Stepping onto the Eurovision Song Contest stage this week, singers from 35 countries will be performing to a whopping 166 million people worldwide.
The world’s largest music competition is being held in Vienna, Austria, with the contest also celebrating its 70th anniversary this year.
Although five countries – Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Iceland and Slovenia – have boycotted due to Israel’s ongoing participation, three other countries will be returning – Bulgaria, Moldova and Romania.
The countries currently topping the odds to win are Finland, Greece and Denmark.
While any of the acts have a chance to win, 19 of them have already participated in a singing contest before.
Here’s a run-down of all the 2026 Eurovision stars who have appeared on shows including Idol, The Voice and X Factor.
Greece – Akylas
Greek singer-songwriter Akylas will be representing his home country at Eurovision this year.
The 27-year-old rose to fame in 2021 after posting covers on TikTok, then going on to participate in the eighth season of The Voice of Greece the same year.
Finland – Pete Parkkonen
Finnish singer Pete Parkkonen is best known for taking part in the fourth season of Finnish Idol in 2008.
Although he was considered the favourite to win, he was unexpectedly eliminated in the Final 3 phase, finishing third. However, he was offered a recording contract soon after.
He and violinist Linda Lampenius, who are currently the favourites to win, will be competing in Eurovision with the song Liekinheitin.
Montenegro – Tamara Živković
Tamara Živković was a finalist in season 15 of the Serbian singing competition Zvezde Granda in 2022, making it to the final.
Six years earlier, she took part in the junior singing contest Pinkove Zvezdice.
Four years on, the 26-year-old is representing Montenegro with the song Nova zora.
Israel – Noam Bettan
Israeli singer Noam Bettan won the 12th season of the singing contest Rising Star earlier this year, winning the opportunity to represent his country in Eurovision.
In 2018, he also finished in third place on the program Aviv or Eyal.
Belgium – Essyla
Alice Van Eesbeeck, known professionally as Essyla, rose to prominence as a finalist on the ninth season of The Voice Belgique.
She ultimately finished as the runner-up to Jérémie Makiese, who later represented Belgium at Eurovision in 2022. She is now set to represent Belgium this year with the song Dancing on the Ice.
Bulgaria – Dara
Dara rose to fame in 2015 after reaching the final in the Bulgarian edition of The X Factor, where she finished third. Since 2021, she’s also been a coach on The Voice of Bulgaria.
She will perform the song Bangaranga at Eurovision.
Azerbaijan – Jiva
Jamila Hashimova, who performs under the stage name Jiva, won the third season of The Voice of Azerbaijan last year.
Her song Just Go will be performed during the second semi-final.
Romania – Alexandra Căpitănescu
Alexandra Căpitănescu is a Romanian singer and songwriter who won The Voice of Romania in 2023.
The 22-year-old is representing her home country with the song Choke Me at Eurovision.
Armenia – Simón
Simon Hovhannisyan is an Armenian singer-songwriter and dancer who will represent his country with the track, Paloma Rumba.
Last year, he was the runner-up in the series Depi Evratesil.
Switzerland – Veronica Fusaro
Veronica Fusaro previously took part in The Voice of Switzerland before being eliminated in the Knockout stage.
She will represent last year’s host country with the song Alice.
Latvia – Atvara
Latvian singer Liene Atvara Stūrmane, who performs under the name Atvara, took part in the first season of X Faktors, the Latvian version of The X Factor, in 2017.
She will represent Latvia at Eurovision with the song Ēnā.
Albania – Alis
Albanian singer-songwriter Alis won the fifth season of X Factor in his home country in 2023.
He will represent Albania with the song Nân.
Malta – Aidan
After competing in the Malta Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2015 and the Malta Eurovision Song Contest three years later, Aidan went on to participate in X Factor Malta.
He later entered the Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2026 with the song Bella and won.
Norway – Jonas Lovv
In 2014, Norwegian singer Jonas Lovv auditioned for Idol, then went on to compete on The Voice last year, where he reached the semi-final.
His song Ya Ya Ya was selected to represent his country at Eurovision earlier this year.
France – Monroe
French-American singer Monroe won the French TV series Prodiges last year, which saw her awarded a scholarship and then a recording contract.
She will perform the song Regarde! at Eurovision, getting straight through to the Grand Final due to her country’s status as one of the ‘Big Five’.
Germany – Sarah Engels
Another representative of a Big Five country, German singer Sarah Engels, rose to prominence in 2011 after participating in season 8 of Deutschland sucht den Superstar.
In 2026, she is set to represent Germany at Eurovision with her song Fire.
Italy – Sal Da Vinci
Salvatore Michael Sorrentino, known professionally as Sal Da Vinci, won the Sanremo Music Festival 2026 with his song Per sempre sì, which he will perform at Eurovision this week.
While his career has been established for several decades now, in 1992, he took part in the singing competition Una voce per Sanremo within the Sunday variety show Domenica in.
Austria – Cosmó
Following JJ’s win in Basel last year, Austria has selected Cosmó as this year’s act.
The 19-year-old auditioned for The Voice Kids in Germany in 2020, but was eliminated after the second round. Last year it was announced he’d represent Austria at Eurovision 2026 with the song Tanzschein.
Australia – Delta Goodrem
Although many of this year’s Eurovision acts were contestants on reality singing shows, Australia’s 2026 act was actually a coach on The Voice.
From 2012 until 2020, she took part in the series, working on eight seasons of the main show and on one season of The Voice Kids.
The 2026 Eurovision Song Contest runs from May 12-16.
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