Eurovision 2026, what happens in the second semi-final

No Italy this evening in the second semi-final of Eurovision 2026, what was supposed to happen happened in the first semi-final: Sal DaVinci (here is our interview) passed out of the competition on Tuesday, while Senhit – competing for San Marino with Boy George – was eliminated. The controversies also continue: Israel was contested outside and inside the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria, where the 2026 edition is taking place. But it advanced to the final – even with the new regulations and in recent days the NYTimes published an investigation into the methods used by the state and “a campaign orchestrated directly by the government to influence the vote” and “transform the stage into an instrument of soft power”.

Today we continue with the second semi-final: 15 other countries compete for 10 places on Saturday, and 3 “big” countries are out of the race: England, France and Austria. The fifth “big five”, Spain, decided to boycott the demonstration due to the presence of Israel. For the same reason, the Netherlands, Ireland, Slovenia and Iceland will not be there

The second semi-final can also be seen on RAI, this evening on 2 then the final on 16 May on Rai 1, again hosted by Gabriele Corsi and Elettra Lamborghini. It can also be seen in the original language on YouTube. This evening I will televote and vote for the specialized juries.

The ladder

These are the release order of the songs and countries of the second semi-final. France, Austria and England will perform out of competition

Bulgaria: DARA – “Bangaranga”
Azerbaijan: JIVA – “Just Go”
Romania: Alexandra Căpitănescu – “Choke Me”
Luxembourg: Eva Marija – “Mother Nature”
Czechia: Daniel Zizka – “CROSSROADS”
France: Monroe – “Regarde!” (exhibition out of competition)
Armenia: SIMÓN – “Paloma Rumba”
Switzerland: Veronica Fusaro – “Alice”
Cyprus: Antigoni – “JALLA”
Austria: COSMÓ – “Tanzschein” (out-of-competition performance)
Latvia: Atvara – “Ēnā”
Denmark: Søren Torpegaard Lund – “Før Vi Går Hjem”
Australia: Delta Goodrem – “Eclipse”
Ukraine: LELÉKA – “Ridnym”
England: LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER – “Eins, Zwei, Drei” (out-of-competition performance)
Albania: Alis – “Nân”
Malta: AIDAN – “Bella”
Norway: JONAS LOVV – “YA YA YA”