A few days ago, the Ukrainian broadcaster (Suspline) could confirm that Ukraine would indeed take part once more in the upcoming edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, and since we’ve been dropped some spicy details for what’s in store. With that, let’s go through what’s to come out of Ukraine’s journey for 2026.
Vidbir 2026
To begin with, Ukraine has slowly and steadily been revealing news about their upcoming participation in the anniversary edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. Confirming that they would indeed partake in the competition, which is set to be held in Vienna, Austria, around end of August and then even announcing former “Vidbir” judge, as well as Eurovision Song Contest winner, Jamala, as the new music producer for the national selection. This means that the “1944” singer, will be in charge of picking the songs, that will be presented to the public in due time.
Rules have been published as well and are typically the standard rules for the Eurovision Song Contest, but of course with the addition of a few rules, which will apply with the Ukrainian national final itself. To list some of them, there are:
- Participants must be at least 16 years old
- Only original songs can be submitted and must be performed live
- No limit on amount of submissions – demo versions are permitted
- Songs can not be any longer than 3 minutes
- Participants must be at least 16 years old
- Submitted work can NOT be submitted in other countries
- Any language is permitted, except Russian
It is noteworthy, that the rules heavily specify, at one section, that anyone who have any potential illegal connection to the “aggressor state” – Which is Russia – is absolutely not welcome, and even the slightest kind of activity in Belarus or the captured regions of Ukraine, will also not be permitted to participate.
In the past, these kind of actions have had consequences for past “Vidbir” winners. As a reminder, in 2019, Ukraine withdrew completely from the contest, due to MARUV‘s questionable participation at concerts in Russia. Meanwhile in 2022, Alina Pash was replaced as Ukraine’s representative due to her travel history into the occupied region of Crimea.
Otherwise, the national final is aiming to take place at the format of a “large concert”, inviting originality and uniqueness to take the stage, when the national final takes place in February 2026. In recent years, parts of the national final were pre-recorded prior to airing, in fear of gaining too much attention, and being a potential “live” target place.
Jamala as the 2026 music producer also had the following to say, in order to motivate musicians to participate:
- “Don’t be afraid to experiment and remain yourself – this is what Eurovision values and this is what the audience remembers. You can submit an unlimited number of songs – two, three or even four, because it is important to show yourself in different facets of creativity. But remember: each song must comply with the rules of the competition, so read them carefully before submitting. This year I also want to see your live videos – even a simple selfie from a car will do. The main thing is to hear the contestant’s live performance without editing. And most importantly – get ready now, because when you go on stage, you need not to prepare for the performance, but to perform. Believe in yourself, in your dream and remember: on stage you represent not only yourself, but also Ukraine.”
The submission period will last until the 27th of October 2025, whereas afterwards, a longlist of up to 15 participants will be decided. Among them, 9 of them will qualify directly to the national final, while the remaining ones will participate in a wild card round.
An live audition round will take part, which will determine the 9 finalists, and is set to be announced by 15th December 2025. The wildcard round will take place sometime in January and the winner and last finalists will be announced by 15th January 2026.
Ziferblat were named the Ukrainian representative in 2025, and here the band represented Ukraine with the song “Bird of Pray” in Basel, Switzerland. As is near enough a tradition now for Ukraine, the country qualified once more to the final, by winning their semi-final and then ultimately finished in 9th place, with a total of 218 points.
Could #YOU see Ukraine pull a 4th win soon and if so, who could #YOU see bring that honor to Ukraine?
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Source(s): Confirmed participation, Jamala’s role & Applications open (All in Ukrainian & English)
