#ESC26: Live Blog Of Semi Final 2 Jury Show – #JoinUs From 20:00 BST/21:00 CEST.

It’s starting! Semi Final 2 of the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest is nearly upon us. We at Eurovision Ireland have access to the Jury Show, which may give us an idea of who will qualify for the Grand Final on 16 May.

As you know with our blogs, just click ‘Refresh’ on your browser for our latest thoughts. All times are in CEST.

21:00 – Te Deum plays and we are off! And we start with a reminder of Semi Final One.

21:01 – We have a video of sea scape scene, before Victoria and Michael take to the stage for their own interpretation of Wasted Love.

21:04 – Victoria and Michael welcome us to the show. They run through the rules, voting etc.

21:08 – DARA’s postcard features a regal building.

21:09 – DARA is sat with two dancers either side. The move well alongside each other and react well to the different genres/tempos within the song.

21:11 – Jiva’s postcard features an old viaduct bridge.

21:12 – Jiva appears from behind a white curtain. She is in a red and black dress. Silouhettes appear of possible backing dancers.The backing dancer finally appears on stage and walks around her/taunts her, on the stage.

21:16 – Alexandra’s postcard features a modern building.

21:16 – Alexandra is dressed in black, holding lit up ropes connected to guitars belonging to her band. She crawls up to the main stage. Her backing dancers/singers are in hooded white costumes.

21:19 – Eva’s postcard features a forest.

21:21 – Eva is stood in a spotlighjt at the start while the main stage stays dark until the first chorus. The forest reference from the postcard is replicated in cgi effects on screen. The microphone stand even takes the shape of a tree.

21:24 – Daniel’s postcard features a mountain range.

21:25 – Daniel is surrounded by mirrors to start with, giving a kalidiscope visual effect. The mirrors seem to stay throughout, until they open to reveal him to the audience.

21:28 – Michael is back ad-libbing.

21:29 – Monroe’s postcard features gardens.

21:30 – Some electric lighting welcomes Monroe, who is stood on a podium. For such a young voice, she can handle opera well. Her four backing dancers move with her vocal tempo.

21:33 – Professor Eurovision is back.

21:37 – Simon’s postcard features water.

21:37 – Simon and his backing dancers start the performance in a pretend lift. They are all in sync when it comes to the dancing. Simon is wearing his jacket covered in post-it notes. Its very fast tempo and it could be a question of blink and you’ll miss something.

21:41 – Veronica’s postcard features mountains again.

21:41 – Veronica is dressed in black. Her microphone is corded out of ship rope. Her backing dancers, also in black, are attached to red strings. This is quite a contrast to Simon from Armenia, in terms of tempo and beat.

21:45 – Michael is back ad-libbing.

21:46 – Antigoni’s postcard features marshes.

21:47 – Antigoni starts her performance on a table. She is joined on said table by four backing dancers. While they move in sync, it doesn’t give the impression of a party atmosphere like the official video. The projection screen graphics certainly makes reference to Fuego.

21:51 – Michael introduces Austria. Cosmo’s postcard features a desert.

21:53 – Cosmo starts laying down on the stage with some funky hand drawn graphics. The backing dancers have horses heads on – Dihaj anyone? It’s certainly a modern sound with a beat that you can clap or tap your feet along to. A stronger home entry compared to 2015.

21:56 – Atvara’s postcard features caves.

21:57 – Atvara has a stage lit a-la ‘Goodbye to Yesterday’ from 2015. She is dressed in black, so the overall performance looks currently dark. Once the song progresses, we get images of smashing glass to add an additional effect. Atvara is the first to be on stage on her own tonight.

22:00 – Soren’s postcard also features mountains.

22:01 – Soren is wearing a white top over a sparkly number. The performance is basically a carbon copy from Dansk Melodi Grand Prix.

22:05 – Victoria and Michael are back. A video montage is shown of the artists walking into the arena for the first time.

22:08 – Delta’s postcard features a bridge.

22:09 – Delta is stood inside a broken crescent, dressed in glistening gold. She walks towards a golden piano, which she stands at and plays. Once she is up on the piano, she raises up into the air, surrounded by pyrotechnics.

22:12 – Leleka’s postcard features a garden.

22:13 – Leleka is dressed in white and is joined on stage by a man playing an instrument. Pale blue lighting is in use. This is quite a quiet and gentle number – until the ending chorus, which features a warm orange lighting.

22:16 – Victoria is in the green room with Cosmo. Michael introduces the UK.

22:18 – L.M.N.C. also has mountains in his postcard.

22:20 – L.M.N.C. delivers the premise of the video, but on stage. Starting in an office scene, it soon moves to his experimental instruments. Pyrotechnics accompany the Eins Zwei Drei element of the song.

22:23 – Alis’ postcard features a cinema.

22:24 – Alis delivers quite a dramatic and theatrical performance. English subtitles are shown so everyone can get a full understanding of the song. Alis is joined on stage by a lady – one can assume it’s his mum or nan.

22:27 – Aidan’s postcard features a Venice type scene.

22:28 – Aidan is in black. CGI graphics are in use to pretend he is in an arched building. Aidan is stood in a spotlight, while CGI dancers appear in the archways. For the end third, we get an injection of red lighting on top of the white we’ve had throughout.

22:31 – Jonas has a parliament type building in his postcard.

22:32 – We have some red lighting to kick start Jonas’ performance. He is in a black number, but has been told to reign in the sexiness apparently. Not sure if he has 100% complied to be honnest. This is quite rocky to end the main proceedings on a high. We have mainly smoke rather than pyrotechnics.

22:36 – Victoria and Michael open the voting with a recap of the songs.

22:43 – Michael is singing ‘I’m So Excited”. Victoria joins in.

22:46 – One final voting recap.

22:50 – Victoria and Michael do a Vienesse Waltz.

22:52 – Voting has closed.

22:54 – Michael is back with that Quiz. The UK’s Rylan and Angela Scanlon are on a team tonight.

23:02 – Before the results are revaeled, last year’s winner, JJ, performs his new single ‘Unknown’.

Thank you for joining us tonight. Enjoy the live show tomorrow night, wherever you will be watching from. Bogdan will be here on Friday night with coverage of the Jury Final. Continue with us all week as we carry on bringing you the news from Vienna.

Let us know what you think about the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest – either in the comments below or on our FACEBOOK, BLUESKY, TWITTER, YOUTUBE, INSTAGRAM and TIKTOK pages.

The Eurovision Community, which Eurovision Ireland are a part of, celebrates diversity through music. Please keep your comments respectful. We will not tolerate racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, body-shaming or any other derogatory or hostile language.

Author: Richard Taylor & John Stanton

Source: Eurovision Ireland