Vienna chosen to host Eurovision 2026

VIENNA

Vienna was chosen on Wednesday to host the Eurovision Song Contest 2026, the world's biggest live televised music event, Austria's public broadcaster announced, with the final set for May 16.

Austria's JJ won this year's competition, held in Basel in Switzerland, with his hit "Wasted Love", which blends techno beats with operatic vocals, making his home country the 2026 host.

Vienna, which previously hosted the glitzy TV extravaganza in 1967 and 2015, edged out its competitor Innsbruck, the capital of western Tyrol province, to stage next year's contest, public broadcaster ORF announced.

The final of Eurovision's 70th edition will be held on May 16, 2026 at the Wiener Stadthalle, Austria's largest indoor arena, with semi-finals set for May 12 and 14, Eurovision said.

Some 166 million viewers in 37 countries watched this year's contest, with a record 60 percent of viewers aged 15 to 24 tuning in. The competition got even more views on Instagram and TikTok.

Austria's far-right Freedom Party (FPOe), which topped elections for the first time ever last year but failed to form a government, has described Eurovision as a "queer, left-wing, woke spectacle" and criticized Vienna for wanting to stage it despite the high costs.

Basel put up nearly $40 million to host the contest.

The chosen venue, the Wiener Stadthalle, also hosted Eurovision in 2015, after the previous year's edition was won by bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst.

Located in central Vienna, it opened in 1958 and seats 16,000 people in its main hall.

When Vienna hosted the Eurovision contest last time, the city installed traffic lights showing same-sex and heterosexual couples instead of a single figure, which proved so popular that authorities decided to keep them for good.