By Neil Durham

WHEN? 14 May 2026 HOW TO WATCH? BBC1 in the UK at 8pm

WHERE? Wiener Stadthalle, Vienna

The final half of this 2nd semi final is Eurovision at its most competitive and 1 of our favourites is sure to miss out but we do think superstar Delta Goodrem’s is the performance to watch out for here because the song is contest-winning worthy.

• Read on for reasons including Søren Torpegaard Lund, Jonas Lovv & Simón

1. BULGARIA Dara Bangaranga (Anne Judith Wik, Cristian Tarcea, Darina Nikolaeva Yotova, Dimitris Kontopoulos) PREDICTION: Qualifier

Turkey hasn’t competed at Eurovision since 2013 and this reminds of some of the sounds from that country. It’s a welcome return to Bulgaria who haven’t taken part since 2022 because of financial constraints and this is a fantastically contemporary ethno-banger that could be a dark horse for the win depending on its performance. The country’s best finish is 2nd in 2017 with Kristian Kostov’s Beautiful Mess. Co-songwriter here Dimitris Kontopoulos has written for a number of countries including Ukraine in 2008 where Shady Lady was a runner-up for Ani Lorak.

2. AZERBAIJAN Jiva Just Go (Fuad Javadov) PREDICTION: non-qualifier

We rather like this old-fashioned, female-fronted ballad anthem and wondered whether it might have Swedish writers and are delighted to discover it doesn’t. Jiva won the 3rd season of The Voice Azerbaijan so we’re expecting a lot from the vocal and this could just surprise many by making the final.

3. ROMANIA Alexandra Căpitănescu Choke Me (Alexandra Căpitănescu, Călin Grajdan, Silitră Elvis Claudiu, Ștefan Condrea) PREDICTION: non-qualifier

The Guardian reported campaigners have called for the song to be banned accusing it of ‘glamourising sexual strangulation’ a claim denied by the band. Lead singer Căpitănescu performs it impressively with p-opera elements while the vibe is emo grunge. With juries back in the semis, will the questionable lyrics trump the strong performance?

4. LUXEMBOURG Eva Marija Mother Nature (Eva Marija Kavaš Puc, Julie Aagaard, Maria Broberg, Thomas Stengaard) PREDICTION: non-qualifier

Boasting some of the songwriters from the UK’s very musical theatre entry last year, this is a very different vibe. The nature theme sees it up against both Ukraine and Australia’s Delta Goodrem who do it better and we think this might struggle to qualify given its earlier performance against stronger competitors.

5. CZECHIA Daniel Zizka Crossroads (Daniel Žižka, Viliam Béreš) PREDICTION: Qualifier

Starts off slow and dreary but builds into something with a challenging vocal that has the moments needed to progress depending on the performance and the arrival of the juries.

6. ARMENIA Simón Paloma Rumba (Lilit Navasardyan, Roza Kostandyan, David Tserunyan, Eva Voskanyan) PREDICTION: Qualifier

Again we’ve only seen the video rather than the live performance but this looks to have a strong singer and an enviable uptempo Eastern energy. The office-set lyrics and video may be seeking to strike some common ground but this really doesn’t need it when the music is a reminder of just how compelling world music can be.

7. SWITZERLAND Veronica Fusaro Alice (Charlie McClean, Veronica Fusaro) PREDICTION: non-qualifier

An album track at best which doesn’t appreciate how competitive for success you have to be at Eurovision. It’s pleasant, 60s-influenced soft rock/pop which will have an audience but may struggle in this company.

8. CYPRUS Antigoni Jalla (More) (Antigoni Buxton, Charalambous Kallona, Connor Mullally-Knight, Demetris Nikolaou, Klejdi Lupa, Paris Kalpos, Trey Qua) PREDICTION: Qualifier

Bringing the party this year while also reminding of the country this is from. Definitely 1 you’ll be wanting to leap up on the table to before dancing. The sound is euphoric Eurovision dance and this is likely to go very well indeed. We’ve also seen a low key live performance which reassures that Antigoni can sing and the country knows how it’s going to stage this. Cyprus’ 42nd attempt to win Eurovision and this is going to come close. Antigoni is a British/Cypriot singer.

9. LATVIA Atvara Ēnā (In the shadow) (Jānis Jačmenkins, Liene Stūrmane) PREDICTION: Qualifier

Beautiful ballad with a touching sentiment about allowing others – often women stepping back for men – to take centrestage. Old school Eurovision given a striking visual motif which could win the jury vote.

10. DENMARK Søren Torpegaard Lund Før vi går hjem (Before we go home) (Clara Sofie Fabricus, Søren Torpegaard Lund, Thomas Meilstrup, Valdemar Littauer Bendixen) PREDICTION: Qualifier

A big favourite but we think the language will be a barrier. Very much the style that Olly Alexander may have been aiming for with the UK in 2024 although this feels more authentic. Out-there gay doesn’t often do well at Eurovision and we see this as a possible surprise non-qualifier.

11. AUSTRALIA Delta Goodrem Eclipse (Delta Goodrem, Michael Fatkin, Jonas Myrin, Ferras Alqaisi) PREDICTION: Qualifier

Our song of the month for March and we wrote: ‘It starts with fingers plucking at a harp and some naturalistic imagery creating a Florence and The Machine vibe before exploding into an insanely catchy chorus of ‘1 touch, 1 kiss, all my life for a night like this …’

‘You don’t come close to evoking Kylie Minogue’s astonishing On A Night Like This, particularly if you’re Australian, without some confidence in your own material and Goodrem’s Eclipse really delivers. There’s also an idiosynchratic piano-led middle 8 which reminds of the music this worldwide artist is most known for.’

Goodrem comes into Eurovision as 1 of the favourites to win and we see her taking the jury vote in the final and knocking the live vocal out of the park. The rest is in the hands of the voting public …

12. UKRAINE Leléka Ridnym (Relatives) (Adama Cefalu, Jakob Hegner, Viktoria Leleka, Yaroslav Dzhus) PREDICTION: Qualifier

Putting the lack into lacklustre with the studio version but really coming into its own in the live performance. Australia’s Goodrem will want to come a long way after this in the running order (although that didn’t happen!) so as not to take anything from her superior nature-based entry which is perhaps lacking in the soul we have offered here.

13. ALBANIA Alis Nân (Mother) (Alis Kallaçi, Desara Gjini) PREDICTION: Qualifier

Albania’s 22nd entry has to go higher than the 5th of Rona Nishliu’s Suus (So) in 2012 to record its best ever performance and we think this is strong enough to do that. Needs to lose the sunglasses from the national final performance but this is an impressively bombastic song with a strong vocal that will benefit from the fact that there’s little else like it here.

14. MALTA Adrian Bella (Beautiful) Aidan Cassar, Joep van den Boom, Sarah Bonnici) PREDICTION: non-qualifier

We appreciate Adrian’s persistence to represent his country and choosing of an old school Italian-style ballad which showcases his ability to sing. However, it’s lyrically weak and lacking in the originality we like to see from our Eurovision entries.

15. NORWAY Jonas Lovv Ya Ya Ya (Jonas Lovv Hellesøy, Sondre Skaftun) PREDICTION: Qualifier

The surprise victor in Norway where former winner Alexander Rybak was competing with a song which very much reminded of his 2009 winner Fairytale. This is rock that’s not taking itself too seriously which is just as well because there could well be a surprise non-qualifier from this stacked 2nd half of semi final 2 given the strong competition.

• Main picture via Facebook courtesy European Broadcasting Union (EBU) Tickets
• Have you seen a Eurovision semi final before and what do you think of this 1? Tickets
• Let us know what you thought in the comments below. Our predictions for the pre-qualified 2026 Eurovision Song Contest finalists. Semi 1 predictions Updated final predictions
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