We’re only a few days since JJ won the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest, and already cities are thinking about hosting next year. Klagenfurt though has decided to rule itself out from the competition.
Klagenfurt still facing 2015’s issues
The state of Carinthia has ruled itself out of consideration for hosting the 2026 contest as its capital, Klagenfurt am Wörthersee, does not have a suitable enough arena to host. Carinthia’s government cited the significant adaptations to the Wörthersee Stadion as a hindrance to allow it to host the contest. The capacity and suitability issues of the stadium remain from when the city attempted to host the contest back in 2015, and have yet to be resolved. The government believes that the costs to do so would are prohibiting to hosting.
The Journey to Eurovision 2026
The journey to the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest kicked off immediately following JJ’s win in Basel, when Austria’s ORF accepted the rights to host the 70th edition of the contest. At present the Alpine nation has not addressed its plans for how it intends to host, but cities have already begun discussing their thoughts on hosting or not.
The cities that have ruled out hosting:
- Salzburg
- Klagenfurt
Austria’s Eurovision Journey
In 1957, Austria made their debut into the Eurovision Song Contest, where Bob Martin represented the landlocked nation with the song “Wohin, kleines Pony?”. At the close of voting, it managed to place 10th overall. Since their debut, Austria has participated 56 times (being in the final 49 times), and – before 2025 – had won the competition on two occasions in 1966 and 2014.
In 2025, Austria selected JJ internally to represent the nation in Basel with “Wasted Love”. Austria successfully qualified for the final, and went on to win the Contest with a total of 436 points. This gave Austria its third win in the Contest, eleven years after their previous victory.
What do you think about Klagenfurt’s decision to forego bidding for Eurovision? As always, please let us know what you think by getting involved in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Threads, tumblr, and Bluesky for more information about Eurovision 2026!
News Source: ORF
Photo Credit: Wikimedia / Johann Jaritz
Tetiana Viznytsia 
Tim J 