Survey results: Views from Australian fans on Eurovision 2026

Aussievision recently conducted a survey with Australian fans about the Eurovision Song Contest 2026.

This covered general information on how they watched the show, how many times they voted and if they've been to the Contest.

However, this also asked some tough questions on Israel's participation, voting systems and how they rated the show, SBS and the EBU overall.

Additionally, fans were asked about Australia's performance and future in the Contest and how we should choose our artist.

In the first of a series looking at the results, we start with their views on Eurovision 2026 and the EBU.

More results on SBS's coverage and promotion, plus who fans want to represent Australia in 2027, will be out this week.

Firstly, who did we hear from?

We received 304 respondents with 269 residing in Australia.

Unfortunately, because many international fans took the survey we will present the results of fans living in Australia only. But we do acknowledge many Aussie fans live overseas.

Attendance, watching and voting

• 70% have never been to the Contest, 18% have been once and 4% have been five times or more.

• 81% watched the Grand Final live on SBS or SBS On Demand (up from 72% last year), 4% live in the stadium, 5% on YouTube, while 21% watched it delayed either On Demand or in the Prime Time replay.

• 40% voted the full 10 times, while 43% didn't vote at all and 4% found a way to vote more than 10 times.

• 57% watched with family and friends, 43% on their own and 3% in the stadium or at an event (multiple options could be checked)

Israel's participation

When asked if Israel should have participated, fans responded:

(Difference from 2025 in brackets)

• Yes: 19% (+5%)

• Unsure: 12% (+1%)

• No: 70% (-5%)

  
  

When asked if they should compete next year if the situation remains the same, the votes against participation increased:

• Yes: 16% (+6%)

• Unsure: 9% (-3%)

• No: 74% (-5%)

Although opposition against Israel competing remains very high, there is a small growing acceptance of them being in the Contest.

Voting system

When asked which voting system they would prefer, fans responded:

• 50% jury / 50% public vote – current system: 62% (+10%)

• 50% jury / 50% public vote combined (pre-2016 system): 18% (-6%)

• Some public but a % that favours the jury vote: 12% (+4%)

• 100% jury vote: 4%

• Some jury but a % that favours the public vote: 3% (-11%)

• 100% public vote: 2% (-)

There is a growing acceptance of the current system.

Juries in the semi-finals

When asked if they supported juries being back in the semi-finals, fans responded:

• Yes: 82%

• Unsure: 15%

• No: 3%

The decision to bring back the juries was well received by Australian fans.

How did they rate Eurovision 2026?

Respondents were asked to rate the Contest and other items on a five-star scale.

These were the results of these:

How would you rate Eurovision 2026 overall: 3.93 stars

(Up from 3.80 in 2025)

How would you rate the Eurovision 2026 show itself - 3.71 stars

(Down from 4.14 in 2025)

How would you rate the coverage of Eurovision by fan media overall - 4.18 stars

(Up from 4.06 in 2025)

How much trust do you have in the EBU - the organisers of Eurovision - 2.72 stars

(Down from 2.97 in 2025)

We asked fans why they rated the way they did

Please note these are the views of fans and not Aussievision.

We do not support nor condone every view expressed, but believe it is important the voices of fans are shared whatever their opinion is.

Below are comments made around common themes by fans.

Israel's participation and EBU trust

A clear theme was frustration with Israel's continued participation and how the EBU has managed the issue.

“EBU needs to have the backbone to expel Israel like they did Russia.”

“Israel is bringing a beloved competition into disrepute and the EBU is rotting from the head. New leadership needs to be instated and Israel needs to be axed from the competition.”

“I honestly find it hypocritical of the EBU to keep Israel in the competition but hold a ban over Russia/Belarus. Either you have everyone in the competition and stay truly ‘politically neutral’ or you ban all countries in active conflict.”

“The last three contests have been marred by the Israel situation. Five countries withdrew from what was the 70th anniversary show, and even in getting three others to return, it was the smallest turnout since semis began.”

“It is clear that the EBU is still offering preferential treatment to Israel, I can't watch again until it's acknowledged that the vote is being / has been manipulated and stronger action taken.”

“The EBU needs to do more to bring the competition back to its roots and to prevent such overt politicisation. It needs address the Israel issue head-on and show the world that it will not tolerate any forms of violence, and stop the double standards.”

Voting

Voting was another dominant concern, with many respondents calling for more transparency, tighter rules around multiple votes and a rethink of the televote.

“Jury votes seemed very political and public votes also seemed skewed towards particular nations.”

“There’s issues with the voting that need serious attention - juries of 7 that have the power for 50% of the vote is too much, juries should have reduced power in comparison to the televote. But dont eradicate them completely, it is needed.”

“Release all the data for voting, how many votes and the make up of that per country. Transparency into it all is needed.”

“They really need to fix the public voting. Maybe make the viewer at home rank their Top 10.”

“Public voting system needs still further changes, perhaps go back to single vote for 1 winner, or reduction from 10 to 5 votes per person.”

“Not allowing multiple payment methods for votes. Votes should be earned, not bought.”

“The voting system is brutal and how the votes are counted needs to be more transparent.”

The show itself

While many still enjoyed Eurovision 2026, several respondents felt the live show, hosts and interval acts were weaker than expected for a major anniversary year.

“The production of the 2026 live shows was lacking, presumably because they struggled to get top performers for interval acts due to the aforementioned issues, plus the script and the postcards were terrible.”

“The Austrian hosts were hard to watch at times. Awkward and timing off.”

“Apart from the songs, it felt like the weakest Eurovision since the early 2010's. The hosts had little to no chemistry, interval acts were mostly terrible, missing 5 countries could have been avoided, and the order of the winners performance at the end of the Grand Final was a shambles.”

“The quality of the songs this year were, in my opinion, outstanding. But, they were let down by a sub-par live show. I felt like Austria put all their money into the stage and had no money left over to hire decent hosts, provide quality interval acts, amongst other things.”

“Some of the worst hosts in Eurovision history, general poor hosting and video packages. Really silly sense of humour overall.”

What fans still loved

Despite frustrations, respondents also highlighted the strength of the songs, staging and overall production.

“Very happy with 2026 contest, a difficult year for ESC brand done well.”

“The 70th anniversary celebration while waiting for the votes was incredible.”

“More countries had creative staging this year which was good to see as the stage provided countries with more opportunities.”

“Technical production in 2026 was impressive and seemingly as flawless as it can be.”

“The overall feeling I have is that Eurovision is a good competition - and there is a lot of diversity in them. The stages have been brilliant in recent years.”

“The staging and camera work is amazing. What a show!!”

“Eurovision itself has been at its best where the joy it brings is embedded deeply in the show and it doesn't come across as another commercial event.”

The future of the Contest

A number of comments suggested fans still love Eurovision, but believe the Contest is at a crossroads.

“The EBU is risking the future of the competition.”

“I think EBU need to have a serious look in the mirror. If they continue the way they're going, Eurovision will be in financial ruin and also be brought into complete disrepute.”

“The EBU must take into account broader context in both its decision-making processes and the decisions that it makes - that includes the outcomes of those decisions, and the withdrawal of five key broadcasters is a clear sign that the status quo has failed.”

“I think we all know what needs to be done if there IS to be a future of Eurovision. The current state of it does not seem to be sustainable.”

“It has a great history but is at a crossroads. This year's show was boring and it needs to get back to what it does well.”

“It feels like a lot of the joy has been sucked out of Eurovision because of Israel using it as a political tool to try and bolster public support. I engaged with Eurovision a lot less this year as a result.”

“I love Eurovision so much - it normally takes over my life for half the year. I just couldn’t this year. It’s so tainted, and politically piss-weak. The division is clear and sad and can’t be ignored.”

Summary

As a collective, the Australian fans responding to our survey do not support Israel's participation this year (70%) or next year if the current situation remains unchanged (74%).

While opposition remains strong, these figures were slightly lower than in 2025, when 75% opposed Israel's participation and 79% opposed its participation the following year.

Despite these concerns, respondents rated Eurovision 2026 positively overall at 3.9 stars, up from 3.8 stars in 2025.

However, they rated the Eurovision 2026 show itself lower at 3.7 stars, down from 4.1 stars last year.

Fans also indicated a lack of trust in the EBU, awarding the organisers 2.7 stars out of five. This was down from 3.0 stars in 2025.

The main issues raised by respondents centred on Israel's participation, trust in the EBU and concerns around the voting system.

Voting concerns generated the largest volume of comments, with many fans calling for greater transparency, tighter controls on televoting and reforms to prevent perceived manipulation.

At the same time, many respondents continued to praise the quality of the songs, staging and overall spectacle of Eurovision, while expressing concern about the future direction of the Contest if current controversies remain unresolved.

We will bring you more results, including on SBS and Australia's participation and performance, and who fans want to see represent the nation in 2027, in the coming days.