LIVE: Who will win the Jury Vote in Eurovision Grand Final?

Tomorrow it’s time for the grand final of Eurovision 2026. 25 countries will compete for the trophy in the long awaiting final of the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest. But 50% of the results will already be decided tonight! Follow the jury rehearsal with us. In this blog you can read what we think of the vocal qualities of each country, and how we think the juries will react to their performance.

NOTE: The star ratings are our indication of how likely it is that the professional jury might vote for this performance. They do not display any personal preferences.

For more information on how to read this blog, check out our Jury Jargon Explanation.

Timeslots are indicated in CET. Newest update always appears on top.

23:21 – Austria – Cosmó – Tanzschein

No obvious errors in this performance, although Cosmó does shout into the audience once (red flag). The song is rather flat, with a low level of vocal difficulty. Juries will notice this. They will also notice the masks, which could trigger the FOP-effect. Red flags all around.

23:17 – Romania – Alexandra Căpitănescu – Choke Me

Alexandra starts off well with a solid first verse, including hitting the lower staccato ranks. Chorus comes out strong as well, with the higher opera loops as the highlight / the cherry on top. Second time around is on-key as well. Alexandra takes revenge on herself for a failed performance on Wednesday night – this one is simply way better.

The rougher the rock song, the less accessible it becomes for the generally rather mainstream oriented juries. This composition still has some pop elements in it, however, it also features slight grunt elements, dark gothic styling and potentially divisive lyrics that could trigger certain female jurors. Best point of comparison might be Eldrine for Georgia in 2011: a 16th place for juries with 79 points, and an 8th place in the televote with 138 points.

Alexandra won The Voice of Romania in 2023.

23:10 – Norway – Jonas Lovv – Ya ya ya

Jonas clearly struggles with some kind of virus all week, and while some have gotten better throughout the last few days, Jonas seems to be getting worse. While the verses are still on key, you can still hear the phlegm in his voice – and during the choruses, he can hardly keep up with his own song anymore. Being sick is of course partly bad luck, but there might also be a reason why the Danish and Finnish singers are managing it better than the inexperienced Jonas.

Previous glamrock entries were usually not that popular with juries. This has the added “bonus” of sexual connotations within both the lyrics and the performance, which is a red flag. Jonas reached the semi finals of The Voice of Norway in 2025.

23:05 – Italy – Sal Da Vinci – Per sempre sì

Sal Da Vinci is another performer who keeps slightly improving throughout this second Eurovision week. Solid first verse without missed notes. He even gets the tough “d’avanti” note right in the first chorus. In the second chorus, he slides off this same note, however, he limits the damage and gives his best vocal performance of the week so far.

A cheerful, mid-tempo, inoffensive pop song with an old-school disco rhythm makes this the kind of composition that could do well with juries. The message of the song, though some may perceive it as conservative, is also wholesome – which means it can go either way in terms of how juries interpret it.

23:00 – Cyprus – Antigoni – Jalla

The first two a-capella lines are almost entirely off-key. It remains a mystery how the Cypriotic delegation could have made the call to leave Antigoni exposed like this. The second pre-chorus is probably the worst part, with another few missed notes. As expected, this is the weakest vocal performance of the night so far, and one of the few that has not either been eliminated or improved after the semi. Even more of an outlier now in this stronger final field.

As mentioned before, there is some precedent for juries rewarding ethnopop, but one of the requirements for that (aside from an exceptional vocal performance) is a clean, classical structure. “Jalla” has the exact opposite of that.

Antigoni has no talent show background, but instead is famous for participating in “Love Island” in the UK. While this familiarity could help her in the televote, I wonder if it can also be a red flag for some jurors. Though it must be said, this is just a theory and there is currently very little precedent to back this up.

22:56 – Sweden – Felicia – My System

The first two sentences are solid. The first high notes at “the whole idea of you” are on the edge, though not off-key. Pre-chorus is solid, however, Felicia pulls away her microphone so early it becomes visibly obvious she is not the one singing here. Second verse is on point. It appears as though Felicia is more occupied with her dance tonight than the previous few nights, leading to more sloppy microphone movements. Question remains whether juries will punish her for this – the vocals we hear, are obviously live, and there is actually precedent for televoters caring more about this stuff than juries.

Sweden has a strong track record in jury votings with mainstream club and pop songs. However, in recent years, when they have moved toward a slightly more modern composition within that same genre, juries have supported them slightly less (see 2024 for comparison).

22:52 – Lithuania – Lion Ceccah – Sólo quiero más

The first verse is vocally solid. In the chorus he is slightly low for a note at the words “pray for”. Otherwise okay. He hits the falsetto in the second verse, but he goes off the rails during the second chorus. The louder Lion Ceccah tries to go, the more off-key it gets. He misses several notes in this final minute of the song, squandering any credit he may have gathered at the start.

The composition contains a little bit of everything: from pop to opera to darker disco tones. Such a combination is generally a red flag for juries. However, there is also reason to think some jurors will perceive this as artistic. There is also precedent for juries rewarding entries with a progressive backstory, such as this one.

22:47 – Poland – Alicja – Pray

Alicja is one of the better vocalists of this year’s competition and she has shown that again tonight. With the exception of the final note which she has to cut a little bit short – everything else goes full throttle and she does not go off the rails even once.

Juries have shown a lot of love for gospel, which is one of the genres of this song. However, it is not the only one. R’nB is less jury friendly. And even more important: the combination of the two make this song vulnerable. Juries do not like mashed genres and are quick to label a song “messy”.

22:42 – Finland – Linda Lampenius & Pete Parkkonen – Liekinheitin

Pete Parkkonen gives a solid vocal performance, despite clearly not having his full vocal capacity. On Tuesday, he was hoarse at times. Tonight, that is not the case, but Pete has to slightly hold back at times. He manages the situation professionally and does not miss a single note. Something televoters would not notice, but jurors might.

Finland has sent a couple of rougher rock songs in recent years, which generally made them more suitable for televote than for juries. With this song, however, they seem to have found the right pop-rock middle ground that could do well with both. Out of all the countries favored to win this year’s competition, Finland might be the one with the most equal potential among both televoters and juries.

The news surrounding Linda Lampenius and the fact that she is allowed to play her violin live, is something that will probably help Finlands jury vote as well.

22:36 – Moldova – Satoshi – Viva, Moldova

Satoshi brings us a mixture of several different genres, including hiphop, pop, folk dance and ethnic elements. A song written to put smiles on people’s faces, much like previous Moldovan entries that have generally fared poorly with juries (but very good with televoters). I do not see how this entry will fare much better with juries.

The vocals are fine, of course, with the big side remark that the song is flat and the level of difficulty is low. Being aware of its possible negative effects, the lead singer avoids shouting into the audience tonight the way he did on Tuesday.

22:29 – France – Monroe – Regarde!

The difference between the level of vocal performances tonight vs. the both semi finals is staggering so far. We have left some of the weaker vocalists behind, and the ones who return, give improved performances.

Monroe, too, is at her best tonight – though it must be said that she has been strong all throughout this second Eurovision week. The people who wondered if such a young girl’s voice could hold up under the highest pressure for this long, have gotten their answer and it is impressive. Even with her momentum slipping in media & betting markets, there is much to be proud of.

Juries will likely reward the high level of difficulty of the vocals in this performance – not just the high notes, but the loops between whispers, pop and opera as well. However, it would have helped Monroe a lot if she had been able to look more comfortable while performing those notes. Opera inspired entries in Eurovision have generally fared better with televoters than with juries, with Il Volo being an obvious example, and JJ being the big exception last year.

22:24 – United Kingdom – Look Mum No Computer – Eins, Zwei, Drei

Sam misses his first note at the second time “bored with it”, and another one at the first time “cage”, both in the first verse. First chorus is okay. Second verse solid as well, with Sam avoiding the mistakes from the first go around.

The high pace, the invasive instrumentation and the novelty lyrics are all potential red flags, as are the computer masks used in the staging (FOP-effect). While you could argue that the singer performs a movement routine that increases the level of difficulty, that effect is diminished in the final minute of the song when he starts shouting into the audience – and keeps doing that for over 30 seconds. Similar entries in recent years have never cleared the 100 points mark in the Grand Final – and this one is likely weaker in comparison.

22:20 – Croatia – Lelek – Andromeda

The first solist starts off much stronger than on Monday night. Second solist is also spot on. The harmonies in the chorus, while still not perfect, are also improved from Monday. The word “Andromeda” toward the final minute is slightly on the edge, but this was much better than before.

Strong harmonies are a well-known green flag. Balkan ballads are typically well received by juries – however, can we really compare this song to a “Lane moje”? Tough to estimate exactly how juries will respond exactly to this genre. While the staging resembles Latvia 2025, the composition is quite different.

22:16 – Bulgaria – Dara – Bangaranga

Dara is off-key a few times in the “blinding lights”-part the first time around. Nerves? Second time is better. The melodic part at the first bridge is on the edge at times without missing notes, however Dara slides off a note at the next “blinding lights” part. Second bridge is okay. All in all, this is one of the few performances so far that was vocally less strong than during the semi finals. However, Bulgaria relies more on televoting anyway.

It is not easy to pinpoint the exact genre of this song, however, a combination of ethnopop and Southern European club music probably comes closest. Juries have at times appreciated the former genre, but only in exceptional (vocal) performances. The mixture of genres can be a red flag, as well as the many pace changes throughout the song. Dara was a finalist on X-factor Bulgaria.

22:12 – Czechia – Daniel Žižka – Crossroads

Daniel starts more confidently than on Wednesday. He allows himself to start at a slightly fuller volume, and hits all the notes throughout the first chorus. There is a tremor in his voice during the second verse, however, it does not seem to affect the quality of the outcome – it even suits the emotions of the song. Final minute is great, the big high notes are all spot on.

Tough to say whether Czechia is classic jury food. “Crossroads” is a more tranquil and artistic kind of ballad – the kind that generally gets picked up by televoters at least as much as by jurors. It lacks the traditional build-up that juries tend to favor, and it is not mainstream. However, in its presentation and execution it does portray credibility. If juries pick up the artistic vibe of this entry, it could end up as a jury favorite.

Daniel has often been compared to Gjons Tears, however, his 2021 song had quite a big split, scoring more than 100 points higher in the jury vote than the televote. Perhaps this song better compares to Gjons Tears 2020 song – however, we will never know how that would have ended up.

22:07 – Malta – Aidan – Bella

Aidan has always been a solid singer, however, tonight may not have been his best performance of the week. Without missed notes or big mistakes, he sometimes seemed to be a little bit on edge, particularly right after the wind carroussel part.

“Bella” is a traditional ballad paired with Italian instrumentation and a theatrical, musical vibe. There is some negative precedent for those last few features (Macedonia 2021, Croatia 2017) but those entries all had different issues that separate them from Malta this year.

Aidan participated in X-factor Malta. And while his vocals may be in order, he does not have the appearance of a seasoned professional on stage. Coming quickly after Delta Goodrem, that difference does become quite obvious.

22:02 – Serbia – Lavina – Kraj mene

The lead singer of Lavina does not miss any notes tonight. A solid performance, bringing exactly what you would expect from this group and this song. However, there are many reasons to doubt Serbia’s jury potential this year. The harder the rock song, the less likely it is that juries will vote for it. Grunting is a potential red flag, as is the aggressive staging. See for comparison Hungary 2018 which finished 22nd with juries with 28 points – while also finishing 15th with televoters (65 points).

21:57 – Australia – Delta Goodrem – Eclipse

Delta seems perfectly aware that tonight is the night she needs to get most of her points. The first two lines, she starts carefully, and when she feels she has it, she opens all registers and lets it rip. In the second chorus, she skips one time the word “eclipse”, as if she miscalculated her breaths. It does not throw her off her game, though, and the vocal acrobatics toward the end sound great once again. She simply looks like the superstar she is – and juries appreciate that even more than televoters.

Australia’s song, while being mid-tempo in terms of bpm, has the build-up and structure of a ballad. This combination makes it a song perfectly tailored to juries. Combine that with Delta’s voice, her professionalism and star power, and you get a potential jury winner.

Biggest question is how big the split will be between jury vote and televote. Zlata Ognevich (Ukraine 2013) had a rather even split between her jury vote and televote. However, you could also think back to Ira Losco in 2016, who finished in 4th place with juries with 137 points, but scored only 16 points with televoters. Maybe Sam Rider (UK 2022) would be the best comparison of all – he won the jury vote and then scored 183 points with televoters. That kind of televote would get Delta right in the mix.

21:50 – Ukraine – Leléka – Ridnym

Leléka misses two notes in the first verse and cuts a few more short, sounding a bit hoarse at time. The first chorus sounds good – she clearly feels more comfortable in these ranks than in the lower verses. Second time around, the same thing happens in the verses. The long high note in the bridge is on point. However, the hoarse vocals at times remain, and it remains to be seen whether there are musical professionals in some juries who will punish her for this.

“Ridnym” is a traditional ballad with a clear structure. Classic jury food, especially when paired with strong vocals. Ukraine has also deliberately chosen for a classical presentation with Leléka only accompanied by one musician on stage. Enough green flags to warrant a solid amount of jury points, despite the fact that EBU decided to once again pair Ukraine with Australia in the running order…

21:45 – Greece – Akylas – Ferto

Akylas shouts into the audience right before the first chorus: “Let me hear you”. This is a well known red flag for juries. The first melodic part after that chorus is also the first time he slightly struggles vocally after an otherwise solid start. He cuts a few notes short without missing any. It must be noted that this song is extremely flat and the level of difficulty is low. The other side of that is the performance, while gimmicky, which at times is also tough to execute.

The FOP-effect will almost certainly be in play here, as both the song, the staging and Akylas’ presence give a non-serious vibe. Best point of comparison would be Tommy Cash, who scored 98 points with the jury in the Grand Final of 2025. The composition contains a mixture of different rhythms and genres, including heavy ethnic elements. Akylas reached the liveshows of The Voice of Greece before being eliminated immediately there.

21:42 – So far so good

Clearly, most of the weaker artists have been eliminated earlier this week and we get to see a much cleaner start of the show tonight than on Tuesday or Thursday. Solid vocals all around so far.

21:40 – Albania – Alis – Nân

Alis has a confident first minute of his song. He hits all the notes in verse and chorus. His first miss comes in the second verse, where it’s almost as if he loses focus and slides off one of the easier notes of the song. Ad-libs in the second chorus are okay.

The Albanian entry has some resemblance to “Mall” in 2018, however, this song has many more ethnic elements to it, making it less suitable to juries. The performance also includes a lot of exaggerated drama, which can scare certain jurors away. Alis won X-factor Albania in 2023.

21:35 – Belgium – Essyla – Dancing on the Ice

Essyla is in good shape tonight. As she has done all week, she takes the two high notes in the pre-chorus differently, hitting the first one low and the second one high. Other than that, no comments – Essyla simply was on point tonight. She sounded and looked as someone for whom all the pressure is gone – she has nothing left to lose anymore.

In terms of genre, this song is best described as upbeat indie, with innovative underground influences. Not necessarily jury friendly based on the assumption that juries generally have a more old fashioned taste – but will that change this year with the new 2-young-jurors-rule? It does have a certain artistic credibility to it or at the very least will be perceived as serious (green flag). Essyla was a finalist in The Voice of Belgique.

21:31 – Israel – Noam Bettan – Michelle

In previous years, both televoters and juries have shown that they are not willing to judge the Israeli entry based on the merits of the performance. Therefore, it’s tough to predict the actual result of their jury voting. However, if we leave aside the political aspects of it, this is how the jury would have judged a performance like this:

Just as on Tuesday, Noam convinces in the verses. He hits all the notes right in the middle and delivers a convincing performance. The one note he consequently struggles with, is the high one at “je t’aime” in the chorus. Other than that, this was a flawless vocal performance.

The song is less jury friendly than the previous two Israeli songs would have been. Noam won Rising Star, a talent show in Israel.

21:26 – Germany – Sarah Engels – Fire

Sarah is on the edge twice during the first few lines while lying on the floor. After she gets up, she hits her notes the rest of the way through the first chorus. The second vocal “trick” (while being thrown back) goes better than the first one: Sarah manages to continue singing without missing a note. The ad-libs after the dance break are also okay.

Non-offensive middle of the road pop song. In recent years, juries have sometimes supported similar entries – only if the dance & vocal combination is of a high level of difficulty, while also being well executed. Germany tries to appeal to those jurors, by letting her start lying on the floor, as well as flipping her backwards later in the performance. However, Sarah does not meet the standards that Eleni Fourreira or Chanel set.

21:22 – Denmark – Søren Torpegaard Lund – Før vi går hjem

Yes, it takes this long before we get the first performance in the Grand Final…

Sørens artistic qualities made this an early favorite for a top jury vote. Throughout rehearsals, he was not always in great shape – it seemed like he may have been struggling with a virus. On Thursday, however, he showed signs of improvement.

Tonight, Søren delivers a solid first verse – improved from the previous nights. He is on the edge several times during the first chorus, missing one note on a thriller. Second verse strong again, however, he struggles in the second chorus when the movements inside the box become more difficult. He is on the edge several times during the final minute, without missing a note, including the big one at the end. For people who know what Søren is capable of, it is a real shame not to see him at his best this week. However, every night is a bit better than the night before.

Previous entries within this genre (UK 2024, Belgium 2023) relied heavily on jury support. The staging, while possibly confusing or repellent for televoters, will attract jury support because of the Mans-factor. Singing while also performing a technically difficult act, and commanding the stage while doing it, is the kind of professionalism juries reward way more than televoters.

21:11 – Running order

If you are not yet sure on what to expect when – check out the running order for the Grand Final in our article.

21:08 – Anticipating the flag parade

We’re experiencing some difficulties with the livestream, however don’t worry yet. The Grand Final performances only start after the opening act, which usually takes quite a while.

21:03 – Focus on jury

One more disclaimer: in this blog, we focus on performances and jury scores only. There will be no info / comment on postcards, interval acts et cetera.

This year is a bit different compared to other years, because we have not had any previous rehearsals we could watch from the (online) press office. Therefore, the jury blog will be our first blog of the season. Join us again tomorrow afternoon, as we will use the 3rd dress rehearsal to describe to you all the show elements of the Grand Final.

20:59 – Predicting the actual jury result

Team ESCDaily has studied jury results extensively over the past few years. We are confident that we know what jurors are looking for in a Eurovision performance. And tonight, we will describe each performance for you through the eyes of a juror! Stay with us, we’ll start soon!