Eurovision Song Contest hit with last-minute technical issues as grand final nears

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Just days before the Eurovision Song Contest grand final, a technical problem forced organizers to stop and completely restart today’s rehearsal.

The 2026 competition is taking place at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria, and the finalists will compete tomorrow, May 16th, after two preliminary rounds held earlier this week.

The final show was supposed to begin with a segment featuring last year’s winner, JJ. However, according to the Press Association, a curtain malfunctioned today, causing his appearance to be delayed.

Because of his positioning, some audience members couldn’t see him well, so show officials stopped the performance and began again.

The curtain worked as expected on the second try, but there was another problem when the props for Romania’s Alexandra Capitanescu weren’t prepared on time.

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Okay, so apparently Victoria Swarovski and Michael Ostrowski, the hosts, really saved the day! I heard they started improvising to fill the time when things were delayed – total pros!

The competition faced more controversy this year, as five countries chose not to participate due to Israel’s continued involvement.

The UK’s entry is Look Mum No Computer, and their scores will be announced by La Voix, a well-known personality from Strictly Come Dancing and RuPaul’s Drag Race.

I’m thrilled to be revealing the UK’s jury votes at Eurovision 2026! It’s a night of glitter, dramatic key changes, and total unpredictability – which feels like my kind of event. I’ll try to be on my best behavior, but I can’t make any guarantees!

The favorites to win are Finland’s Linda Lampenius and Pete Parkkonen with their song ‘Liekinheitin,’ and Australia’s Delta Goodrem with ‘Eclipse’.

The Eurovision Grand Final will air on Saturday from 8pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

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The latest issue of Living Legends, a special collector’s edition about the royal family, is now available! You can purchase The Royals at newsstands or online.

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2026-05-16 00:19