident about Romania in 2026.

It's not enough to go to ESC any more without a decent staging concept and it's becoming harder for small broadcasters to participate. Although overall the rise in production values has been good for the contest, I think...

 

[seriouslyscratchy1]

I am pretty confident Kosovo will be debuting this year. They are now part of the EBU - but it still will be harder than the member broadcasters. Sof if not this year, then it will be this decade.

 

[Mainshow]

I am pretty confident Kosovo will be debuting this year. They are now part of the EBU - but it still will be harder than the member broadcasters. Sof if not this year, then it will be this decade.

Where did you get that piece of information from?

No ESC-related media picked up on "Kosovo being part of the EBU now" yet (e.g. Eurovoix, esctoday, wiwibloggs...)

They will (try to) apply to become a member this month again (but they will probably not get in again due to Serbia/Spain and a few other countries; unless there will be another chance to vote on it and the tables have turned).

 

[hijirio]

Given the current state of the global economy and the poor track record from many Eastern European countries—and no signs of return from the non-participating ones—I wouldn't be surprised to see debuts from countries like Canada, New Zealand, or even the United States in the near future.
The focus of the contest is already shifting westward.

Having only 35–37 participating countries, with many on the fence, doesn’t seem sustainable in the long run.
EBU decided to make the Big 5 perform in the semis, otherwise, the semis would’ve been way too short.

 

[seriouslyscratchy1]

Where did you get that piece of information from?

No ESC-related media picked up on "Kosovo being part of the EBU now" yet (e.g. Eurovoix, esctoday, wiwibloggs...)

They will (try to) apply to become a member this month again (but they will probably not get in again due to Serbia/Spain and a few other countries; unless there will be another chance to vote on it and the tables have turned).

Kosovo is rejected to be in eurovision despite being now part of the EBU

 

[GRE]

EBU could invite one country from each continent.
We have already Australia from Oceania.
So, Kazakhstan could be invited from Asia, Canada from North America, Chile from South America, and South Africa from Africa.

 

[rasmuslights]

Given the current state of the global economy and the poor track record from many Eastern European countries—and no signs of return from the non-participating ones—I wouldn't be surprised to see debuts from countries like Canada, New Zealand, or even the United States in the near future.
The focus of the contest is already shifting westward.

Having only 35–37 participating countries, with many on the fence, doesn’t seem sustainable in the long run.
EBU decided to make the Big 5 perform in the semis, otherwise, the semis would’ve been way too short.

Lowkey true… Even 33 would be a disaster…

Like we can’t have a semi with 13 countries…

 

[Slabsson79]

The ESC has seen gradual growth since 1956 and long phases of stagnation. This included politically motivated abstentions even in the classic era of the ESC, like Austria 1969, Greece 1974, Turkey 1979. I think it is thus pretty normal, though not nice to see or desired by the people here, that the interest in the contest and thus the participation is subject to developments, even those regressive ones. After 1992, there was an influx of new states and it brought huge changes, especially regarding qualifications and elligibility. We thus maybe entering a new era of re-shaping the contest with regard to its form, self-presentation and interest of particular member states.

 

[SpiritofKeiino]

EBU could invite one country from each continent.
We have already Australia from Oceania.
So, Kazakhstan could be invited from Asia, Canada from North America, Chile from South America, and South Africa from Africa.

I really hope this never happens, ESC will lose what makes it European.

 

[seriouslyscratchy1]

I would personally love Eurovision to become a Global thing - and then I don't have to explain it to absolutely every single human who lives in the United States of Acrobats and Idiots

I really hope this never happens, ESC will lose what makes it European.

 

[GRE]

I really hope this never happens, ESC will lose what makes it European.

Look, I understand your objections,
but I would go it even further:
Make them (Australia, Canada, Kazakhstan, Chile and South Africa) permanent finalists.
So, the Grand Final, would have Big 5, the host country, + 5 countries from ROTW.

We are talking about countries that do have an interest on Eurovision, and also we are talking about 170 million people.

 

[ESC94]

Look, I understand your objections,
but I would go it even further:
Make them (Australia, Canada, Kazakhstan, Chile and South Africa) permanent finalists.
So, the Grand Final, would have Big 5, the host country, + 5 countries from ROTW.

We are talking about countries that do have an interest on Eurovision, and also we are talking about 170 million people.

Well, what about NOPE??

 

[Slabsson79]

Look, I understand your objections,
but I would go it even further:
Make them (Australia, Canada, Kazakhstan, Chile and South Africa) permanent finalists.
So, the Grand Final, would have Big 5, the host country, + 5 countries from ROTW.

We are talking about countries that do have an interest on Eurovision, and also we are talking about 170 million people.

Look, when playing the European Championship, the UEFA also does not allow teams outside of UEFA to compete in the qualifications. No reason, the EBU should not be acting the same.

 

[Raphael]

No no no! That's 11 countries with only 14 European (or rather Eurovision) countries left to have a place in the final. That's a slap in the face for countries that have joined for this long.

Look, I understand your objections,
but I would go it even further:
Make them (Australia, Canada, Kazakhstan, Chile and South Africa) permanent finalists.
So, the Grand Final, would have Big 5, the host country, + 5 countries from ROTW.

We are talking about countries that do have an interest on Eurovision, and also we are talking about 170 million people.

 

[Himan]

I'm predicting 37 again

 

[Sammy]

Can anyone show me please the fansites or
fanclubs of all those alledgedly interested countries?

 

[EDC0708]

I've wondered how low the numbers would have to get, in order for EBU to scrap 1 of the SFs. A SF would become very anti climatic if you had 14 or less countries competing for 10 places.

If we got down to 34 countries for example, remove the 6 AQs and you have 28 that would need to compete for a GF place. Maybe the best solution then would be to reduce the GF to 24 countries, and in each SF have 14 countries competing for 9 places.

If we go down to 33 countries or less it starts to get messier and maybe to keep 2 SFs the GF size needs to reduce more in line with the number of participating countries.

If we get below 33 or so, options could be the big 5 competing in the semi finals, fewer qualifiers e.g. 8 qualify out of 13 countries, or as suggested, reverting back to the one semi final system used from 2004-2007. Or perhaps 8 qualifiers per semi, with wildcards filling the remaining slots after semi final 2, giving hope to the songs in Semi Final 1 that miss out they could still get a wildcard.

 

[mattyindi]

Look, I understand your objections,
but I would go it even further:
Make them (Australia, Canada, Kazakhstan, Chile and South Africa) permanent finalists.
So, the Grand Final, would have Big 5, the host country, + 5 countries from ROTW.

We are talking about countries that do have an interest on Eurovision, and also we are talking about 170 million people.

That's a terrible idea cuz then we would have like 12 countries in the semi's