The Eurovision Song Contest reaches its grand final on Saturday night, with Finland, Greece and Australia among the favourites to win.
The show is taking place in Vienna, which seems to have prompted half of the contestants to throw an operatic riff into their song, whether it needs it or not.
Elsewhere, you can expect death-defying dance moves, sexually suggestive rock anthems and the longest sustained note in Eurovision history.
Here’s a guide to (some of) the highlights. You can watch the show live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from 20:00 BST on Saturday.
1) A Greek cinderella story
Eight months ago, Greek singer Akylas was down on his luck.
“I was in Athens, I was working as a waiter, and I quit my job to start singing in the streets,” he tells the BBC.
“I had so many people telling me that I was wasting my time. People would bully me in the street [while] I was busking, trying to pay my rent and my bills. I was struggling – so it’s crazy that now I’m representing my country at Eurovision.”
The 27-year-old is tipped for a top three finish with Ferto, a hyperactive dance anthem that smashes together rave synths, video game sound effects and traditional Greek instruments like the lyra.
Lyrically, Akylas looks back at his childhood during the Greek financial crisis.
“It’s about all the parents, who are trying to provide the best for their children, and all the sacrifices that they make, like my parents did,” he says.
2) Could Australia win? And why are they at Eurovision in the first place?
Australia has been obsessed with Eurovision since Abba won in 1974. As a gesture of goodwill, they were invited to take part in the contest’s 60th anniversary in 2015, as a one-off wildcard entry.
They embraced the show with such enthusiasm they’ve been invited back every year since – but after crashing out in last year’s semi-final, they’re determined to win in 2026.
Taking no chances, they’ve sent actual platinum-selling pop star Delta Goodrem, with a power ballad so polished you can see the whites of her eyes in it.
It’s called Eclipse. It has a chorus that would make Celine Dion jealous, and features a baroque piano breakdown before an almighty key change in the final refrain.
After Thursday’s semi-final, bookmakers slashed Delta’s odds, making her a frontrunner for the trophy.
No-one’s quite sure what happens if she wins – but Graham Norton has some gossip.
Speaking on the Wanging On podcast earlier this week, the BBC’s Eurovision host said he’d been discussing this very topic with Australian broadcaster, Joel Creasey.
“He was saying that every year Australia make a deal with someone, in case they win, so that someone will host [the contest] for them.”
We put the question to Eurovision organisers the EBU, who were non-committal.
“We’re currently focussed on the Grand Final of the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, with 25 incredible songs and artists from across Europe and Australia competing,” they said.
“Discussions on the hosting of next year’s event will take place, as always, after we have our winner on 16 May.”
3) Finland fears for their fiddle
But forget about Australia for a moment. Finland are the current favourites to win, with their tempestuous love song, Liekenheiten.
It’s performed by pop star Pete Parkonnen and classical violinist Linda Lampenius – a hook-up that’s the Finnish equivalent of Harry Styles doing a duet with Nicola Benedetti.
“Pete’s, like, the sexiest man in Finland or something,” Linda teases. “He’s got all those labels.”
But all the focus in the run-up to the final has been on the moment where Linda has to sprint the entire length of the catwalk in high heels while clutching her precious violin – a 1781 Gagliano, worth an estimated £500,000.
“I run and jump up and down on a chair, and I’m standing next to a fire. So I’m quite nervous during those three minutes.
“I’m thinking about the violin all the time.”
4) Moldova are skipping it
Not literally, of course – they’re delighted to be in the final after two years’ absence from the competition.
But their singer, Satoshi, has a very strict routine, 30 seconds before he bursts onto the stage with his gregarious party anthem, Viva, Moldova!
“I simulate rope jumping to get my energy levels up,” says the 27-year-old, who’s also an amateur boxer.
“I’ve been doing it so much that one of the guys who hands us our microphones bought a rope and gave it to me.”
As the title suggests, Viva, Moldova! is full of pride and patriotism – written to mark the 35th anniversary of independence.
Along the way, it names some of the country’s biggest cultural figures, including musician Eugene Doga, author Maria Mirabela, and poet Grigore Vieru, who holds a very special place in Satoshi’s heart.
“Grigore wrote a poetry book which is, to this day, one of the main ways for kids to learn the alphabet. That’s how I learned the letters, as did many, many kids throughout Moldovan history.”
Now he’s taken that alphabet and turned it into a certified Eurovision banger. Result.
More on the Eurovision Song Contest 2026:
5) Will Israel face further protests?
Five countries are boycotting Eurovision over Israel’s participation, citing the country’s actions in Gaza and the death toll of the war.
At Tuesday’s semi-final, the country’s contestant Noam Bettan faced a mixture of cheers and booing from the audience.
Four protesters were later removed from the arena.
Speaking to the BBC afterwards, Bettan said he had been surprised by the protests.
“I heard there was booing and everything, and there was a moment of, like, a wow effect, you know? A little bit of shock.”
At the same time, the singer admitted he’d practised being booed during rehearsals, after Israeli contestants faced similar chants in 2024 and 2025.
Further protests seem likely at Saturday’s final – but Israel is nonetheless predicted to do well in the contest.
Bettan delivers his song, a lovestruck ballad called Michelle, with sincerity and passion, nimbly moving into his falsetto over a mix of electronic beats and Middle Eastern instrumentation.
6) Sweden’s vanishing vocals
Swedish star Felicia is known for wearing a protective face mask during her performances – which is more to do with body image than a fear of disease.
But during Tuesday’s semi-final she suffered a wardrobe malfunction and the mask slipped off. Within 24 hours, she’d lost her voice and was put on strict vocal rest.
“It’s a catastrophe for me because I hate being silent!” she posted on social media.
“But I just have to follow the advice I’ve been given – stay quiet, rest, and drink water.”
Luckily, her voice sounded fine during Friday’s dress rehearsal; and the singer gave us an insight into the lyrics behind her song, My System, which literally talks about catching an infection… of emotion.
“If I have a bad day, it can about a relationship that has ended, or the struggle I had with the record label I left.
“And if I have an amazing day, it could be like a friend or a crush that I can’t stop thinking about.”
If she wins, Sweden would become the most successful Eurovision nation of all time – breaking its seven-way tie with Ireland.
“No pressure,” Felicia laughs. That would be crazy.”
7) Mum’s the word
There’s no beating about the bush – the UK’s recent track record at Eurovision has been terrible.
We’ve tried sending chart-topping pop stars like Olly Alexander, and accomplished vocal harmony groups like Remember Monday. But every year, we’re left scrambling for points at the bottom of the leader board.
This year’s hopeful is Sam Battle – aka Look Mum No Computer – an inventor, YouTuber and museum curator from Ramsgate, who is madder than a box of mad frogs doing Bikram yoga
He wrote his entry – Eins, Zwei, Drei – on a synthesiser he built in his garage, and it has sounds like Fat Les’s Vindaloo, as performed by Kraftwerk.
“What we’re doing is Marmite – you either love it or hate it – but I think there’s a slot open for our sort of thing,” he told BBC News earlier this week.
The song certainly stands out in a sea of windswept ballads and crunchy club anthems. And Sam’s kooky persona is either going to win people’s hearts or crash out spectacularly.
If it comes to that, he’ll look on the bright side.
“It’s a really good t-shirt – ‘Look mum, no points’.”
8) Sexual shenanigans
Norwegian star Jonas Lovv was told to censor his performance of the rock song Ya Ya Ya after thrusting his hips one too many times during rehearsals.
Speaking ahead of the semi-finals, Jonas revealed the feedback he’d received from contest organisers.
“Without joking: too sexy,” he told reporters.
The head of Norway’s Eurovision team confirmed that adjustments were necessary.
“We were told to tone down the sex appeal because it isn’t family-friendly enough,” Mads Tørklep explained.
Specifically, the production team asked for a reduction in “sexualised movements” and rhythmic gestures.
Now PG-rated, Jonas has becalmed his sinful hips, but still gives a cheeky wink and a little bum waggle to the camera.
9) Bangers, smashes, screams and shushes
Bulgarian singer Dara has the night’s best staging on Bangaranga – a nonsensical typhoon of tropical pop, based around a word from Jamaican patois that means “a joyful kind of disorder”.
Her performance is a cross between an AA meeting and The Exorcist, as dancers in plastic chairs twitch and shake to the song’s ever-changing tempo. I love it to bits.
Romania’s Alexandra Căpitănescu has provoked controversy with the lyrics to her song Choke Me. Campaigners have criticised the track for glamourising sexual violence – but Alexandra says it’s really about suffocating under the weight of society’s expectations.
Sounding like Lady Gaga fronting Evanesence, she performs it while tethered to her guitarists with giant neon ropes.
Ukraine’s delicate ballad Ridnym includes a breathtaking 30-second-long high note; while Serbian band Lavina unleash a blood-curdling scream at the end of their metalcore ballad, Kraj Mene.
And we shouldn’t forget France – whose singer Monroe is this year’s youngest contestant. The 17-year-old’s track, Regarde! mixes elements of pop and R&B with a stunning operatic vocal.
“Regarde is all about universal love,” she tells the BBC. “It’s about taking the busy moments in your life and just saying, ‘Shhhh, everything is going to be fine’.”
And after a week of covering Eurovision in Vienna, that’s exactly the message I needed.
You can tune into the grand final on BBC One, BBC iPlayer, Radio 2 and BBC Sounds from 8pm BST on Saturday night.
There will also be full coverage, including a comprehensive live page, on the BBC News Website.
