Just over a week after the first longlist of acts competing at Vidbir 2026 was announced, Ukraine’s Suspilne has revealed the first nine acts that will compete in February’s final.
These are the first nine confirmed for Vidbir 2026
| Artist |
| Jerry Heil |
| LAUD |
| LELEKA |
| Molodi |
| Monokate |
| Mr. Vel |
| Shchuka Ryba |
| The Elliens |
| Valeriya Force |
These first nine acts have been narrowed down from an initial offering of 451 songs. The tenth act will come from an online wildcard vote that is made up of the remaining acts that were in the initial longlist. The final list will be published before January 15th. The winner will be decided in February in a televised final; via an equally weighted jury and public vote.
The remaining acts in the wildcard round are:
- Anstay
- Karyotpe
- Mon Fia
- Khayat
- OKS
- Marta Adamchuk
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.
Which of these acts would you like to see win Vidbir 2026? 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!
Credit: Suspilne
Photo Credit: Suspilne
Tetiana Viznytsia 
Tim J 
Euan T