Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne closed the submission window for “Vidbir 2026″, the national selection for Eurovision 2026.
- 451 songs were submitted to the selection process
- The songs came from 392 different acts: 313 solo performers, and 79 bands/groups
- Among the 392 acts, 30 acts have already been included on the “Vidbir” longlist in the past, participated in the “Vidbir” final, or even represented Ukraine in Eurovision.
Suspilne revealed the 15 acts that qualified for the auditions round, and those are:
- ANSTAY
- Jerry Heil
- Karyotype
- KHAYAT
- LAUD
- LELÉKA
- MOLODI
- MON FIA
- Monokate
- Mr. Vel
- OKS
- The Elliens
- Valeriya Force
- Marta Adamchuk
- ShchukaRyba
9 acts among them will get a direct path to the “Vidbir 2026” final.
The remaining 6 acts will compete on a wildcard based on online vote.
Among the names, we can detect familiar faces like:
- Jerry Heil represented Ukraine in Eurovision 2024 (together with Alyona Alyona)
- Monokate is Kateryna Anatoliivna Pavlenko, the lead singer of Go_A, who represented Ukraine in Eurovision 2020 and 2021
- The Elliens lead singer is Olena Usenko, who represented Ukraine in Junior Eurovision 2021
- KHAYAT and LAUD competed in the national selection in the past
“Vidbir 2026” – Knows Details
- The submission window closed on October 27th, 2025.
- The longlisted artists will be invited to a live audition in front of the committee members. 9 of them will be shortlisted to participate in the national final.
- The shortlisted artists will be announced by December 15th, 2025.
- The public will be able to vote for one of the 6 remaining acts in the wild card round. The winner of the wildcard round will be revealed by January 15th, 2026, and will get a ticket to the final.
- “Vidbir 2026” final will be held in February 2026.
- The results will be based on fixed point system, composed of 50% public vote and 50% national jury panel.
Jamala, who represented Ukraine in Eurovision 2016 and won the contest, will serve as the music producer for “Vidbir 2026”.
Previously, the singer has expressed her dissatisfaction with some of the submissions.
She claimed some of them were sent in a “terrible demo” quality.
As well, relating to the importance of showcasing the Ukrainian culture and folklore:
In some songs, it’s difficult to understand which country the creators come from or what message they’re trying to convey
After closing the submission window, Jamala added:
“I am sincerely grateful that you entrusted me and the Suspilne team to listen to the songs and watch your video applications, video messages, and sometimes even entire messages that you add to your songs. It is a great honor for me, because I feel as if I am performing another important function – as if I am collecting modern folklore. Yes, do not be surprised! You are the folklore of today. Why? Because you sing songs that capture our historical moment, your personal confession. Everything is like in folk songs. So for me it is truly a great honor and responsibility.”
Ziferblat represented Ukraine in Eurovision 2025
They performed “Bird of Pray” and ended in 9th place.
Eurovision 2026 will be held in Vienna, Austria, on May 12th, 14th, and 16th, 2026.
