Bulgaria wins the 2026 Eurovision grand final as Australia places fourth — as it happened

Italia!!!

Immediately, it's the most Italian thing ever committed to a stage. Big red velvet curtain. A couple of blokes putting another one in a suit. A man with gorgeous hair giving us the full razzle dazz.

Soon, the plot becomes obvious even to non-Italian speakers. He's pointing at his ring finger. That man is about to get married.

AND HERE COMES THE BRIDE! AND SHE HAS A DRESS WITH A SECRET ITALIAN FLAG ON IT!

Now THAT is patriotism. Bellissimo. Arrivederci. Goodnight.

— Alexandra Koster

Word on the street is that the Apple News gods have placed us in their top stories (thanks, besties).

If you're just waking up and going through your morning doomscroll, welcome!

Go over to your telly and turn on SBS On Demand to watch the Eurovision live stream.

Or, if you cbf leaving bed (understandable), then please let my beautiful word pictures paint the scene. It's as if you're right there in Vienna...

— Alexandra Koster

You can tell a performance is going to be good when someone starts it by talking about dancing on a table. That UK guy would love this.

Cyprus' Antigoni is soon joined by a fleet of backup dancers, and you're not going to believe this, but they actually do start dancing on a table. Crazy work.

It's a good thing she's dancing on said table, because she is serving. Get it? Like dinner. Serving dinner. Okay I'll see myself out.

But genuinely — great performance, excellent table skills, love the one very long glove. Antigoni understood the assignment.

— Alexandra Koster

HELLO Felicia!

Sweden's Felicia is wearing a face mask, which seems a touch too soon, triggering some C*VID-esque flashbacks.

But she's quickly forgiven for transporting me to an underground rave where my arms are covered in bracelets and I'm sucking a lollipop while music absolutely obliterates my brain.

If you're hungover right now, I'm so, so sorry.

I generally freak out as soon as the BPM clears 100, so my brain is mildly losing it over this EDM bop — but I know there are living rooms out there right now that cannot and shall not get this song out of their system for weeks. Good for you!

Also, is it just me or is this mildly giving Valentina from Drag Race?

— Alexandra Koster

Friends, it's finally time for the BLUE PERSON.

I saw this performer in the promo photos and thought: that's the most Eurovision thing I've ever seen. Now seeing their sparkly little face on the big TV, I'm even more convinced.

Looking like something out of Dune (but yassified), Lion Ceccah has got both pipes and vibes in equal measure. And when they do that little look to camera, my heart STOPS.

They even make fun of us mere English speakers, whipping out subtitles while they poetically sing, "Maybe it would be easier with subtitles." Yes, it sure would, Lion. Thank you for thinking of us down here in Australia.

I don't know what sparkly blue person looks like without the sparkly blue. Quite frankly, I don't want to know. They're perfect to me just as they are.

— Alexandra Koster

Here's Poland's ALICJA with Pray.

Fun fact: she was meant to compete in the 2020 Eurovision, but it ended up getting cancelled because of the virus that shall not be named.

It's pretty apt that this song is called Pray, because hot damn, it's a religious experience on this stage.

She starts rapping, showing us that yes, she can do everything.

She tells us to take a sip of holy water, so I take a sip of holy water. She tells us we can't do anything, therefore I cannot do anything. She says pray, and baby, I'm on my knees.

— Alexandra Koster

Okay besties, we're finally here. It's Australia's number one competitor — Finland — who is currently topping all the betting charts as the most likely to win.

We start with some intense hand-gazing and a beautiful fade between performers, before they decide to turn everything tf up with some BOPS and BEATS.

Mr Finland (also known as Pete Parkkonen) is singing beautifully and looking like he's trapped in a ceremonial window — a confession booth? A church? A very dramatic hallway? We may never know.

Meanwhile, Ms Violin (Linda Lampenius) is making a compelling case that the violin is actually punk as hell — especially when you're playing it in knee-high boots while the stage behind you is entirely on fire. The combination of his voice and her string skills is, quite frankly, sick as hell.

When Mr Finland's ceremonial window goes up in flames, I gasp. He's gone! And then — he's THERE! Shirt open! Born again from the ashes, which, given the fire theme of this evening, feels very on brand.

Will Finland beat Australia? I'm nervous. I'm excited. I need a snack. We've got a little while to wait.

— Alexandra Koster

Oh, we are so back.

If there's one thing I look for in a Eurovision song, it's being assaulted by lots of BRIGHT colours while someone literally just says the name of their country over and over and over.

Viva, Moldova! I officially feel welcome! I want a one-way ticket, please!

Lady Moldova also mildly shows up our Delta when she too hops onto a big levitating platform and becomes three storeys tall with a big dress and a tiny head. Whoever thought of this, I want to crawl inside your brain and live there.

It's also hard not to love Mr 373 — which is, according to YouTube comments I have not fact-checked, Moldova's telephone country code — just dancing around with that little grin on his face. He's having the time of his life and so are we.

Today, we are all from Moldova.

— Alexandra Koster

Alright, I'm taking a bit of a jaunt on X (formerly known as Twitter) so you all don't have to.

I'm immediately confronted with someone negging Australia for being in EUROvision. But whatever, we don't listen to them.

Here are some of the best posts from X for your first designated meme break of the evening.

— Alexandra Koster

Another one of our Big Five countries that automatically qualifies because they give lots of moolah to the Eurovision gods.

France's Monroe is giving viva la révolution — which may be purely because she's wearing a corset, but I'll allow it.

Then the opera begins and oh my god — this could almost be Les Misérables but make it joyful?

Les Positif? Les Heureux?

The smoke machines are doing the absolute most and the backup dancers are committing fully to some very dramatic hair-touching, which I respect enormously.

It's a lot. It's French. It works.

— Alexandra Koster

We're onto the English portion of the show with the United Kingdom's entrant, LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER.

Surprisingly, it's an English chap sitting at a table with, you guessed it, no computer. But then, there are lots of computers. Four computers, to be exact. And they're all on some dude's heads. And the computers are fluffy.

It becomes immediately obvious that this bloke can't really sing. But in the way that the guy in a matching tracksuit in a Britpop band can't really sing (shots fired, Oasis fans). It doesn't matter. That's not the point. The point is the vibes.

Apparently, this bloke is a YouTuber with 1.4 million subscribers and was previously the frontman of an indie rock band. Really makes you think.

The staging is genuinely the best table-dancing I've ever seen. I've never watched someone move so seamlessly across moving tables before, and I say that as a sincere compliment. Truly elite table work.

He does seem like a nice bloke, though. There are a bunch of posts on X about how he was cheering everyone on during all the other nights. Wholesome!

— Alexandra Koster

Your mother always said never to get face tattoos, but has she ever seen face tats like this? These girlies are giving medieval Pussycat Dolls and I am not okay about it.

You can really tell who the Nicole Scherzinger of the group is, because Nicole would absolutely be the one in white, floating six feet off the ground like a medieval apparition who also knows her angles.

I feel like I'm being cursed, blessed, and ascended all at once. If these women surrounded my bed and sang like this, I'd say thank you, make peace with my choices, and politely pass away.

But if you're all after a quick education break, this song is about the persecution of Christians in the Ottoman Empire. Historically, those traditional tattoos were used by women to escape slavery.

— Alexandra Koster

Fair to say Delta's performance is the favourite in the press room so far.

When she started to rise above her golden piano, people were on their feet (despite the fact we've all seen it a dozen times now with semi-finals, jury shows and rehearsals.

It went down very well —"flawless" was one review I overheard.

— Ben Lewis

DARA! From Bulgaria! With 'Bangaranga'!

We've been in desperate need of another club anthem, and DARA is delivering.

DARA says she's a ninja! She's a demon! She's a psycho! And who am I to deny that?

The set design has her appearing before a panel of very stern-looking judges, like she's auditioning for a job at a company where everyone is slightly unhinged — "we do have fun here, I promise, please hire us".

Then we're back on the Eurovision stage with DARA doing excellent dance moves and looking like she's having the time of her life.

DARA has also moved up to number three in the odds. Just stay away from our Delta and it'll all be okay.

— Alexandra Koster

Up next is 23-year-old Daniel Zizka from Czechia.

He comes on stage and, compared to the rest of the performers in leather and dazzling gowns, young buck Danny just looks like a regular guy in his very normal blue button-up shirt. He's not even wearing shoes! He's just like us.

Danny was the last finalist to be announced for the grand final, but damn, he's showing that he's one to watch.

No mega fancy bits here: just a regular guy, some mirrors, and some very intense eye contact. Like, very intense.

Every time he looks directly down the barrel of the camera I get slightly panicked and break eye contact with my television, because as a neurodivergent woman, eye contact is my number one nightmare. Even through a screen. There's no escape.

Danny has pipes and his performance is quietly assured. He lets his talent do the heavy lifting, shoeless and unafraid. More than anything, it's a palate cleanser — and sometimes, between the fire and the scooters and the levitating women, that's exactly what you need.

— Alexandra Koster

Well, the editors are asleep right now. So yes, yes you can.

Everyone say hello to AIDAN! Because he's saying hello to us!

Fun fact: AIDAN recently came to Australia as part of his promotional tour for Eurovision — the first international Eurovision artist to ever do so!

AIDAN sings about a little birdy called Bella and the whole thing sounds like he should be skipping while he does it. It's kind of like 'hehehe' embodied, if you feel me.

My friend and Eurovision nut, Katie Curran, describes AIDAN as a "TWINK COWBOY LEATHERDADDY", which might be the most accurate review I've ever read (if you also have opinions, email them to me at alexandra.koster@sbs.com.au, thanks).

The camera does a big spinny thing and his hair BLOWS IN THE WIND! I would pay to see the person kneeling on the floor with a hairdryer during that bit.

Overall, it's nice. We all know AIDAN doesn't stand a chance. But he came, he sang, and his hair blew majestically. That's more than most of us can say.

— Alexandra Koster

I've just had a little peep over at EurovisionWorld, who aggregate betting odds from multiple sites.

It's good news: Delta is placed as the second most likely to win right now, just behind Finland.

Before her semi-final performance, she was placed as the fourth most likely to win the competition, behind Denmark, Greece and frontrunner Finland.

READ MORE

Could Australia win Eurovision? The odds are looking Goodrem

She skyrocketed up to second after qualifying for this morning's grand final, but those chances have increased even more.

Australia hasn’t made it to a Eurovision grand final since 2023, when it was represented by Perth-based synth-metal band Voyagyer, but I think everyone can attest to the vibe shift this year. We could really do it, folks.

— Alexandra Koster

Everyone say hello to Lavina from Serbia.

No, he's not a dungeons and dragons cosplayer. It's the designated performance where metal is thrust upon the audience — aka, my favourite part of the night.

This is the first band of the evening: a six-piece metal band with two jobs: a) rock, b) terrify.

There's a sword on stage that then transforms into a mic stand. That's set design, baby.

I'm getting strong Evanscence vibes but that might just be because the stage is blue and they look like goths. The performance is surprisingly melodic at first — things don't get screamy for a bit.

But when they do, they SCREAM. The camera shakes. The stage looks like it's been blown up, there's that much pyrotechnics. Everyone eats it up.

I will say, as someone who loves heavier music, I could've used a little more chaos. But when you're vying for douze points, I suppose "approachable metal" is the smarter play.

— Alexandra Koster

Omgomgomgomgomgomg, she's here! She's here! She's HERE!

It's DELTA TIME!

As soon as Delta hits the screen, she just stands out. We've got the pipes, the talent, the dazzling sparkly dress, and a big moon. All the ingredients for success.

But just as you think this is going to be a case of mere talent, the beat DROPS. It's party time, friends.

According to the bookies, Delta Goodrem is well and truly in the running to win it all at Eurovision. Source: AAP / Martin Meissner / AP

Delta goes for a little jaunt down the runway and there, behold, a bedazzled piano. The most bedazzled piano you've ever seen.

At first, we don't get a zoom in on the keys to see if Delta's actually playing, but she quickly recognises the audience doubting her abilities and does a little on-camera piano solo as if to say: there. You thought I couldn't do it. But watch these little fingers tinkling about. Yeah, I'm doing that. 

Then, as if to prove a bigger point, she's like — not only can I play piano, I can also stand on a platform and get totally yeeted up in the sky.

Source: SBS

There's pyro, there's hair flips, and before you know it, Delta is IN THE SKY! ON A BIG STILT! ON TOP OF THE PIANO! WITH BEDAZZLED EVERYTHING!

What's that you can smell? Mmmm, that's a winner, baby.

— Alexandra Koster

Ferto is over. We're back to earnest performances.

Right now, we've got LELÉKA from the Ukraine with Ridnym. Her name apparently means "stork", referring to the migratory bird that always finds its way home — which, given everything, hits a little differently.

The performance is visually minimal, but she doesn't need the fancy stuff. When she does the big singing bit where she goes really high up, she goes really high up — and then she goes even higher!

You don't need a glass box or a bedazzled anything when you can do that.

— Alexandra Koster