It’s official: Canada will be making its Eurovision debut in 2027.
And while the song contest has been around for decades, many Canadians might not be familiar with the competition and what it entails.
So here’s your full breakdown on the ins and outs of the long-standing musical competition.
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual music competition designed to have European countries compete via original songs, then be judged by both public votes and professional juries.
One official broadcaster from each participating country submits one original song. The maximum length of the song is three minutes, it may be performed by up to six artists on stage and it must not have been released before a certain date.
With the contest taking place over three nights, each act performs that song live on stage in a competitive system of two semi-finals and a grand final for the chance to win the Eurovision Song Contest.
The top 10 acts in each semi-final are determined primarily by public televoting on Eurovision’s official app or website, which then advance to the grand final. Viewers are not allowed to vote for their own country, and international audiences outside the participating countries can also cast their votes online.
The song that receives the highest combined score from the public vote and the national juries is declared the winner.
The event is organized under the auspices of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the largest union of public service media in the world, according to the official Eurovision website.
The competition eventually inspired the 2020 Netflix movie Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, starring Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams.
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Below is the complete list of countries that competed this year:
- Albania
- Armenia
- Australia
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czechia
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Georgia
- Germany
- Greece
- Israel
- Italy
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Moldova
- Montenegro
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- San Marino
- Serbia
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Ukraine
- United Kingdom
France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom have a guaranteed place in the final, due to their larger financial contribution. The host country also gets an automatic qualification into the grand final.
Australia is able to compete since the Australian broadcaster SBS is an associate member of the EBU and in 2015, to mark the 60th Eurovision Song Contest, was invited to submit an entry. Canada has become the first country to join the contest since then.
French Canadian singer Céline Dion represented Switzerland in Eurovision in 1988 with her song Ne partez pas sans moi (Don’t Leave Without Me), taking the win by a single vote.
There are no Eurovision rules that indicate that a singer has to be born in or have citizenship in the country that they’re representing.
Bulgaria won Eurovision 2026 with DARA’s song Bangaranga, with 516 points, the largest margin of victory in the competition’s history.
The 2026 edition of Eurovision saw the lowest number of participants since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004.
The competition has also received backlash regarding Israel’s involvement, with Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain not competing this year and citing the country’s participation as the reason.
“Political statements, gestures, or actions during the event, including any instrumentalization of the contest for political or other purposes are prohibited,” Eurovision states on its website.
Failure to comply with the rules may result in disqualification.
What is the history of Eurovision?
The first Eurovision competition dates back to May 24, 1956, with Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland being the first nations to compete.
Switzerland’s Lys Assia took home the first championship, singing a French song called Refrain. She returned to Eurovision to compete again in 1957 and 1958.
In total, 28 different countries have claimed a victory at Eurovision, with Ireland and Sweden deadlocked for the most wins at seven each.
The peak number of competing countries came in 2008, 2011 and 2018 with 43.
The 2026 competition marked the 70th edition of Eurovision.
How big is Eurovision’s reach?
The 2026 contest, held in Vienna, Austria, reached 131 million people across 35 TV markets, according to Eurovision. In addition, the competition marked a viewing share of 42.6 per cent, over double the broadcaster average.
People aged 15-24 made up 54.8 per cent of viewers, which Eurovision states is more than four times higher than the broadcast channels’ average.
Votes were cast from a total of 148 countries in the 2026 competition.
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
