Broadcasters from thirty-six countries are set to participate in the contest, one more than in 2026. North Macedonia is set to return after a four-year absence and Canada is set to make its debut, while Czechia opted not to participate due to financial reasons.
Location
The 2027 contest will take place in Burgas, Bulgaria, following the country's victory at the 2026 contest with "Bangaranga", performed by Dara.[2] It will be the first edition of the contest hosted in Bulgaria and the second Eurovision event held in the country, after the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015 in Sofia. The selected venue for the contest is Arena Burgas, which serves as a venue for indoor sports and concert events.[3][4]
In addition to the main venue, the Port of Burgas is set to be the location of the Eurovision Village, which hosts performances by contest participants and local artists, as well as screenings of the live shows.[5]
The location of the host city Burgas (in blue), shortlisted cities (in green) and other bidding cities (in red)
After Bulgaria's win in 2026, Milena Milotinova[bg], director of Bulgarian National Television (BNT), said during the winner's press conference that the broadcaster was ready to host the 2027 contest in Sofia.[6][7] Between 17 and 18 May 2026, the mayors of Burgas,[8] Sofia,[9]Plovdiv,[10] and Varna[11] all declared readiness for their respective city to host the event. By 21 May, the Bulgarian government had begun establishing an interdepartmental working group, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Ivo Hristov, to coordinate preparations for the contest.[12][13][14] BNT opened the bidding process on 8 June, issuing requirements for the four interested cities,[15][16] all of which delivered their bids by 3 July.[17][18] On 13 July, BNT announced that the choice of host city had been narrowed to Burgas and Sofia.[19][20][21] Throughout that month, the two candidate cities received an inspection visit from EBU representatives.[22] On 13 August, the EBU and BNT announced Burgas as the host city.[3][4]
Eligibility for participation in the Eurovision Song Contest requires a national broadcaster with an EBU membership capable of receiving the contest via the Eurovision network and broadcasting it live nationwide. The EBU issues an invitation to participate in the contest to all members.[25]
On 28 October 2026, the EBU provisionally announced that broadcasters from 36 countries would participate in the 2027 contest.[26]North Macedonia is set to return after a four-year absence, while Canada is set to make its debut after its broadcaster was accepted as an EBU member in June 2026. Canada is set to be the first debuting country since Australia received an invitation to join the contest in 2015. Meanwhile, Czechia decided not to participate due to budget cuts at its broadcaster.
EBU member broadcasters in Andorra,[45]Bosnia and Herzegovina[46] and Czechia[47] confirmed non-participation prior to the announcement of the participants list by the EBU. Duna Média, a member broadcaster from Hungary, stated in September 2026 that its acting CEO, András Horváth, had negotiated for a reduction in participation fees and extension of the application deadline to 7 December.[48] Hungary ultimately did not appear on the final list of participants; it last took part in 2019.
Broadcasters from Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Spain opted not to take part in the 2026 contest to protest Israel's participation in the context of the Gaza war.[49] In an interview with Variety published on 1 July 2026, contest director Martin Green stated that a vote on whether or not to permit Israel's participation in 2027 would not be held.[50] The Israeli broadcaster Kan confirmed its intention to participate in Bulgaria on 12 July.[51]
Two of the five boycotting broadcasters from 2026, Ireland's RTÉ[52] and the Netherlands' AVROTROS,[53] announced between August and September 2026 that they would continue to do so in 2027. Although NPO, the umbrella organisation of the Dutch public broadcasting system, initially announced on 23 September that it would take over responsibility for Dutch participation,[54] it reversed its decision on 27 October, citing a lack of support among its member broadcasters following protests from employees and demands for clarification.[55][56]
The three remaining boycotting broadcasters have not made a decision yet. The board of Iceland's RÚV voted on 30 September to maintain its boycott,[57][58] however, the official list of participants did not include Iceland, though it was not the final decision as it stated that it had not been decided yet.[59] Slovenia's RTVSLO stated on 22 September that it had also not decided.[60] Also on 22 September, José Pablo López, chairman of Spain's RTVE, stated before the Cortes Generales committee overseeing RTVE that he would propose to the broadcaster's board of directors to maintain its absence from the contest.[61] On 15 October, The Objective reported that López had postponed the decision, which is expected to be discussed by RTVE's board in November.[62] The EBU proceeded to delay the participation deadline for RÚV, RTVE, and RTVSLO to December, giving them additional time to decide on participation.[26][59]
Production and format
The Eurovision Song Contest 2027 will be produced by the Bulgarian National Television (BNT), with director general Milena Milotinova overseeing preparations for the contest. The core team will consist of Simeon Kasabov as chief executive producer, Atanas Genov as executive producer, Ilias Kokotos as supervisor for the show, Marvin Dietmann as head of show and contest, Kremena Kadieva as head of legal, Rositsa Grigorova as head of finance, Joana Levieva-Sawyer as head of event, Desislava Olovanova as head of marketing, brand, commercial and digital, Desislava Paunska as head of communications and domestic public relations, and Boryana Gramatikova as core team coordinator and assistant executive producer. Dietmann is repeating his functions from the previous edition.[63]
In July 2026, the Bulgarian government adopted an action plan for the contest's production. Under the plan, an executive producer and creative director were to be appointed by 30 August; an agreement with the selected venue was to be signed by 10 September, with its spaces allocated for contest use by 30 September; a projected budget was to be prepared by 10 October; and the creative concept and visual design are to be completed by 15 December. Presenters and scriptwriters are to be selected between November 2026 and April 2027, while stage construction and technical rehearsals are scheduled to take place from mid-March until the end of April. The Eurovision Village is planned to operate from 13 April to 31 May, and the venue is to be restored to normal use between 18 and 24 May.[64][65]
The Bulgarian government has allocated around €20 million as part of the budget needed to host the event,[66] with an additional €4.8 million set aside for the Burgas Municipality.[67] The additional funds will be used for the test events and technical upgrades for Arena Burgas.[68]
Voting system and contest structure
On 12 August 2026, the EBU published a summary of the rules for the 2027 contest.[69][70] Among the most notable changes, the minimum age for contestants was raised to 18 on the day of their first rehearsal (instead of 16 as had been the case since 1990) in order to protect 16 and 17-year-olds from excess pressure associated with taking part in the contest, and further measures were implemented to limit excessive use of pre-recorded backing vocals.[71]Aftonbladet has reported, citing a letter by the EBU to its members, that additional proposed changes include moving public voting online entirely and requiring viewers to vote for more than one entry.[72][73]
Broadcasts
All participating broadcasters may choose to have on-site or remote commentators providing insight and voting information to their local audience. They are required to broadcast the final and semi-final in which their country votes. The Eurovision Song Contest YouTube channel provides international live streams with no commentary of all shows.
The following are the broadcasters that have confirmed in whole or in part their broadcasting plans and/or commentators:
Broadcasts and commentators in participating countries
↑Guðmundsdóttir, Ingibjörg Sara (30 September 2026). "Stjórn RÚV vill halda sniðgöngu á Eurovision áfram"[RÚV board wants to continue boycotting Eurovision]. ruv.is (in Icelandic). RÚV. Retrieved 28 October 2026.
12Adam, Darren (28 October 2026). "Iceland not among 2027 Eurovision participants". ruv.is. RÚV. Retrieved 30 October 2026. The deadline for announcing participation has passed, but the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) made an exception allowing Spain, Slovenia, and Iceland to announce their participation at a later date. None has yet done so and, unless anything changes, these three countries will not take part.
↑Hashar, Michał (15 September 2026). "Eurowizja 2027: BNT ujawniło core team producentów"[Eurovision 2027: BNT has revealed the core team of producers]. ESCSpot (in Polish). Archived from the original on 16 October 2026. Retrieved 16 October 2026.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
Canada 
North Macedonia 
Czechia 
