Germany was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 with the song "Fire", written by Dario Schürmann, Luisa Heinemann, Raphael Lott, Sarah Engels and Valentin Boes, and performed by Engels herself. The German participating broadcaster on behalf of ARD, (SWR), organised the national final format Eurovision Song Contest – 2026 to select its entry for the contest.

As a member of the "Big Four", Germany automatically qualified to compete in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Background

Prior to the 2026 contest, ARD has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Germany 68 times since its debut at in 1956, making Germany, to this point, the country with the most entries in the contest; it has taken part in every edition, except in , when it was eliminated in a pre-qualification round. It has won the contest on two occasions: in with the song "" performed by Nicole, and in with the song "Satellite" performed by Lena. In , "Baller" performed by Abor & Tynna placed 15th out of 26 competing songs in the final with 151 points.

As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, ARD organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. ARD confirmed its participation in the 2026 contest on 3 June 2025. For the first time, ARD has delegated the participation in the contest to its member (SWR), starting in 2026. On 17 September 2025, SWR announced that it would organise a national final with several artists to choose both the song and performer to compete in the contest.

Before Eurovision

Eurovision Song Contest – 2026 Eurovision Song Contest – 2026 ("Eurovision Song Contest – The German Final 2026") was the competition that selected the German entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2026. The competition took place on 28 February 2026 at the Studio Berlin in Adlershof, hosted by Barbara Schöneberger and Hazel Brugger, and consisted of a single show which was broadcast on and One as well as online via the platform. The national final was watched by 3.651 million viewers in Germany with a market share of 18.1% – the highest since .

Competing entries Interested artists and composers were able to submit their entries for the competition between 15 September 2025 and 22 October 2025. Artists were required to be 18 years of age by 30 April 2026, be professional performers with an existing business environment as well as media experience, and have a connection to Germany (possess German citizenship, residency or ancestry, or be German-speaking). Additional proposals were received by SWR from record companies, music publishers, artist managers and international music industry representatives. The nine competing entries were selected over three stages. In the first stage, entries were selected for the second stage by members of the SWR editorial team. The second stage involved an international expert and audience panel shortlisting several entries for the third stage. In the third stage, the shortlisted artists further developed their songs in songwriting camps with international songwriters and producers, and a panel of music industry experts as well as the international panel selected the nine finalists. The nine participating acts were announced on 15 January 2026. Artist Song Songwriter(s) Bela "" Dreamboys the Band "Jeanie" Laura Nahr "Wonderland" Malou Lovis "When I'm with You" Molly Sue "Optimist (Ha Ha Ha)" "A OK" Ragazzki " ragazzki" Sarah Engels "Fire" Wavvyboi "Black Glitter"

Final

The final took place on 28 February 2026. The winner was selected through two rounds of voting. In the first round of voting, a 20-member international jury panel selected the top three entries to proceed to the second round; the jury's favourite was "Black Glitter" performed by Wavvyboi. In the second round, the winner, "Fire" performed by Sarah Engels, was selected solely through public voting. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the show was opened by Abor and Tynna performing their entry "Baller", while former Eurovision entrants Ruslana (), Michael Schulte (), Luca Hänni (), Destiny () and Carla () performed during the show. Four experts also provided feedback in regards to the songs during the show: comedian Carolin Kebekus, and Paola Felix, actor and Schulte. +Final28 February 2026 Artist SongResult 1 Bela ""Eliminated 2 Dreamboys the Band "Jeanie"Eliminated 3 Myle "A OK"Eliminated 4 Ragazzki " ragazzki"Eliminated 5 Laura Nahr "Wonderland"Eliminated6 Malou Lovis "When I'm with You"Eliminated 7 Wavvyboi "Black Glitter"Advanced 8 Sarah Engels "Fire"Advanced 9 Molly Sue "Optimist (Ha Ha Ha)"Advanced

+Superfinal28 February 2026 Artist Song Televote Place 1 Wavvyboi "Black Glitter" 34.15% 2 2 Sarah Engels "Fire" 38.30% 1 3 Molly Sue "Optimist (Ha Ha Ha)" 27.55% 3 +International jury members Name Country ProfessionWilliam Lee AdamsFounder of WiwibloggsSinger-songwriter and rapper, finalist of ESCZ 2022Margaret BergerSinger, radio DJ, Christer BjörkmanTelevision producer, CarlaSinger, presenter, Wim DehandschutterJournalistDestinySinger, and Christian EllegaardJournalistGohar GasparyanPresenter, editorLuca HänniSinger, dancer, Anca LupeșMusic journalistCatherine NothumRadio producerAlex PanayiSinger, vocal coach, music director, and Cypriot entrantDiletta ParlangeliJournalist, presenterRuslanaSinger, SanniSinger, presenterKarl-Erik TaukarSinger, bassist, presenterThomas ThurnerMusic producer, songwriterVaidotas ValiukevičiusSinger-songwriter, model, actor, as part of The RoopRoksana WęgielSinger,

At Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest 2026 took place at the in Vienna, Austria, and consisted of two semi-finals held on the respective dates of 12 and 14 May and the final on 16 May 2026. All nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom) were required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete in the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progressed to the final. As a member of the "Big Four", Germany automatically qualified to compete in the final on 16 May 2026, but was also required to broadcast and vote in one of the two semi-finals. This was decided via a draw held during the semi-final allocation draw on 12 January 2026, when it was announced that Germany would be voting in the second semi-final. Despite being an automatic qualifier for the final, the German entry was also performed during the semi-final. Final Germany's position to perform in the final was allocated via the producers' choice and performed 2nd, succeeding Denmark and preceding Israel.

Voting

Points awarded to Germany + Points awarded to Germany (Final) Score Televote Jury 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Points awarded by Germany

+ Points awarded by Germany (Semi-final 1) Score Televote Jury 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

+ Points awarded by Germany (Final) Score Televote Jury 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Detailed voting results Each participating broadcaster assembles a seven-member jury panel consisting of music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent and two of which have to be between 18 and 25 years old. Each jury, and individual jury member, is required to meet a strict set of criteria regarding professional background, as well as diversity in gender and age. No member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.

The following members comprised the German jury: Bela Marton Jules Kalmbacher Len Clare Udo Dahmen Alina Stiegler Hayat Joy Berhanu Sophia Gruber

+ Country Jury Televote Juror A Juror B Juror C Juror D Juror E Juror F Juror G Rank Points Rank Points 01 9 4 10 12 7 6 15 10 1 4 7 02 8 10 3 2 5 5 10 5 6 14 03 4 11 9 1 3 1 13 3 8 5 6 04 2 5 2 14 15 4 9 6 5 3 8 05 15 6 15 8 13 15 8 14 9 2 06 10 9 14 15 10 13 14 15 15 07 12 2 1 5 2 2 6 2 10 7 4 08 3 13 11 13 4 12 3 7 4 12 09 14 7 13 10 8 14 7 13 10 1 10 5 1 5 6 6 3 11 4 7 1 12 11 6 8 7 9 9 9 5 9 2 11 12 7 14 6 3 12 10 4 8 3 8 3 13 11 12 8 11 14 11 2 11 13 14 1 3 4 7 1 7 1 1 12 2 10 15 13 15 12 4 11 8 12 12 6 5 + Country Jury Televote Juror A Juror B Juror C Juror D Juror E Juror F Juror G Rank Points Rank Points 01 6 8 3 12 3 15 18 7 4 18 02 03 4 21 9 2 8 19 10 8 3 1 12 04 14 19 4 11 13 20 24 17 24 05 16 14 24 16 18 9 13 21 12 06 9 11 5 9 6 8 23 12 3 8 07 15 5 22 17 10 13 15 18 9 2 08 1 13 10 20 4 6 17 6 5 11 09 21 17 23 24 16 7 9 20 17 10 10 6 15 3 17 24 19 13 20 11 11 3 11 8 20 16 22 14 21 12 8 16 2 18 9 5 2 4 7 2 10 13 2 20 14 19 14 17 1 9 2 4 7 14 24 23 18 23 23 22 14 24 23 15 5 12 7 13 15 3 3 5 6 15 16 19 24 16 10 22 21 21 23 8 3 17 3 10 21 4 5 1 6 3 8 13 18 20 1 1 5 12 2 8 1 12 7 4 19 22 7 17 22 19 4 12 15 22 20 12 9 12 7 2 11 7 10 1 14 21 18 18 20 21 24 10 16 22 19 22 7 4 13 1 1 12 5 2 10 5 6 23 17 2 8 15 7 14 11 11 16 24 13 22 19 14 11 18 4 16 10 1 25 23 15 6 6 21 23 20 19 6 5

References

External links Official ARD Eurovision site