• Eurovision Song Contest 2026 Semi-Final 2 airs Thursday, May 14 from Vienna’s Wiener Stadthalle
• 15 countries compete for 10 spots in Saturday’s grand final, including Australia’s Delta Goodrem
• U.S. viewers can watch live on Peacock; UK viewers get it free on BBC One and BBC iPlayer
• The official Eurovision YouTube channel offers free streaming for those without a broadcast option
• Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Spain are boycotting the contest over Israel’s participation

Fifteen countries. Ten spots. One very sparkly night in Vienna. Eurovision Song Contest 2026’s Semi-Final 2 lands on Thursday, May 14, and it’s shaping up to be one of the most dramatic — and genuinely entertaining — heats in recent memory. Here’s everything you need to know about who’s performing and how to watch, no matter where in the world you’re sitting.

How to Watch Eurovision Semi-Final 2 in the U.S.

American viewers can catch Semi-Final 2 live on Peacock Premium, with the action kicking off at 3 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. PT. Peacock’s Premium plan starts at $10.99 a month, but if you want to keep it cheap, Walmart+ offers a 30-day trial for just $1 — and Peacock is included as a benefit. That’s basically free.

No Peacock? No problem. The official Eurovision YouTube channel is streaming the semi-final for free, no subscription required.

How to Watch in the UK, Australia, and Beyond

UK fans have it easiest — Semi-Final 2 airs live on BBC One at 8 p.m. BST and streams for free on BBC iPlayer, where you can also catch up on Tuesday’s Semi-Final 1 and all 10 countries that qualified. Radio 2 and BBC Sounds will also carry the audio if you’d rather just listen along.

Australian viewers can stream Semi-Final 2 free on SBS On Demand — though fair warning, that’s a 5 a.m. AEST start time. Canada and New Zealand don’t have a dedicated broadcast partner this year, but both can access the free stream on the Eurovision YouTube channel.

Traveling abroad and worried about missing your home stream? A VPN like NordVPN lets you connect back to your home country’s service — select UK from the list and BBC iPlayer opens right up, wherever you are.

Who’s Performing in Semi-Final 2

The full running order for Thursday night:

01. Bulgaria: DARA — “Bangaranga”
02. Azerbaijan: JIVA — “Just Go”
03. Romania: Alexandra Căpitănescu — “Choke Me”
04. Luxembourg: Eva Marija — “Mother Nature”
05. Czechia: Daniel Zizka — “CROSSROADS”
* France: Monroe — “Regarde!” *(automatic finalist)*
06. Armenia: SIMÓN — “Paloma Rumba”
07. Switzerland: Veronica Fusaro — “Alice”
08. Cyprus: Antigoni — “JALLA”
* Austria: COSMÓ — “Tanzschein” *(automatic finalist)*
09. Latvia: Atvara — “Ēnā”
10. Denmark: Søren Torpegaard Lund — “Før Vi Går Hjem”
11. Australia: Delta Goodrem — “Eclipse”
12. Ukraine: LELÉKA — “Ridnym”
* United Kingdom: LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER — “Eins, Zwei, Drei” *(automatic finalist)*
13. Albania: Alis — “Nân”
14. Malta: AIDAN — “Bella”
15. Norway: JONAS LOVV — “YA YA YA”

The Acts You Need to Know

The headline name is Delta Goodrem — yes, that Delta Goodrem. The former Neighbours star, cancer survivor, Voice Australia judge, and genuine chart-topper is representing Australia with “Eclipse,” and her presence alone makes this semi-final appointment viewing. Australia has been part of Eurovision since 2015 (a supposed one-off anniversary appearance that they were too popular to leave behind), and Goodrem is easily the biggest name they’ve ever sent.

Armenia’s SIMÓN is bringing “Paloma Rumba,” a song that looks like an absolute blast and takes aim at corporate office culture — sample lyric: “This meeting could have been an email / Free coffee won’t keep me here man.” Romania’s Alexandra Căpitănescu is turning heads with “Choke Me,” a folk-metal banger with a light show described as looking like her intestines are on the outside. Which is, honestly, very Eurovision.

The UK’s Look Mum No Computer — real name Sam Battle — performs “Eins, Zwei, Drei” during the semi-final even though the country already has a guaranteed spot in Saturday’s final as one of the “Big Five” financial contributors to the contest. Battle is a YouTuber with over 1.4 million followers known for building whimsical musical contraptions (a synthesizer made of Furby toys, for instance) and even has his own vintage museum in Ramsgate. He’s also got real musical credentials — he played Glastonbury with indie band Zibra in 2015. His Eurovision entry is bouncy synth-pop built around counting to three in German, and it is exactly as gloriously silly as that sounds.

France’s 17-year-old Monroe performs “Regarde!” as an automatic finalist, and Denmark’s thumping “Før Vi Går Hjem” has been turning heads throughout the competition. Keep an eye on both.

The Politics You Can’t Ignore

Eurovision 2026 is the 70th edition of the contest and is being held at the 16,152-seat Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, hosted by TV presenter Victoria Swarovski and actor Michael Ostrowski. But the backdrop is anything but festive.

Five countries — Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Spain — are officially boycotting the contest over Israel’s participation, making it the largest boycott in Eurovision history. Spain, normally one of the automatic “Big Five” finalists, withdrew entirely. The remaining Big Five competing are France, Germany, Italy, and the UK.

Israel’s Noam Bettan performed in Semi-Final 1 to an audibly divided crowd, with some audience members booing and chanting protest slogans before being removed by security. Israel qualified for Saturday’s final regardless. In response to controversy over last year’s voting — where it was found the Israeli government had run advertising campaigns generating over 68 million impressions — Eurovision has introduced new rules: no government-run promotional campaigns, a cap of 10 votes per fan (down from 20), and mandatory credit card details for online voting.

Back home, more than 12,000 people signed a petition urging Sam Battle to withdraw from the contest, while an open letter from No Music for Genocide — signed by Brian Eno, Kneecap, Paul Weller, Paloma Faith, Massive Attack, Sigur Rós, and Primal Scream — called on performers and broadcasters to boycott. Battle is competing anyway.

2024 winner Nemo, who won for Switzerland, handed back their trophy in protest, writing on Instagram: “This is not about individuals or artists. It’s about the fact that the contest was repeatedly used to soften the image of a state accused of severe wrongdoing, all while the EBU insists that this contest is non-political.”

Semi-Final 2 airs Thursday, May 14. The grand final follows on Saturday, May 16 at 3 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. PT — and if the first semi-final was any indication, expect the unexpected.

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