The Main Favorites Of "Eurovision" Have Been Named
- 16.05.2026, 19:37
The finals will take place tonight at 22:00 Minsk.
The final of Eurovision-2026 will start on Saturday, May 16, at 21:00 CET (22:00 Minsk time) in Vienna. The day before the show, bookmakers called Finland the main favorite, estimating its chances of winning at more than 40 percent, German Wave reported.
From Finland this year is the duo of violinist Linda Lampenius and singer Pete Parkkonen with the Finnish-language pop ballad "Liekinheitin." The European Broadcasting Union made an exception for the contestant - her violin parts are played live, while according to the rules of the competition only the vocals should be live, and the accompaniment is recorded.
The main competitor of the Finns is Australian singer Delta Goodrem with the ballad "Eclipse". Also among the contenders for high places are Greek singer Akylas with the composition "Ferto", combining ethno-pop, rap and techno, as well as Danish participant Søren Torpergaard Lunn with the dance track "Før Vi Går Hjem".
After the second semi-final, Australia's chances rose sharply, while the position of the Danish performer weakened.
Romania's Alexandra Capitanescu with the pop-rock song "Choke me" and Israeli performer Noam Bettan are also mentioned among the possible contenders for the top 3. At the same time, the European Broadcasting Union has introduced new rules after the 2025 contest, restricting mass support campaigns on social media and the involvement of government agencies in promoting contestants.
In addition, voting rules have been changed: now one viewer can cast no more than 10 votes instead of the previous 20. The organizers also issued a warning to Noam Bettan for publishing a video with appeals to use the maximum number of votes - these materials were removed.
Belarus is excluded from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and from 2021 does not participate in the Eurovision Song Contest, so the Belarusian television does not broadcast it.
Nevertheless, fans of the show around the world will be able to watch the final online. The live broadcast will start at 22:00 Belarusian time (21:00 CET).