Eurovision Song Contest 2026 Second Semi-Final

Host country: Austria (ORF)
Venue: Wiener Stadthalle, Vienna, Austria
Hosts: Victoria Swarovski, Michael Ostrowski
Date: Thursday 14 May 2026

N.B. Any use of “tonight” or “this evening” throughout this post means Thursday 14 May 2026. All times in this post are in BST.

The Opening

After the usual Eurovision ident, accompanied by Charpentier's Te Deum prelude, the Second Semi-Final began with a series of short clips from the First Sem-Final two days earlier. This was seamlessly followed by the hosts Victoria Swarovski and Michael Ostrowski performing their own take on last year’s winning song, JJ “Wasted Love”. I think the manner in which they performed that song spoiled it. After they finished their performance of this act, they appeared on stage to give their opening speeches.

The Songs

Eight minutes after the start of the show (20:08 BST) it was time for the first song. Each song was introduced by a postcard film related to the appropriate country.

Song 1: Bulgaria - DARA “Bangaranga”

It’s difficult being the first entry in the line-up, but someone has to go first. It’s great to see Bulgaria taking part for the first time since 2022. To some extent, I like the way in which pre-chorus “Come alive, Surrender to the blinding lights, No one's gonna sleep tonight, Welcome to the riot” is sung, but I’m not at all on how the chorus, consisting of multiple repetitions of “Bangaranga” is performed. During the first instances of the pre-chorus and chorus, DARA and her four accompanying members were sitting on chairs, arranged in a line, in what resembled a room with a carpeted floor and a woo grain effect wall. During the first instrumental filler (which included a good beat and eastern style sounds) DARA and the others were swaying about and waving their arms on the chairs I question the need for that. They stood up by the start of the first verse, which begins “I'm an angel, I'm a demon, I'm a psycho for no reason”; I’m not at all keen on the manner in which this was sung. By the second instance of the chorus, the chairs were arranged in a circle, and DARA’s companions were sitting on them. DARA sat down, the circle of chairs appeared to rotate and the group members all moved about on the chairs. They got up and placed the chairs on their shoulders. Again, were these actions really necessary? During the second verse, the back wall was taken away. After the bridge, the final instance of the chorus was fastest. Altogether a lively song to start the evening; with a powerful beat and eastern style sounds at times. Not my musical taste, and I’d rather this doesn’t qualify, but this is a likely qualifier.

Song 2: Azerbaijan - JIVA “Just Go”

Now for something totally gentler and slower. This featured JIVA singing on her own, with a screen behind her, and dry ice effects. A shadow of what appeared to be another person could be seen behind the screen. The opening verse was sung softly, and a piano could be heard. The chorus was quite powerful by comparison, and has some beat to it. The second verse was sung at about the same strength as the pre-chorus, with some accompanying beat. Some later parts were sung in Azerbaijani; it’s great to hear a country’s native language in the song. Looking at some of the lyrics, the first verse starts “I carried your love inside my heart each day, You said our fire would never fade away., Your name was my dream at night,”, and the chorus starts “Go - I don’t love you anymore, go, Without you I’ll shine, you know, I’ll erase you from my soul.” Going by this, it sounds like this song is about a relationship that started happily, but is now failing. According to Genius Lyrics, this song expresses deep emotional pain and heartbreak from a one-sided, unfaithful relationship. On the whole, “Just Go” is a pleasant ballad, but on first listening, doesn’t seem to have much impact. I think one needs to read background information about this song, and look at the lyrics, to understand and appreciate this song. Furthermore, JIVA has a beautiful voice, and sang appropriately for what the song is about. I wouldn’t mind this in the final, but I wouldn’t miss it if it’s not there. In any case, it’ll be a miracle for this to qualify.

Song 3: Romania - Alexandra Căpitănescu “Choke Me”

A rock song. The opening verse has a beat, though for some reason, its last few lines sound spoken rather than sung. The chorus, which features plenty of repetition of “Choke Me” is sung powerfully, and has a beat. For some reason, Alexandra had illuminated ropes between her and the two electric guitar players. During the second verse, she was crawling along part of the stage whilst singing. Unsurprisingly, for a rock song, this included someone seated behind a drumkit, though that person was probably miming rather than playing it. During the final instance of the chorus, flame effect provided the grand finale to this song. Altogether, a lively rock song, well sung and well staged; I particularly like the wobbly sound that appeared at the start and various points later in the song. I wouldn’t mind this in the final, and this is a strong contender to qualify.

Song 4: Luxembourg - Eva Marija “Mother Nature”

I watched the Luxembourg Song Contest 2026 live, online from the UK, on Saturday 24 January 2026. This is an interesting one. The first verse is sung softly; during this part of the song, Eva was on a predominantly dark stage, with a spotlight on her. At the start of the first instance of the chorus, the song suddenly becomes quite lively, with a beat. Eva moved about the stage during the chorus, and some graphics appeared to swirl around her; presumably this was augmented reality. During the post chorus, consisting of multiple repetitions of “Mother Nature, she knows”, butterflies appeared on the background screen. The second verse has a beat to it, and images of what looked like plants appeared graphically on the stage floor. Late in the song Eva appeared to play a violin, though on this occasion, she might have been miming it rather than playing it. One notable stage feature was the artificial tree, as Eva sang the final section, this tree flowered. Altogether, quite a likeable song, which starts quite slowly, and becomes quite catchy, and appropriately staged for what it’s about. Furthermore, Eva has a beautiful voice and snag well tonight. I’d definitely like to see this in the final, but I see this as a questionable qualifier.

Song 5: Czechia - Daniel Zizka “CROSSROADS”

A ballad/. According to Genius Lyrics, “CROSSROADS” is a song about making decisions, discovering yourself and about navigating your own life. The chorus has a beat, particularly its last line “Crossroads, patterns and exceptions interwoven”. Throughout the song, Daniel was on a predominantly dark stage, lit by subtle lighting For most of the song, he was surrounded by mirrors, hence several reflections of him could be seen. During the bridge, the mirrors were rearranged into and some flashing lights appeared as Daniel pitched high in the outro. Altogether, a rather slow ballad, with a high-pitched outro, but I think one needs to read the background information to make sense of the lyrics. Casual viewers watching tonight, having not previewed any of the songs beforehand, may see this song as dull and boring. Daniel has a good voice, and sang well tonight. Furthermore, the simple staging was what this style of song called for. I wouldn’t mind this in the Grand Final, but I wouldn’t miss it if it’s not there, and this could be a questionable qualifier.

Automatic Qualifier 1: France - Monroe “Regarde !”

The first of three automatic qualifiers to perform on a non-competitive basis tonight, that being France. Just like the last two years, France has gone for a ballad, this time “Regarde !” The chorus translates as “Look at me, look at yourself, That’s what love is, it hits you like lightning, Look at me, look at yourself, That’s love, You will never be lost.”. A stringed instrument can be heard in certain parts of the song, and drums can be heard in the second and later instances of the chorus. Tonight, this song was performed on a predominantly dark stage, with white light beams. Five dancers, dressed in black, and dry ice effects, added to the atmosphere of the song. Steam jets around the stage provided the perfect way to end the song. Altogether a beautiful ballad, which going by the English translation, is themed around love. Once again, France has chosen a song for which simple staging works best. Monroe has a beautiful voice, and demonstrates her talent to sing really high pitched at certain points in the song. It’ll be interesting to see how this scores with the juries and public on Saturday evening, but for now, France doesn’t need to rely on the juries and viewers voting for this performance to get to the final.

A short break followed at this point. During this break, UK viers saw the preview video of the UK’s entry, LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER “Eins, Zwei, Drei”. Presumably the BBC decided to show this in place of whatever filler was being shown elsewhere at the time.

Song 6: Armenia - SIMÓN “Paloma Rumba”

Back to tonight’s competing entries, which viewers in eligible countries can vote for. Armenia has entered quite a lively song this year. At the start, SIMÓN and his companions, all dressed in office attire, were in a surround that resembled a lift. SIMÓN sang the first verse and first instance of the chorus inside the lift. Upon reaching the line “Take my chance to finally dance” the lift surround was taken away, leaving SIMÓN and his companions to perform on the whole stage. A filing cabinet was shown on the background screen briefly afterwards. Late in the song, the stage floor was black, with white lines, to resemble a road; SIMÓN and his companions stood in line, under strobe lighting. Afterwards the stage floor turned orange. The song drew to a close with plenty of steam jets. Altogether a very lively, catchy song, which going by its content, appears to be office themed. I wouldn’t mind this in the final, but that said, I’m not that desperate to see it there. Still, this could be in with a good chance of qualifying.

Song 7: Switzerland - Veronica Fusaro “Alice”

Well, I’m not sure what style of song this is. Presumably, it’s a power ballad. During the first verse, Veronica performed alone, on a predominantly dark stage. On the first instance of the chorus, some flashing lights were used, and there were squiggly lines on the background screen for some mysterious reason. During the second verse, she was joined by four dancers. I’m mystified as to the need for the red netting during the second instance of the chorus. Anyway, Veronica and her dancers got inside it. Dry ice effects were also used during this instance of the chorus. After this, Veronica appeared to play an electric guitar, though it’s more likely she would have been miming it. Altogether, a reasonable power ballad or rock ballad, and Veronica has a good voice. I wouldn’t mind this in the final, but that said, I’m not that desperate to see it there. In any case, I think this is a questionable qualifier.

Song 8: Cyprus - Antigoni “JALLA”

According to Wikipedia, the song’s title means “More”. One significant line in the intro and chorus is “I'm dancing on the table, baby”. Unsurprisingly, this song had what looked like a long table. Antigoni performed the song on this table. Columns appeared on the background screen during the intro and first verse. The pre-chorus and chorus are particularly catchy. Antigoni was accompanied by four dancers. Flame effects were used as the song drew to a close. Interestingly, blue lighting was used for some parts of the song, whereas orange lighting was used for other parts. Altogether, a lively, catchy song, with Greek style sounds at certain points in the song. I’d definitely like to see this in the final, and there’s a good chance of this qualifying.

Automatic Qualifier 2: Austria - COSMÓ “Tanzschein”

The second of three automatic qualifiers to perform on a non-competitive basis tonight, that being the host nation Austria. There’s always the recurring conundrum for the host broadcaster; they want to send an impressive entry, but in their heart of hearts, they don’t seem to want to win again (or perhaps rather foot the bill for hosting again). I watched the Austrian national final, “Austria: Vienna Calling – Wer singt für Österreich?” live, online from the UK, on Friday 20 February 2026. According to the English version of the lyrics, on the Eurovision website, Tanzschein means “dance permit”. At the start. Viewers saw an overhead view of COSMÓ and his dancers lying on stage. The stage was mostly white, with black lines, and the message “Dance Away Your Inner Animal”. Presumably, this is why four dancers wore animal head masks. By the start of the pre-chorus, everyone on stage was standing. Blue lighting was used for most of the rest of the song, however the during the final instance of the chorus, a mixture of red and blue lighting was used. Altogether, quite an unusual song; it has a beat. Was COSMÓ singing or rapping during the verses and chorus? At least he sang during the pre-chorus. This might be OK as a host entry for Eurovision, but expect a mid-table result at best. It’ll be interesting to see how this scores with the juries and public on Saturday evening, but for now, Austria doesn’t need to rely on the juries and viewers voting for this performance to get to the final.

Song 9: Latvia - Atvara “Ēnā”

Back to tonight’s competing entries, which viewers in eligible countries can vote for. The Latvian national final, Supernova 2026 Final, took place on Saturday 14 February 2026, and I watched it on demand, online from the UK, two days later. “Ēnā” is a ballad. Just like in Supernova 2026 Final, the song was performed on a predominantly dark stage in Vienna tonight. In fact, tonight’s staging was identical to the Supernova performance, including the shattering glass effect, and the flying shards of glass. Just like in Supernova 2026 Final performance, the movement of the flying shards of glass changed direction, or stopped, as Atvara moved her hand accordingly. It’s clever and amazing how these effects were created; they must have been done by computer graphics or augmented reality. The first two chorus lines translate as “And so slowly, slowly you are fading, Stepping slowly, slowly to the shadow “, On the whole, a beautiful ballad, Atvara demonstrates her talent to pitch high during the chorus and bridge, and the staging was amazing. As far as how this song scores tonight is concerned, it’s just as well juries are back in the semi-finals, because this could do well in the jury vote, but struggle in the public vote tonight. I’d definitely like to see this in the final, and I’ll be gutted if this doesn’t qualify. Sadly, I have my doubts about this song’s ability to qualify, which is a pity.

Song 10: Denmark - Søren Torpegaard Lund “Før Vi Går Hjem”

I watched the Danish national final, Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2026 live, online from the UK, on Saturday 14 February 2026. Just like in DMGP Final, the song was performed entirely in Danish tonight; it’s great to hear a song in a country’s native language, even if I can’t understand a word of it. The title means “Before We Go Home”. It’s certainly a powerful song, particularly the chorus. Just like in the DMGP Final, the centrepiece of tonight’s staging was the large see-through box. At the start Søren’s five dancers were inside the box, whereas Søren was outside it. Part way through, Søren entered the box. Blue lighting was used for much of the performance, but towards the end of the song, by which time everyone was out of the box, red lighting was used. Altogether, lively, powerful song, particularly the chorus, and there is a strong beat at times. Strobe lighting put in an appearance, which was hardly surprising for this style of song. I’d definitely like this in the final, and this one of the songs most likely to qualify tonight. See you Saturday Søren.

A short break followed at this point. During this break, viewers saw some of what happens behind the scenes. One UK commentator pointed out that this is Austria’s third time of hosting the Eurovision Song Contest, and the second time of it taking place at Wiener Stadthalle.

Song 11: Australia - Delta Goodrem “Eclipse”

A ballad. The performance began with a harp player, but it’s unclear whether that was being played or mimed. During the first verse and first instance of the chorus, Delta was towards the back of the stage, with the giant moon crescent behind her. The chorus is sung quite powerful, and has a beat toward its end. During the second verse, Delta walked forwards a grand piano, though it’s unclear whether or not she was trying to play it. By this point, orange light was used, and a sun, followed by an eclipsed sun, appeared on the background screen. Towards the end Delta was elevated on a column. Flames and fireworks also put in an appearance late in the song. Altogether an excellent ballad, Delta has a beautiful voice and sang well tonight. Furthermore, this was very well staged for this style of song. I for one like the manner in which she sang the verses and instances of the chorus. I’d definitely like this in the final, and this one of the songs most likely to qualify tonight. See you Saturday Delta.

Song 12: Ukraine - LELÉKA “Ridnym”

From one ballad to another. At the start of tonight’s performance, there was a brief shot of a man appearing to be playing an unusual stringed instrument. During the first verse, LELÉKA sang on a predominantly dark stage; she walked along the white line that appeared no the stage floor. As the son progressed, patterns that looked like silk, in orange followed by blue, appeared on the background screen. Later, LELÉKA stood at a point on stage, with multiple blue light beams from different angles, coming together where she stood. Further images appeared on the background screen later in the song. Altogether, a beautiful ballad; much of the Eurovision version is in English, but it’s great that sone parts are in Ukrainian. Furthermore, LELÉKA has a good voice and demonstrated her ability to pitch high; it’s amazing how she was able to hold the high note for as long as she did late in the song. The staging was appropriate for this style of song. I’d definitely like this in the final, and this is likely to qualify tonight. See you Saturday LELÉKA.

Automatic Qualifier 3: United Kingdom - LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER “Eins, Zwei, Drei”

The third and final automatic qualifier to perform on a non-competitive basis tonight, that being the United Kingdom. Looking at the lyrics, the song appears to be about wanting to escape office life and do something else. Look Mum No Computer (whose real name is Sam Bartle, began singing whilst seated behind a desk, with various items moving along it. At the start of the first instance of the chorus, he turned another desktop over to reveal a synthesiser, and appeared to play its keyboard. Meanwhile, four others, with what resembled old style CRT computer monitors on their heads, walked behind him. By the second instance of the chorus, what looked like mainframe computers could be seen behind the synthesiser. Altogether a very lively, catchy song, with plenty of electronic music. This would be ideal for a disco party, but is it appropriate for the Eurovision Song Contest? Time will tell how well (or badly) this scores with the juries and the public on Saturday night. For now, the United Kingdom doesn’t need to rely on the juries and viewers voting for this performance to get to the final.

Song 13: Albania - Alis “Nân”

Now for the last batch of tonight’s competing entries, which viewers in eligible countries can vote for. Albania’s entry this year is a power ballad, much of which is sung in an operatic style. The song was performed in Albanian, I think singing it in any other language would have spoiled it. Thankfully, in-vision English subtitles made the song understandable to English speakers. Alis sang alone for most of the song, but part way through, loads of other people could be seen; they must have been displayed on the background screen as having that many on stage for real would have exceeded the six-person limit. Later in the song, a pair of giant wings were displayed on the background screen, aligned so as to be either side of Alis. Near the end, white light beams could be seen aimed downward on to the stage. Near the end of the song, a lady appeared on the stage. Altogether, an excellent ballad, I particularly like the way it’s sung. Alis has an amazing voice, and sang well. This was well staged, with the various background screen images and inclusion of dry ice effects at times. I’d definitely like this in the final, and there’s a good chance this will be there.

Song 14: Malta - AIDAN “Bella”

A ballad, sung in a mixture of English, Maltese & Italian. This sounds to me like something from decades ago; 1940s or 1950s, but I see it as timeless rather than dated. AIDAN performed on a predominantly dark stage, under a spotlight. However, I’m mystified asst to why he was surrounded by arches. Part way through, he exited the arches, walked around elsewhere, and returned to being within the arches. During what seemed to be the bridge, the music became really powerful, and for some mysterious reason, red lighting was used. Altogether, a pleasant ballad, AIDAN has a very good voice and sang well tonight. Furthermore, this was appropriately staged for this style of song. I’d like to see this in the final, but I think this could be one of the more questionable qualifiers.

Song 15: Norway - JONAS LOVV “YA YA YA”

The final song in the line-up already, it’s amazing how time flies! The Norwegian national final, Melodi Grand Prix 2026, took place on Saturday 28 February 2026, and I watched it on demand, online from the UK, two days later. Interestingly, this also happened the last to perform, out of nine entries, in MGP 2026 Final. “YA YA YA” is a rock song. As one would expect for a rock song, there was a drumkit player and two electric guitar players. The chorus line “ya ya ya ya” is the perfect hook for this song. Just like in MGP 2026 Final, red light dominated this song, but there were some white light beams at times. Some of the lyrics appeared on the background screen at times. As the song drew to a close, fireworks appeared. Altogether a very lively rock song to round off the ESC 2026 Second Semi-Final line-up. Out of tonight’s rock songs, this has to be my favourite. I’d definitely like this in the final, and there’s a good chance this will be there.

Televoting and Recap

After the songs finished, Victoria and Michael reappeared to announce the start of the voting at 21:36 BST. A message “START VOTING NOW” appeared on screen. A recap of the songs followed. The UK voted in tonight's semi-final. For the first time ever, the UK voted online, therefore UK viewers saw the message “VOTE ONLINE AT ESC.VOTE” at the bottom of the screen, however the song number and country name still appeared to the right of the said message. Lines closed at 21:51.

Back to the top

My Preferences

Here are my preferences, based solely on all of tonight's performances:
Definitely want to qualify: Luxembourg, Cyprus, Latvia, Denmark, Australia, Ukraine, Albania, Malta, Norway.
Wouldn't mind qualifying: Azerbaijan, Romania, Czechia, Armenia, Switzerland.
Prefer not to qualify: Bulgaria.
Definitely don't want to qualify: (none).

So, these are the ones I want to see Saturday night: Luxembourg, Cyprus, Latvia, Denmark, Australia, Ukraine, Albania, Malta, Norway, plus one (and no more) of: Azerbaijan, Romania, Czechia, Armenia, Switzerland.

My Qualification Predictions

Here are my predictions of which countries will and won’t qualify, based solely on all of tonight's performances:
Almost certain qualifiers: Denmark, Australia.
Likely qualifiers: Bulgaria, Romania, Czechia, Armenia, Cyprus, Ukraine, Albania, Norway.
May qualify: Luxembourg, Switzerland, Latvia, Malta.
Highly unlikely to qualify: Azerbaijan.

Back to the top

Eurovision Song Contest 2026 Second Semi-Final Results

Here are the results, which were announced in a random order.. Any use of "tonight" still means Thursday 14 May 2026.

My desired qualifiers: Luxembourg, Cyprus, Latvia, Denmark, Australia, Ukraine, Albania, Malta, Norway, plus one (and no more) of: Azerbaijan, Romania, Czechia, Armenia, Switzerland.

Actual qualifiers (in order of announcement): Bulgaria, Ukraine, Norway, Australia, Romania, Malta, Cyprus, Albania, Denmark, Czechia.

Bold entries represent the actual qualifiers that match my “Definitely want to qualify” preferences, and italic entries represent the ones that match my “Wouldn't mind qualifying” preferences.

OUT: Azerbaijan, Luxembourg, Armenia, Switzerland, Latvia.

It has to be said, this was one of the most difficult to predict Eurovision Song Contest Semi-Finals I’ve ever experienced. There was only one song I thought had almost no hope of qualifying, that being Azerbaijan’s “Just Go”. In terms of my personal preferences, there was only one song I would rather have not qualified, that being Bulgaria’s “Bangaranga”. Still, no doubt plenty of other people must have liked it to have voted for it, and thus it ended up qualifying.

I’m gutted and deeply upset that Latvia didn’t qualify, because I thought their song “Ēnā” was best of the night, and had amazing staging. Still, I had my doubts about their song’s ability to qualify.

To a lesser degree, I’m disappointed Luxembourg failed to qualify, but that said, their entry was one of the weaker entries of the night, and I saw this very much as a “maybe” qualifier. This is Luxembourg’s first time of failing to qualify after returning from their extremely long absence in 2024. Hopefully RTL will continue to participate in 2027, and not see the 2026 failure to qualify for the Grand Final as an excuse to withdraw again. Most countries (other than Big Four / Five) have failed to qualify at least once since the introduction of official, televised semi-finals in 2004.

Altogether seven of my nine “Definitely want to qualify” songs qualified, which is very good I suppose. The only one which didn’t qualify were Luxembourg and Latvia. At the end of the day, I cannot expect to have all the songs I want in the final.

Anyway, no matter how I personally feel about which countries' songs went thorough and which ones didn't, all the artists who performed tonight deserve equal respect. Congratulations to the ten countries which qualified to the final, and commiserations to the five which failed to reach the final. So that means all 25 finalists are now confirmed and 10 countries have been eliminated (but will still vote in the final). Roll on the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 Grand Final at 20:00 BST Saturday evening.

Back to the top