Eurovision 2026 live: Semi-final updates as Moldova, Sweden, Croatia and Greece battle for spots in the final

Here’s everything you need to know about Israel’s controversial participation in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest:

Get to know Greece’s contestant Akylas ahead of his performance in tonight’s semi-final:

Less than an hour to go, are you ready?

There’s a fair bit of negativity around these guys but I actually like them, they’re kind of like the Portuguese Westlife only with a more romantic, traditional influence of Cante Alentejano.

Read more about them here:

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.