On May 16, the grand final of the Eurovision 2026 contest is taking place in Vienna (Austria), in which the representative of Ukraine, singer Leleka (Victoria Leleka), takes part with the song Ridnym. The show is broadcast on the official YouTube channel of the competition; with a Ukrainian translation, the show was broadcast on the Suspilny venues.
In addition to Ukraine, 24 more countries are taking part in the grand final – 10 countries that qualified from each semi-final, four countries that sponsor the competition, and Austria, which hosts Eurovision as the winner of last year's competition.
The contestants take the stage in this order.
- Denmark.
- Germany.
- Israel.
- Belgium.
- Albania.
- Greece.
- Ukraine.
- Australia.
- Serbia.
- Malta.
- Czech Republic.
- Bulgaria.
- Croatia.
- United Kingdom.
- France.
- Moldova.
- Finland.
- Poland.
- Lithuania.
- Sweden.
- Cyprus.
- Italy.
- Norway.
- Romania.
- Austria.
Bookmakers' forecasts
Bookmakers predict victory in the competition for representatives of Finland – the duet of violinist Linda Lampenius and singer Pete Parkkonen. He performs a pop ballad in Finnish, Liekinheitin. The initiator of this duet and their further participation in the competition was the violinist, notes ESC Insight. The highlight of the performance and the most anticipated moment of the entire competition, the publication says, is “the divine defile on stage of the most famous violinist in Europe,” and the agreement of the organizers that she play the violin live during this defile “strengthens the impression 10 times.”
The duo's competitor is Australian singer and actress Delta Goodrem with the song Eclipse, which Ukrainian singer Irina Bilyk suspected of plagiarism.
The third place is claimed by the singer from Greece Akylas with the composition Ferto.
Singer Leleka moved down in the rating table on the eve of the grand final. According to Ukrainian producer Igor Kondratyuk, Euro fans will help Ukraine reach the top ten. The artist will appear on stage together with the Ukrainian bandura player, founder of the Shpilyasti Kobzari group Yaroslav Dzhus. The piquancy of the singer’s performance in the second grand final was the shadow of a stork on the stage and a gesture towards the camera in the form of a trident.
Ukrainian viewers also especially remembered the representative of Cyprus, singer Antigoni, who in the second semi-final performed a striptease on stage, exposing her breasts. Due to her external similarity and manner of performance, the artist is compared to the Colombian singer Shakira.
