Vienna was chosen on Wednesday to host the Eurovision Song Contest 2026, the world’s largest stay televised music occasion, Austria’s public broadcaster introduced, with the ultimate set for May 16.
Austria’s JJ gained this 12 months’s competitors, held in Basel in Switzerland, together with his hit “Wasted Love”, which blends techno beats with operatic vocals — making his residence nation the 2026 host.
Vienna, which beforehand hosted the glitzy TV extravaganza in 1967 and 2015, edged out its competitor Innsbruck, the capital of western Tyrol province, to stage subsequent 12 months’s contest, public broadcaster ORF introduced.
The closing of Eurovision’s seventieth version will probably be held on May 16, 2026 on the Wiener Stadthalle, Austria’s largest indoor enviornment, with semi-finals set for May 12 and 14, Eurovision mentioned.
Since its launch in 1955, Eurovision has change into the final word pop platform, catapulting Swedish icons ABBA to worldwide fame, in addition to boosting the likes of Celine Dion, Cliff Richard and Olivia Newton-John.
Some 166 million viewers in 37 nations watched this 12 months’s contest, with a file 60 % of viewers aged 15 to 24 tuning in. The competitors acquired much more views on Instagram and TikTok.
The present has usually drawn controversy, with pro-Palestinian activists staging protests in the course of the extravaganza in Switzerland in May after Eurovision allowed Israel — who got here runner-up — to take part within the contest regardless of the devastating Gaza struggle.
Just after his win, JJ, whose actual identify is Johannes Pietsch, in an interview known as for Israel to be excluded from subsequent 12 months’s competitors, sparking a storm of criticism in Austria, a staunch supporter of Israel.
JJ, 24, has since sought to defuse the controversy, saying by way of his file label Warner that he was “sorry if his comments had been misinterpreted”.
Austria’s far-right Freedom Party (FPOe), which topped elections for the primary time ever final 12 months however did not kind a authorities, has described Eurovision as a “queer, left-wing, woke spectacle” and criticised Vienna for desirous to stage it regardless of the excessive prices.
Basel put up practically $40 million to host the competition.
Under the slogan “Europe, shall we dance?”, Vienna — extra generally recognized for classical music and the baroque splendour of its structure — pushed to host the competition, citing its expertise with massive occasions.
It additionally touted its “enormous” lodging capacities, its “excellent” transport hyperlinks, and its “cosmopolitanism”, with two million individuals residing within the Austrian capital.
The chosen venue, the Wiener Stadthalle, additionally hosted Eurovision in 2015, after the earlier 12 months’s version was gained by bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst.
Located in central Vienna, it opened in 1958 and seats 16,000 individuals in its predominant corridor.
When Vienna hosted the Eurovision contest final time, town put in visitors lights exhibiting same-sex and heterosexual {couples} as an alternative of a single determine — which proved so well-liked that authorities determined to maintain them for good.
© 2025 AFP