Mark Savage
Music correspondent, at the Eurovision Song Contest

Eurovision’s stage includes 3,107 lighting fixtures and more than 28,000 individually controllable LEDs.

Controlling them all is British lighting designer Tim Routledge. This is his fourth Eurovision, and he’s made one big addition to his rig for 2026: A treadmill.

Over the last month of rehearsals and semi-finals, he’s run 500km while operating all the levers and switches that control the spotlights.

"I decided this year that I wanted to keep moving while I’m working," he explained.

And during tonight’s grand final? "I’m hoping to run a marathon."

"Eurovision fever has hit our house!" Marc tells us.

"My six-year-old created this custom Lego Eurovision band complete with a show-stopping cake stage."

We're here for this colourful creation - the staging definitely wouldn't look out of place in Vienna, and the cake would keep the performers' energy up.

What more could you want?

Image source, Marc/BBC

Emma Saunders
Culture reporter

Voting will open just before the first song of the night is performed - but how does the process work?

Each country gives two sets of points: The first set is awarded by a jury of seven music industry professionals, while the other comes from viewers at home

How to vote: Viewers from participating countries can vote by telephone, SMS*, through the official app and at ESC Vote, external.

Do I have to pay?: This year you have to pay to vote, either using a credit card or Apple/Google Pay. In the UK it's 15p per vote. Elsewhere, it costs up to €0.99. As well as aiming to raise money, it's to help stop fraudulent voting by making sure votes are coming from the country they are registered in

Can I vote for my own country?: No, you cannot.

How can I find out how my country voted? Once the voting window has closed, the spokesperson for all participating countries will reveal their jury points live on air

What happens with viewers' points?: Viewers' points from all participating countries are added up following the jury points, and revealed from the lowest to the highest

The result: This leads to the nail-biting result, which will reveal the winner of the 70th Eurovision Song Contest

BBC Sounds

Image source, BBC/Sarah Jeynes

Who is the ultimate Eurovision superstar?

Sophie Ellis Bextor has counted down Radio 2 listeners’ top Eurovision icons ahead of tonight’s Grand Final - featuring favourites including Abba, Loreen, Celine Dion and Johnny Logan.

• You can listen now on BBC Sounds.

And for the final, remember you can tune in to tonight’s live Eurovision Grand Final on the BBC Sounds app and listen on the go.

Or if you’d prefer to listen via Smart Speaker, just ask your device to ‘Play Radio 2’.

Helen Bushby
Culture reporter

Image source, Getty Images

The odds and expectations on who will win can change very swiftly, not least when each country places their vote after the juries have had their say.

But as things stand, Finland are currently the favourites to win, followed by Australia, Greece, Israel and Romania.

The UK is expected to land in the lower part of the leaderboard, but you will have to watch this space when those scores start jumping later on tonight!

Helen Bushby
Culture reporter

Image source, bbc

We have you covered! You can tune into the grand final on BBC One, BBC iPlayer, Radio 2 and BBC Sounds from 8pm tonight.

Graham Norton will be guiding us through the sequins and high notes on BBC One, while Rylan and Sara Cox will be your hosts on Radio 2.

There will also be full coverage right here of course, but you know that already.

Nothing like a bit of time away when life at home gets busy, and that's exactly what Tommy and Tashie are doing - looks like they're making the most of it!

They told us: "Tommy and Tashie calling! We’ve travelled to Vienna for Eurovision… thanks for looking after the kids mum! X"

Image source, Tommy and Tashiie/BBC

While the actual show doesn't begin until 20:00 BST (it's on BBC One and iPlayer), we've got plenty to keep you entertained beforehand.

You can now watch dedicated countdown coverage at the top of this page - just click watch live above.

Hosted by the BBC's Maryam Moshiri, there's lots of special guests - and Eurovision fun - coming your way.

Helen Bushby
Culture reporter

As you can see it's been a different country taking the coveted top spot in recent years.

As for the UK, its best placing was in 2022 when Sam Ryder came second with Space Man.

This was the UK's best placing since 1998, external - and still is, having not made it into the top 17 in the last five years.

Emma Saunders
Culture reporter

While some fans will be celebrating Eurovision with the usual parties, other long-time devotees have said that they won't be watching the show for the first time in decades, because they don't think Israel should be allowed to participate.

Some have said they don't think the show should be broadcast by the BBC, while others have disagreed, saying it's a song competition, condemning the countries that have decided to boycott it.

Israel's presence has sparked controversy for some since its government began a massive military offensive in Gaza in October 2023.

The incursion came in response to a Hamas-led attack on Israel, that killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage, Israeli authorities say. Israel's offensive has killed 72,628 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-led health authority.

A ceasefire deal has been in effect since 10 October 2025.

Tickets for this year's nine final events in Vienna sold out in record time. Every seat at the grand final was snapped up in just 14 minutes.

"To see every single show sell out so quickly is a powerful reminder of what the Eurovision Song Contest represents - joy, togetherness and shared experience at a time when that feels more important than ever," said Eurovision's director, Martin Green.

When Israel's participation in this year's contest was confirmed late last year, the BBC said in a statement: "We support the collective decision made by members of the EBU. This is about enforcing the rules of the EBU and being inclusive."

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

As last year's winners, Austria is hosting the Eurovision song contest this year.

The dazzling celebrations land in the capital Vienna, at the Wiener Stadthalle arena - the same venue that saw acts take to the stage when Austria hosted the 60th edition of the contest in 2015.

This year visitors and locals alike have been able to enjoy the Eurovision fan village outside the city hall, which has large public viewing areas for the final.

Last year's victory was down to Austrian singer JJ, who performed his ballad Wasted Love. He'll be opening the show tonight.

They have automatic qualification to the final this year, and hoping to clinch a second victory in a row for Austria is 19-year-old Cosmó.

Billy Joel famously sang Vienna waits for you - but today, it's waiting for Eurovision's grand final.

Image source, Reuters

It's almost showtime, and the energy is building in Vienna.

Outside the Wiener Stadhalle arena, thousands of people are turning up and making it clear who they're backing in tonight's final.

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Image source, Reuters

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

One stage, 25 acts. Here's a run down of who has made it to the grand final of this year's Eurovision Song Contest.

Five countries qualified automatically:

The "Big Four" countries - the UK, Italy, Germany and France - were guaranteed a place in the grand final as they are the biggest financial contributors to the contest.

Austria, as this year's hosts also automatically qualified.

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Twenty countries fought for their spot:

In the first semi-final, which took place on Tuesday, Belgium, Croatia, Finland, Greece, Israel, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Serbia and Sweden advanced to the final.

The second semi-final was the decider on who would earn the last few spots in the grand final, the successful countries were: Albania, Australia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Malta, Norway, Romania and Ukraine.

Acts from all 25 countries will be performing tonight, and one of them will be crowned this year's winner - stick with us.

Matt Spivey
Live editor

Hello from London!

It's nearly time for the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2026, and we're gearing up for the music spectacular to get under way.

It's the competition's 70th year and 25 acts are preparing to give their all on stage in Vienna, Austria.

Two dynamic semi-finals whittled down the competitors: Estonia, Montenegro, Portugal, San Marino, Azerbaijan, Luxembourg, Armenia, Switzerland and Latvia have all been eliminated.

Finland, Greece and Australia are among the favourites to win.

Sam Battle, also known as Look Mum No Computer, is representing the UK this year with his high energy electro-pop number Eins, Zwei, Drei.

But it's all still to play for - and when it comes to Eurovision you never quite know what to expect.

As the delegations gather in Austria, five competition regulars will be absent. Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain are all boycotting the event over the European Broadcasting Union's (EBU's) decision to allow Israel to participate.

We'll be bringing you the latest updates, analysis and insight on this year's contest. You can tune into the grand final right here on this page by clicking watch live from 20:00 BST.