JILL LAWLESS - Associated Press
•7/1/2026
LONDON (AP) — The Eurovision Song Contest is expanding across the Atlantic, with Canada set to compete at next year’s edition of the glitter-drenched pop music competition.
Contest organizer the European Broadcasting Union and Canadian public broadcaster CBC announced that Canada will send an act to the 2027 contest in Bulgaria in May. Canada is the first new country to join Eurovision since Australia entered in 2015.
The announcement was made on the Canada Day national holiday. It comes shortly after Canada joined the EBU, an association of national public broadcasters that oversees Eurovision.
A campy, colorful contest that has been likened to the World Cup with songs instead of soccer, Eurovision has given the world the perfect pop of ABBA’s “Waterloo” – the winning song in 1974 – and a host of Euro-pop party anthems.
CBC President Marie-Philippe Bouchard said participation “will allow Canadian talent to be showcased on one of the most storied music stages in the world.”
Founded in 1956, Eurovision brings together musical acts from dozens of mostly European countries to compete for the votes of professional jurors and international viewers.
Eurovision Director Martin Green said Canada’s accession is “a further sign that, while born in Europe, the Contest continues to welcome the world.”
The CBC said it will announce details of how Canada’s entry will be selected later this year. Some Eurovision countries choose their competitors through televised national selections. In others, competitors are picked by the national broadcaster.
Canadians have entered Eurovision before under different flags — most famously Quebecoise chanteuse Celine Dion, who won the 1988 contest competing for Switzerland.
The 70th Eurovision contest in May featured 35 countries and was won by Bulgarian singer Dara, so next year’s competition will take place in the southeast European country.
Eurovision has been roiled in recent years by protests over the participation of Israel, a competitor since 1973.
Five longtime participants — Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Iceland and Slovenia — boycotted this year after organizers declined to kick Israel out over its conduct of the war against Hamas in Gaza and violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
The 2026 Eurovision final was watched by 130 million viewers around the world, organizers say, down from 160 million in 2025.
Despite the blows to Eurovision’s finances and viewership from the boycott, the contest is eyeing expansion, with a spinoff Eurovision Song Contest Asia due to take place in Bangkok in November.
