Eurovision 2026 First Semi-Final Takes Place Tonight

Tonight from 10pm, BNT 1 will broadcast live from Vienna the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2026.

Bulgaria’s representative DARA will be first on stage in the second semi-final on 14 May with the song Bangaranga.

The show will be aired on Thursday, May 14, from 10pm on BNT 1. The grand final will take place on Saturday, 16 May, again from 10pm and will be aired on the public service broadcaster.

Music journalists Elena Rozberg and Petko Kralev will provide commentary for all three live broadcasts.

Under Eurovision’s new voting rules, viewers from around the world — not only from participating countries — are now able to vote. Audiences in competing countries may vote in the semi-final featuring their country’s entry, but cannot vote for their own act.

Viewers from the rest of the world can vote in both semi-finals via ESC.VOTE. These votes are grouped under the “Rest of the World” category, with the combined result carrying the same weight as one participating country.

This means that on 14 May, viewers abroad can support DARA by voting for entry number one on ESC.VOTE, regardless of which country they are watching from.

During the grand final on 16 May, the points awarded by the Bulgarian jury will be presented live to Eurovision’s multimillion-strong audience by Vladimira Ilieva, host of the youth programme 'V ritama na grada' (In the Rhythm of the City) on BNT 1.