The second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 is scheduled to broadcast tonight, May 14th, at 8 PM BST on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. This broadcast comes on the heels of significant controversy surrounding Israel's participation, a point of contention due to the ongoing conflict in Gaza. No specific vote was held regarding Israel's inclusion in the competition.
The semi-final will feature 18 competing nations, with 10 advancing to the Grand Final scheduled for Saturday, May 16th. Alongside the competing acts, pre-qualified nations including Italy and Germany will perform their songs in full. Notably, France, the United Kingdom, and Austria – the previous year's winner – will also take to the stage with their entries. The evening's programming includes a historical segment celebrating seven decades of Eurovision, interspersed with various interval acts and a quiz show.
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The running order for the second semi-final is as follows:
| Position | Country | Artist | Song Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Moldova | Satoshi | "Viva Moldova!" |
| 2 | Sweden | Felicia | "My System" |
| 3 | Croatia | LELEK | "Andromeda" |
| 4 | Greece | Akylas | "Ferto" |
| 5 | Portugal | Bandidos do Cante | "Rosa" |
| 6 | Georgia | Bzikebi | "On Replay" |
| AQ | Italy | Sal da Vinci | "Per Sempre Si" |
| 7 | Finland | Linda Lampenius & Pete Parkkonen | "Liekinheitin" |
| 8 | Montenegro | Tamara Živković | "Nova Zora" |
| 9 | Estonia | Vanilla Ninja | "Too Epic To Be True" |
| 10 | Israel | Noam Bettan | "Michelle" |
| AQ | Germany | N/A | "Fire" |
| 11 | Belgium | Essyla | "Dancing on the Ice" |
| 12 | Lithuania | Lion Ceccah | "Sólo quiero más" |
| 13 | San Marino | Senhit feat. | |
| 14 | Azerbaijan | Jiva | |
| 15 | Romania | Alexandra Căpitănescu | |
| 16 | Luxembourg | Eva Marija | |
| 17 | Czechia | Daniel Zizka | |
| 18 | Switzerland | Veronica Fusaro | |
| 19 | Cyprus | Antigoni | |
| 20 | Denmark | Saren Torpegaard Lund | |
| 21 | Australia | Delta Goodrem | |
| 22 | Ukraine | LELÉKA | |
| 23 | United Kingdom | Look Mum No Computer | |
| 24 | Norway | JONA LOVV |
(Note: Some song titles and full entries for certain countries in the second semi-final were not explicitly detailed in the provided materials.)
Contextualizing the Broadcast
The Eurovision Song Contest, a fixture in European popular culture, is broadcast across various platforms. In the UK, viewers can tune into BBC One and BBC iPlayer. French viewers will find the semi-finals on France 4 and france.tv. The European Broadcasting Union also provides a live stream on eurovision.tv and the official Eurovision YouTube channel, making the event accessible globally.
This year's contest, hosted in Vienna, has been marked by pre-contest discourse concerning geopolitical events, specifically the war in Gaza, and its impact on the inclusion of certain national delegations. This has led to criticism directed at the contest's organisers. The competition consists of two semi-finals, each selecting ten finalists to join the five automatically qualified nations (the "Big Five" – France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom – plus the host country, Austria) in the Grand Final. The results of the first semi-final saw acts from Croatia, Serbia, Lithuania, Montenegro, and Poland noted as favourites among bookmakers. Boy George, representing San Marino, notably failed to qualify from the first semi-final.
