Eurovision 2026 live: Semi-final updates as Israel, Finland and Greece battle for spot in the final

A reminder of who’s performing tonight so you can keep an eye out for your favourites…

First semi-final – Tuesday 12 May

01. Moldova: Satoshi – “Viva, Moldova!”

02. Sweden: FELICIA – “My System”

03. Croatia: LELEK – “Andromeda”

04. Greece: Akylas – “Ferto”

05. Portugal: Bandidos do Cante – “Rosa”

06. Georgia: Bzikebi – “On Replay”

*** Italy: Sal Da Vinci – “Per Sempre Sì”

07. Finland: Linda Lampenius x Pete Parkkonen – “Liekinheitin”

08. Montenegro: Tamara Živković – “Nova Zora”

09. Estonia: Vanilla Ninja – “Too Epic To Be True”

10. Israel: Noam Bettan – “Michelle”

*** Germany: Sarah Engels – “Fire”

11. Belgium: ESSYLA – “Dancing on the Ice”

12. Lithuania: Lion Ceccah – “Sólo Quiero Más”

13. San Marino: SENHIT – “Superstar”

14. Poland: ALICJA – “Pray”

15. Serbia: LAVINA – “Kraj Mene”

Italy and Germany are both performing, but as fans will know, they are guaranteed a spot in the final due to their position as two of the “Big Five” countries who make the biggest financial contributions to Eurovision (this year without Spain, who withdrew in protest over Israel’s participation).

Though it began as a song-writing contest in 1956, having a strong and unique performance is just as important on today’s Eurovision stage. Balancing impressive vocals, skilful songwriting and visually interesting staging, this list ranks the Eurovision winners that found the sweet spot.

Israel’s national broadcaster has received a formal warning from Eurovision organisers after it encouraged viewers to “vote 10 times”.

The Israeli public broadcaster, known as Kan, was found to have broken the rules of the song contest on Friday (8 May) when it shared videos on social media encouraging fans to support its 2026 entry, Noam Bettan.

If you need a refresher of everything that took place at last year’s Eurovision Song Contest, give Mark Beaumont’s review a read, here:

Millions of fans across Europe (and Australia) will be tuning in to see if their nation’s act can bring home the Eurovision trophy this month – but five countries will be noticeably absent from this year’s song contest.

Here’s what’s going on:

Ahead of their performance at tonight’s semi-final, I spoke with Finnish favourites Linda Lampenius and Pete Parkkonen, who opened up about the “sad” meaning behind their original song “Liekinheitin”.

The 2026 Eurovision Song Contest is set to take place this month – but the popular music event remains mired in controversy surrounding the involvement of Israel.

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the organising body behind Eurovision, has faced calls to ban Israel for three years running, but has each time allowed Israel to remain in the competition.

Meanwhile, Israel’s broadcaster was issued a warning by Eurovision after competition rules with a video asking fans to vote for the country’s act 10 times.

This year the country is being represented by singer Noam Bettan, who will be competing with his song “Michelle”.

Here’s a breakdown of the controversy:

Finland is one of the favourites to win Eurovision 2026, and you’ll get to see them competing in tonight’s semi-final.

Other countries in the contest this evening including Greece’s Akylas with his song ‘Ferto’, Portugal’s Bandidos do Cante (they’re a bit like Portuguese Westlife, I love them), Croatia’s LELEK and Moldova’s brilliant Satoshi.

Here’s the full running order: