Eurovision 2026 Final Thread 3

[RedToothBrush]

Go.

I've got a question... Why did the UK enter a song that was such an absolute load of utter shite?! 😖

It was just total drivel. I feel embarrassed for the UK right now. Making fools of ourselves with the load of crap we entered this year. I'm surprised we even got that one point! (The last 3 entries haven't been great either, 2023, 2024, and 2025.) Spaceman by Sam Ryder (2022,) is the only decent song we've had for about 15 years now!

MAKE IT STOP! Let's put something decent in next year! PLEASE! 😭

‘Didn’t he shout out about his ‘fagg&t’ fest/performance or something to that effect at the end? Slurs are all progressive now, eh.‘

Listened to the video on YouTube again. At the end of his performance, the Danish chappie shouts ‘thank you for letting me open my(?) f&ggot show’! I think that is what he shouted.

Mumsnet still deletes that word, I think.

You need to start with a good song.

Why weren’t Sam Battle’s dancers with him. I hate the cult of personality where backing dancers and singers aren’t valued. If he wants to do it alone then do it alone.

We literally don’t know what led to Sam being on his own or how long he was there for. It is a very short clip. It seems very unlikely that it was because he thinks he is too good to sit with his dancers. It was the jury show the night before the live final. Maybe everyone else felt they needed an early night and he fancied staying to watch and told them he would be fine.

Little Big were very tongue in cheek. Dara isn't.

This is when Dara won the national selection in Bulgaria a couple of months ago. Almost no staging other than a few backing dancers. It isn’t giving off winner vibes here.

BBC offered to co host it the first time Ireland won as I recall, and possibly again in the 90s(?)

Out of curiosity I have just watched the UK, Bulgarian and Australian songs on YouTube.

The UK entry was dreadful. The other two weren’t any better.

Both Bulgaria and Australia were well produced songs from professional, experienced singers. Neither might be your cup of tea - but dreadful?

Did you like any others?

Bulgaria had a very catchy, bollywood influenced tune, with an experienced singer

I agree. She performed it well and the staging and choreography were excellent. I'd never have it on my Spotify list, but I understand why it was popular with juries and the public.

Balkan beat surely?

you may be right!

Yes. Balkan influence in instrumentation too.

Edited to add as far as I can tell, never having been as far as the Balkans!

Dreadful is me being kind! Just my point of view though.

I watched the Cypriot entry afterwards but it wasn’t the actual competition performance. That wasn’t so bad. Nice to see Stavros Flatley making an appearance.

Tastes do differ but I'm very surprised at someone finding Australia and Bulgaria dreadful but liking Cyrpus!

@choux thanks for sharing this.

I think this is a great example of how to move on your performance to another level
Dara or one of her team probably said the staging isn't good enough we need to pivot and completely re-do the routine.
What they performed in the semi finals and the final was so much better than that YouTube clip.

I assume that the winner gets a staging budget for the competition vs various performers in the national competitions.

That staging is still very tight and well done, even with only bodies and costumes to make an impression.

Maybe they were stuck in the dressing rooms trying to get the furry computer heads off?

Have they released the breakdown of the public voting yet? That's often very interesting.

Its a balkan beat. BUT I would argue that the way it was done very much did strike Bollywood vibes and its success across Europe lay partly in this cross cultural appeal. If you like Bollywood it feels similar enough to be familiar.

Meanwhile Sam Battle was talking about ponies and had many very British references which require knowledge of Britain which huge numbers of the audience just wouldn't understand.

It was a Eurovision song for Brits who understood the injokes and references in a way. Even deciding to sing in German almost feels like an injoke for brits rather than a celebration of German.

I actually like the song, but I can see the cultural barrier issues with it.

Yes.

https://eurovisionworld.com/eurovision/2026

You can see it here for both the final and semis

I didn’t say I liked it. I disliked it less than the others I watched.

That staging video was fascinating, thank you.

Who was originally meant to sign for us?