Eurovision 2026 officially begins tonight with the first semi-final at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria, where 15 countries will compete for one of ten qualifying spots in the Grand Final scheduled for 16 May 2026.
This year’s contest is hosted by Austria after the country won the 2025 edition, with ORF broadcasting the competition and Victoria Swarovski, Michael Ostrowski, and Emily Busvine serving as hosts across all shows.
The Wiener Stadthalle, one of Europe’s largest multipurpose arenas, is the venue for the entire contest.
Eurovision 2026 semi-final 1: what is happening tonight
Tonight’s show is technically the jury show rather than the live televised semi-final, which airs tomorrow, Tuesday, 12 May 2026. During the jury show, national juries from 17 participating countries cast their votes after watching the full dress rehearsal performance.
Jury votes account for 50% of the final semi-final result, with televoting covering the remaining half.
The first semi-final features 15 countries, of which only 10 will qualify for Saturday’s Grand Final. The dress rehearsal began at 15:45 CEST today, with the jury show following at 21:00 CEST.
The actual live broadcast of Semi-Final 1 is tomorrow night, with South African fans able to watch it via live stream options linked to the official Eurovision YouTube channel and participating broadcaster feeds, as reported by Eurovision.com.
The format and what’s at stake
Countries in the Big Five, which includes the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, and Italy, along with host nation Austria, automatically qualify for the Grand Final and do not compete in the semi-finals.
That means the field of 15 countries tonight is fighting hard for 10 available final spots.
The second semi-final follows on Thursday, 14 May 2026, with the Grand Final closing out the week on Saturday, 16 May.
Odds and pre-competition favourites change quickly around the semi-final stage once juries have cast their scores, so the picture heading into the weekend will shift significantly after tonight’s votes are counted and tomorrow’s live show determines which ten countries advance.
The favourites heading in
Pre-competition odds from Eurovision tracking sites point to a competitive field for Semi-Final 1. Without confirmed results from tonight’s jury show, the picture is fluid.
Historically, countries with strong diaspora televoting bases and high-production stage shows tend to punch above their booking odds in the semis. The jury vote, announced after tomorrow’s live broadcast, will give the first hard data on how the professional juries are scoring the acts.
