2026

The World Song Contest 2026 was the second edition of the World Song Contest. It brought semi-finals into the Song Contest series for the first time ever, including a record-breaking participant amount of 19 and a second chance round.

The edition took place in New York, USA, following Taylor Swift's win in 2025 with her song "Chronos" in London. The contest was held in Barclays Center; the show consisted of 2 semi-finals, 1 second chance round, and one grand final.

Presenters
The presenters were not announced before the shows, but during the shows, it was revealed that Jennifer Lopez and Lady Gaga were set to host the contest.

Visual Design
The logo and slogan were revealed on the 27th of February, 2026. The logo has a blue wing created out of dust, matching the slogan: "open wings, open minds"

Show Format
Adding 3 new shows to the contest, the points from semi-finals to second chance to the final constantly changed. As there were 9 participants in both of the semi-finals, all participating delegations in each semi-final (including the United States, which voted in the first semi-final) were obligated to vote using the point format 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, and 1, determining half of the results, whilst the WSC website allowed televoting for 3 to 5 countries, in which the televote was rounded up to make up the other half of the results. The 5 countries with the most points in each semi-final qualified directly to the final, places 6 to 7 would qualify to a second chance round to fight for 2 last spots in the final, and places 8 to 9 would not qualify, meaning that they don't have a chance to win.

The second chance voting format was 5, 3, 1 for the juries, which are to determine half of the results. Viewers were allowed to televote for 2 countries to determine half of the results.

The grand final will consist of 13 acts, in which 5 are the qualifiers from the first semi-final, 5 are the qualifiers from the second semi-final, 2 are the qualifiers from the second chance round and 1 being the host country, the United States.

The standard WSC voting format introduced in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 is scheduled to make a return as there are enough countries, this format being: 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 set of points. All 19 participating delegations including non-qualifiers must vote in the final to make up half of the results. WSC viewers will then be able to vote from 3 to 6 countries from the WSC website to make up half of the results aswell, and those combined will make up the final results.

Semi-final 1
The first semi-final took place on the 6th of June, 2026 at 19:00 EET. 9 countries participated in this semi-final. The United States voted in this semi-final.

Semi-final 2
The second semi-final took place on the 7th on June, at 19:00 EET. 9 countries participated in this semi-final.

Second Chance Round
The second chance round is scheduled to take place on the 26th of July, 2026 at 19:00 EET. 4 countries participated in this round

Grand Final
The Grand Final was scheduled to take place on the 30th of August, but was delayed to 26th of September at 22:00 EET due to organization issues. 13 countries participated, and all non-qualifier nations were able to vote aswell.

{{legend|gold|Winner}} {{legend|silver|Runner-up}} {{legend|#CC9966|3rd place}} {{legend|FFCDBD|Last Place}}