As we gear up for the next Eurovision national final season, the European Braodcasting Union have today announced changes for the 2026 contest, around voting and fairness. It’s an announcement that many fans have been expecting, with many believing drastic changes were needed after a few issues over the past few years.
So what are these changes? The highlights surround juries, promotion of entries, and how many times viewers can vote for their favourite songs. There have been strong opinions about the lack of juries in semi-finals for the past 3 contests, and now the EBU are u-turning on this, bringing back this crucial element into the mix. We’ve got other huge changes to cover here, so let’s jump right in.
Scroll down for details from the EBU’s press release below
Voting Changes at Eurovision 2026
How televoting is affected
Let’s cover the changes in the actual voting process first. A key point for us to process is that the amount of televotes allowed per payment method has been halved. Instead of 20 votes per payment method, now viewers will only be able to do ten. Interestingly, the EBU also say “Fans will be actively encouraged to share their support across multiple entries”. It’s unsure what this means at present, with no further clarification on how fans will be asked to consider not maxxing out their votes on one song.
They also stated that “Enhanced technical safeguards will also be introduced, to detect and block coordinated or fraudulent voting activity”. They emphasise that they have been working “closely with [their] voting partner Once to expand the Contest’s advanced security systems, which detect and prevent fraudulent or coordinated voting activity, and strengthen monitoring of suspicious patterns to maintain trust in the results of the audience vote”.
Jury changes, including returning to the semi-finals
Welcome back to the semi-finals, juries! The juries will be back in the semi-finals, with the same 50/50 split they had on influence from 2009-2022. This move will be celebrated by many Eurovision fans, with the semi-finals of the last few years knocking out some cult classics, beloved by the fandom but needed that jury love to help with the wider audience.
Some fans believe that the quality of songs getting to the final has decreased in some cases, with artistic merit occasionally taking a back seat to a more attention-grabbing vibe. The EBU seem to acknowledge this somewhat, by saying “This change is intended to encourage the optimum musical balance and diversity in songs that qualify for the Grand Final, ensuring that high-quality entries with broad artistic merit are recognised alongside those with popular appeal.”.
Another change with the juries, is that there will now be 7 jurors per country, instead of 5. Two jurors from each participating country must also be between the ages of 18-25, to encourage voting from a younger viewers perspective. The EBU also say that “the range of professional backgrounds that jurors can be chosen from will be expanded to include music journalists and critics, music teachers, creative professionals such as choreographers and stage directors and experienced music industry figures”.
Stricter rules on how braodcasters promote their entries
Something that has caught the eye of fans recently is heavy promotion campaigns from specific countries. The EBU are planning to tackle this, by stopping promotion campaigns from third-parties such as governements or government agencies.
On this, the EBU have said “The updated Voting Instructions support appropriate promotion of artists and their songs (which is very much part of the professional music industry), but “discourage disproportionate promotion campaigns…particularly when undertaken or supported by third parties, including governments or governmental agencies.”
Participating broadcasters and artists are not permitted to actively engage in, facilitate or contribute to promotional campaigns by third parties that could influence the voting outcome and, as outlined in the updated Code of Conduct, any attempts to unduly influence the results will lead to sanctions”.
As they say, promoting an entry is standard practise in the music industry, but with examples in the past 2 contests having government-backed YouTube advertisments worth approximately a million Euros, it needed to be clarified. Fans can be assured that broadcasters cannot accept government help with informing people (fans of the contest or not) about their Eurovision entry.
A statement from Martin Green CBE, Director of the Eurovision Song Contest
Martin Green, the director of the Eurovision Song Contest, also had a statement in the announcement, ackonwledging fans concerns and saying that this is how they will address them going forwards.
He says “We’ve listened and we’ve acted”, said Martin Green CBE, Director of the Eurovision Song Contest.
“The neutrality and integrity of the Eurovision Song Contest is of paramount importance to the EBU, its Members, and all our audiences. It is essential that the fairness of the Contest is always protected. We are taking clear and decisive steps to ensure the contest remains a celebration of music and unity. The Contest should remain a neutral space and must not be instrumentalized”.
“Alongside the changes we are announcing today, we will also strengthen enforcement of our existing rules to prevent any misuse of the Contest for example through song lyrics or staging. And we will work closely with Members to ensure they fully understand and are also accountable for upholding the rules and values that define the Song Contest”.
It’s clear that despite recent difficulties in the Eurovision Song Contest’s voting, something is being done to future-proof this, and ensure they do everything they can to make winning the contest a fair game.
