Vienna introduced as host metropolis for Eurovision music contest 2026 | Eurovision

Vienna has been chosen to host the Eurovision music contest 2026, the world’s largest dwell televised music occasion, Austria’s public broadcaster introduced, with the ultimate set for 16 May.

Austria’s JJ gained this yr’s competitors, held in Basel in Switzerland, along with his music Wasted Love, which blends techno beats with operatic vocals – making his house nation the 2026 host.

Vienna, which beforehand hosted the glitzy TV extravaganza in 1967 and 2015, edged out Innsbruck, the capital of western Tirol province, to stage subsequent yr’s contest, the general public broadcaster ORF introduced on Wednesday.

The remaining of Eurovision’s seventieth version will likely be held on the Wiener Stadthalle, Austria’s largest indoor area, with semi-finals set for 12 and 14 May, Eurovision stated.

Since its launch in 1955, Eurovision has develop into the final word pop platform, catapulting the Swedish group Abba to worldwide fame, in addition to boosting the likes of Céline Dion, Cliff Richard and Olivia Newton-John.

About 166 million viewers in 37 nations watched this yr’s contest, with a document 60% of viewers aged 15 to 24 tuning in. The competitors received much more views on Instagram and TikTok.

The present has usually drawn controversy, with pro-Palestinian activists staging protests in Switzerland in May after Eurovision allowed Israel – who was runner-up – to take part within the contest regardless of the devastating Gaza warfare.

After his win, JJ, whose actual identify is Johannes Pietsch, in an interview known as for Israel to be excluded from subsequent yr’s competitors, sparking a storm of criticism in Austria, a staunch supporter of Israel.

JJ, 24, has since sought to defuse the controversy, saying by way of his document label, Warner, that he was “sorry if his comments had been misinterpreted”.

Austria’s far-right Freedom celebration, which got here high in elections for the primary time final yr however didn’t type a authorities, has described Eurovision as a “queer, leftwing, woke spectacle” and criticised Vienna for eager to stage it regardless of the excessive prices.

Basel put up almost $40m (£30m) to host the competition.

Under the slogan “Europe, shall we dance?”, Vienna – extra generally recognized for classical music and the baroque splendour of its structure – pushed to host the competition, citing its expertise with massive occasions.

It additionally touted its “enormous” lodging capacities, its “excellent” transport hyperlinks, and its “cosmopolitanism”, with 2 million individuals residing within the Austrian capital.

The the Wiener Stadthalle hosted Eurovision in 2015, after the earlier yr’s version was gained by the drag performer Conchita Wurst. Located in central Vienna, it opened in 1958 and seats 16,000 individuals in its primary corridor.

When Vienna final hosted the Eurovision contest, the town put in visitors lights exhibiting same-sex and heterosexual {couples} as an alternative of a single determine – which proved so common that authorities determined to maintain them for good.