The grand final of the 70th Eurovision Song Contest 2026 takes place on Saturday, May 16
has confirmed a major voting rule change as the Grand Final of the 2026 competition takes place, which comes after a number of broadcasters raised concerns about Israel’s result at this year’s competition.
Israeli singer Yuval Raphael received the largest number of votes from the public in the contest last May, ultimately finishing as runner-up after the jury votes were taken into account. Afterwards, Irish broadcaster RTE requested a breakdown in voting numbers from the European Broadcasting Union while Spain’s public broadcaster, Radio Television Espanola , called for a “complete review” of the voting system to avoid “external interference”.
The maximum number of votes that can be made per payment method has now been reduced from 20 to 10 in plans outlined by director of the song contest, Martin Green. In an open letter published in November last year, he said: “When I wrote to you in May, I said that we would spend the summer looking at the issues raised by our participating broadcasters and fans following our 2025 contest.
” He added: “One of the clearest messages we received was the need to strengthen trust in the fairness of the contest, to ensure it remains a neutral space for the celebration of music and its power to bring us together. In response, we undertook the most extensive review of our voting framework in recent years, consulting widely with heads of delegation and many directors general from participating broadcasters.
"The Eurovision Song Contest is taking place in Austria follow JJ's win in the Grand Final of the 2025 competitionAmong the changes are new rules to do with song promotion that will "help protect the contest against disproportionate, externally driven campaigns", according to Mr Green. He said: “While artists, broadcasters and record companies will, and should, always promote their songs as part of their professional work and engagement with fans, no broadcaster or artist may now directly engage with or support campaigns by third parties – including governments or their agencies – that could distort the vote.
”Outlining the new voting rules, he added: “We have reduced the maximum number of votes possible per payment method from 20 to 10. This is an important change which recognises that, although the number of votes previously allowed did not unduly influence the results of previous contests, there were concerns expressed by participating broadcasters and fans alike.
“The reduction is designed to encourage more balanced participation, and we will more actively encourage audiences who wish to use the maximum 10 votes allowed to, in the spirit of the competition, show support across several competing songs and artists. ” It was also announced that professional juries in the semi-finals would be restored for the first time since 2022, with an expansion to the range of professions from which jurors can be chosen.
Mr Green added: “In addition to widening this pool of expertise, each jury will now have seven members rather than the previous five, including at least two jurors aged 18-25, reflecting the contest’s wide appeal to new generations. ”Also mentioned were enhanced technical safeguards designed to "protect the contest from suspicious or coordinated voting activity".
Mr Green said: "We will enforce our rules more consistently to prevent the contest from being used as a political platform or instrument of any kind. The Eurovision Song Contest belongs to all of us, and it must remain a place where music takes centre stage. ” He added: "Governments do not participate in the Eurovision Song Contest, artists do. Artists backed by public service broadcasters who are not responsible for the decisions and actions of their governments.
" The 2026 singing contest will be held in Vienna after Austria’s act JJ won the 2025 event with his song, Wasted Love. Iceland, Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland and Slovenia all said they would not take part in this year's competition as a result of Israel’s participation. As part of the boycott, Spain, Slovenia and Ireland will not broadcast the Eurovision final with Ireland’s national broadcaster RTE to air an episode of the comedy Father Ted instead.
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