This just feels bizarre.
Yes I know Australia is part of it but never thought they’d branch a wildcard type spot out further. IMO there should only be 1 wildcard spot each year, even if that spot is shared amongst a couple or few countries like Aus/Canada on alternate years.
It may feel bizarre, but Canada has lots of French-speaking artists who may be interested in taking part, in order to showcase their music to an international audience.
The difference with Canada is that CBC became a full member of EBU which means it is eligible to compete in Eurovision at the same level as the European countries. That is in contrast to SBS that is only an associate member and has to be invited to participate. CBC used to be an affiliate as well.
Really? Australia participating was always a bad precedent for this exact situation.
Now, coupled with the lower number of participating countries because of the boycotts, the EBC will take the opportunity to boost the numbers via other means, ie new countries (or previously inactive countries to return).
Kazakhstan next?
Also reported if Canada win, they will host the contest in Canada (it will just take place at 3pm local time)
Let it be…
So the Euro vision is to chase more bucks from anyone who wants to compete.
Yes I can see it now… “12 points from France goes to…” 
Seriously, I’m not really sure about this move. Having Australia in the competition seemed to be ok but if they add too many other countries outside of Europe I’m not sure how it will change the contest. I’m not sure the Europeans are going to like it.
I also think it will push some of the boycotting countries to keep boycotting, as they will see it as a cynical move by the EBU to replace them. Nobody holds grudges like Europeans.
And I’m not gonna lie, I’ll be super annoyed if the public and jury voters are more receptive to Canada than they are to Australia.
Next thing we’ll have the Americans competing in Eurovision followed by the Mexicans for the same reasons that there’s a lot of English and Spanish speaking artists who wants to have a crack. Then you open another pandora box to have a bunch of South American countries who have Portuguese/Spanish speaking artists who wants a go. It’s never going to end and the EBU needs to rein it in.
Isn’t Eurovision completely separate from the EBU these days?
Not at all. EBU owns, organises, and controls the competition. Only open to members and associates. Participation is considered a member benefit.
Agree. My prediction is this is going to go down like a lead balloon with most Eurovision fans. I feel like Australia has been mostly accepted because it’s felt like a one-off. Now that it’s clear they want to go further with other countries I predict the competition will suffer and audience figures will continue to drop.
I would hate to see the competition just fade into obscurity after such a long and fantastic history, but I think there’s a real risk of that now.
EDIT. I follow a few Eurovision blogs online and I have to say the majority of comments from fans are definitely not complimentary of the move to include Canada. There are some defenders of course, but overall I’d say it has gone down like a lead balloon.
Also, interesting to note that the EBU have confirmed that if Canada were to win then they CAN host in Canada, but at 3PM local time. Assuming this is because Canada is now a full member of the EBU, or because the timezone is viable, unlike a 5AM hosting in Australia.
It just feels like they’re rolling out the red carpet for Canada.
Australia and Canada both have very strong links to Europe. Let them join.
We've reached out to Voxovation and received further clarification that the #EurovisionAsia 2026 winner will feature at the Eurovision Song Contest next year but will not take part in the competition. https://t.co/MqmAbez22z pic.twitter.com/90XGhQgjr3
— Eurovision Asia Updates (@esc_asia) July 8, 2026
