Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne has revealed that a total of 451 songs were submitted for this year’s national selection, Vidbir 2026, with entries coming from 392 acts, including 313 soloists and 79 bands.
Selection process overview
- From the 392 acts, 30 have previously been longlisted or reached finals in Vidbir or Ukraine’s Junior Eurovision selections, and some of them have represented Ukraine at a Eurovision contest.
- A longlist of up to 15 participants will be formed in the coming weeks. These will sign contracts with Suspilne by 21 November 2025.
- Auditions will then be held to reduce the number to up to nine finalists by 15 December 2025. The remaining long-listed acts that don’t make it will face an online vote to select one more finalist.
- The Vidbir final is scheduled for February 2026, and the winner will represent Ukraine at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 in Vienna.
Oksana Skybinska, Director of the Special Projects Department of Public Broadcasting and Head of the Ukrainian Delegation to Eurovision, commented:
“This year, we received 451 unique applications. This number does not include fake and repeated applications. These are real, original applications from various artists – both well-known in the Eurovision environment and young performers not yet known to the general public.”
What is Vidbir?
Informally known as “Vidbir”, Ukraine’s national selection has been around since 2016, when it picked a Eurovision winner–Jamala’s “1944”– right off the bat. It’s a small selection with generally between six to ten entries competing each year, and is traditionally held in February. Vidbir features a three-person jury panel, and this year, an online vote as well.
Ukraine’s Eurovision Journey
Ukraine is one of the most successful countries to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest. The country has scored nine top-five placements, with an extra four top-ten finishes. Ukraine won the Contest three times – in 2004, 2016 and 2022 respectively. Ukraine made history for being the first ex-Soviet country to win the Contest more than once.
In 2025, Ziferblat represented Ukraine in Basel with their song “Bird of Pray”. The band finished in 9th place, scoring 218 points – of which 60 points came from the jury, whilst the remaining 158 points came from the televote.
Who do you want to see participate at Vidbir next year? 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!
Source: Suspilne
Photo credit: Sarah Louise Bennett / EBU
Silvia Stifini