Official Eurovision Voting Rules

1. Jury Structure (Updated 2026)

Since 2026, each country appoints a 7‑member professional jury, replacing the previous 5‑member format used from 2013 to 2025.

New requirements introduced in 2026:

• At least 2 jurors must be between 16 and 25 years old

This update ensures generational diversity and a more representative evaluation of modern music.

2. Jury Voting Criteria

Each juror ranks all songs based on:

• Vocal capacity
• Stage performance
• Composition & originality
• Artistic impression
• Overall quality

The combined ranking produces the country’s official jury points: 1–8, 10 and 12.

3. Televoting Rules

The public votes via phone, SMS, app and online platforms. Viewers cannot vote for their own country.

The “Rest of the World” acts as an additional voting country.

Televote points follow the same structure: 1–8, 10 and 12.

4. Televote Reveal Format (In Use Since 2016)

The aggregated televote reveal — often called the “televote sack” — has been used since 2016. Instead of announcing televote points country by country, all televote points are combined into a single global score for each finalist.

This means:

• No individual 12 points from each country
• All televote points are revealed in one dramatic block
• Scores typically range from 250 to 350
• Exceptional fan favorites can exceed 400 points

This format creates the most intense moment of the night, often deciding the winner.

5. Semi‑Final Voting (2026 Update)

From 2023 to 2025, the semi‑finals were decided only by the public. In 2026, the EBU reinstated the jury vote.

Semi‑final results are now:

50% jury + 50% televote

The combined ranking determines the top 10 qualifiers.

6. How Semi‑Final Qualifiers Are Revealed (2026 Format)

The reveal format in the semi‑finals is designed for maximum suspense. The 10 qualifiers are announced in the following way:

• The hosts reveal 3 countries at a time
• From those 3, only 1 qualifies
• This continues until 9 qualifiers have been announced
• The 10th qualifier is chosen from all remaining countries at once

Importantly:

• The order is completely random
• It does NOT reflect the actual ranking
• The 10th reveal is often the most dramatic moment of the semi‑final

7. Grand Final Voting

In the Grand Final, the result is determined by:

• Total jury points
• Total televote points

The jury points are announced first, country by country. Then the televote is revealed in a single block, from lowest to highest.

The song with the highest combined score wins the Eurovision Song Contest.