Love Island’s Antigoni Buxton reveals she is ‘so honoured’ to be representing Cyprus at Eurovision as she becomes first artist confirmed for 2026

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Antigoni Buxton, known from Love Island, has been chosen to represent Cyprus at the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest and says she’s thrilled about the opportunity.

The 29-year-old TV star, who is of Greek and Cypriot descent, appeared on the ITV dating show in 2022 and has been entertaining at different events ever since.

She’s the first musician confirmed to compete when the show returns in May.

Cyprus has announced Antigoni as its first artist for the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna! The news was shared on their official Instagram page, confirming she will compete in the 70th contest in May.

She wrote: ‘I’m so honoured. Cyprus I will make you proud.’ 

Antigoni, a musician, was signed to Island Records at age 20 by Darcus Beese, who also discovered Amy Winehouse.

After leaving her previous company, she launched her own record label, Sirena Records, and released the single “Hit List” in May 2023.

The 70th Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Vienna in May 2026.

The winner of last year’s competition gets to host the event the following year. This year in Basel, Austria’s JJ won with the song ‘Wasted Love’.

Eurovision is a popular contest where singers and groups from European countries – and some others around the world – compete to win, representing their nation. Think of it like the Olympics, but for pop music!

Eurovision isn’t just about the music; it’s also influenced by political issues and competition between countries. For example, Russia was excluded from the contest after it invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Since first participating in 1973, Israel has won the competition four times. They have hosted the event in Jerusalem twice – in 1979 and 1999 – and once in Tel Aviv in 2019.

Austria’s national broadcaster, ORF, which is hosting the competition, announced earlier this week that the event will proceed as planned, even if some countries choose not to participate.

According to an ORF spokesperson, the Eurovision Song Contest is confirmed to be held in Vienna in 2026, regardless of how many countries participate.

Austria has stated it won’t participate in a boycott. Germany, Australia, and France have also confirmed they will not withdraw from any events due to Israel’s involvement.

Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger believes that boycotting Eurovision would actually make disagreements worse.

In a letter obtained by Reuters, the host country’s foreign minister expressed serious worry that this issue could cause a division among members of the European Broadcasting Union.

This division would only make things worse, stopping important conversations between artists and the public, and it wouldn’t actually help the situation in Israel and Gaza.

Removing Israel from the Eurovision Song Contest or boycotting the event wouldn’t help the people in Gaza, and it wouldn’t move us closer to a lasting peace agreement.

The UK hasn’t decided yet whether to boycott the competition. Tim Davie, the director-general of the BBC, is currently looking into the BBC’s stance on the matter.

A BBC representative stated that they’ve heard the different opinions and worries people have shared recently about next year’s Eurovision competition.

We’ll remain involved in the ongoing talks, which are being led by the European Broadcasting Union and include other members and broadcasters.

Eurovision has always been about music and culture, bringing people together internationally, and it’s never been driven by political concerns.

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced that its members will vote on which countries can participate in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest. This vote will happen during a special online meeting in early November, and the EBU has already informed all member directors general about it.

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2025-11-07 16:21