Eurovision 2026 LIVE: UK comes last as audience erupts over Israel score

The winner has been declared, and Eurovision is over for another year. Check back with us in the morning for some analysis after the UK came dead last once again.

After a nailbiting vote Dara from Bulgaria was declared the winner with her song Bangaranga. With Israel in the lead she was the last act to receive her audience votes and needed 140 to beat them. She recieved a whopping 312 points making her the clear victor.

Israeli singer Noam Bettan topped the leaderboard after the audience vote having been awarded an astonishing 220 points which took him to 343 points. However it was not popular in the arena and the result was loudly booed by the live audience.

The UK got nil points in the public vote, meaning it did not make the top 10 in any country's votes.

It means we came in last place, with both Lithuania and Austria overtaking us.

After the jury vote Bulgaria's act DARA was in top place and she was clearly overwhelmed as she was interviewed backstage.

This is the leaderboard as it stands, with the UK having just one point.

Joking she's been "shoved in a cleaner's closet", La Voix dedicated our 12 points to France.

We also gave points to Australia and Bulgaria, among others.

Lithuania has now overtaken the UK with two points – leaving us in joint last with Austria.

The top three is constantly shifting – Australia is now in second place, just under Bulgaria, with Finland now in third.

The UK is still close to the bottom of the leaderboard with one point – better than Lithuania, which has nil points so far.

20 of the 35 countries have submitted their votes – but of course, the viewer vote is still to come.

UK entrant Look Mum No Computer joked before the contest he had a T-shirt saying Look Mom No Points, just in case. While he won't be needing that he also won't be bothering the top ten. Nineteen jury votes in he has a mere one point. He is languishing in second last along with Austria. Meanwhile Lithuania are bottom of the leaderboard with zero points.

The top three so far are as follows:

1. Bulgaria

2. Italy

3. Finland

Piers Morgan took to X to express his disdain for Eurovision. "Eurovision is so bad. Why does anyone watch this crap?" he penned.

His opinion didn't prove popular in the comments. One person penned: "Why do you care so much if you dislike it so much? Surely... if it's that bad it shouldn't have captivated your attention to write a post about it?"

Another added: "Because it has launched global stars like ABBA and Céline Dion — not bad for a 'crap' show."

A third chimed in: "For fun Piers. For the history of this lasting show, for different cultures from different places in the world. But mostly for fun."

However he did have some supporters. Another person shared: "It got too pretentious, too political and country's actually started trying to win. It was more interesting when people saw it as a playful, fun music contest that no-one particularly cared about."

Graham spoke over the hosts to remind people that they don't have long to get their final votes in and that they need to submit their 10 votes as the opportunity to have their say. However, once again, people in the UK cannot vote for the UK.

Multiple former acts have returned to the stage to give a stellar performance once again. Taking to X one user wrote: "I love the nostalgia with the stars of Eurovision throughout the years." Another wrote: "So many bangers over the years." A third said: "They nailed it! Beautiful Eurovision mix."

That's all the performances over... so don't forget to get voting for your favourite, the jury will also be putting their votes in and we will see who is taking home the crown very soon.

Some viewers noticed a similarity between Norway's lead singer and Harry Styles as he took to the stage in a black one-piece and a load of tattoos. Even Graham Norton couldn't help but give a nod to Styles.

Taking to X, one user wrote: "Harry Styles if he went in another direction." Another said: "Damn Norway sent an evil Harry Styles." A third said: "Temu Harry Styles."

People may have quite the shocker to realise that they might actually recognise contestant Antigoni, considering she appeared on Love Island a few years back. Cyprus put on an impressive performance with some viewers saying her vocals had improved massively even just from the semi-finals. One user wrote on X: "Well Antigoni sounds a lot better tonight, and seems to be having just as much fun." Another said: "Much better than the semis for Cyprus. Antigoni did good!" A third wrote: "That was a better performance than last Thursday. Antigoni did a great job!"

After Finland's performance, Graham questioned "is that our winner?" He added: "It would be neat if Finland won tonight, it's been twenty years! That will do very well, people love it." The hosts then praised the performance as they expressed their admiration for the artists who are performing in their own language, such as Finland. It was confirmed that during the competition they're celebrating "different languages, different cultures and different sounds".

Satoshi, who is singing for Moldova admitted he is a big Eurovison fan. Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk in advance of the recent London Eurovision Party he said: “I've been connected to Eurovision since I was young like a normal follower. I always knew where it is held, who's the winner, who's the one from Moldova, and what's the spicy thing about it this year. When it came to this year's, I just decided it was an organic step forward for me in my desire to represent my fans.”

Eurovision viewers have been left utterly outraged after seeing the UK performance for the 2026 show with Look Mum, No Computer. Taking to X, one user raged: "Jesus Chris this is diabolical. Zero points this is awful." Another said: "UK's entry is genuinely absolutely atrocious isn't it?" A third simply wrote: "I'm embarrassed."

Czechia faced some unfortunate tech issues as UK host Graham Norton said that it hadn't occurred in rehearsals. The camera turned distorted throughout the performance, and it appeared that the cameraman fell at one point.

Graham said after the performance: "The distorted picture, and I think the cameraman inside the mirrors I think he fell? I'm not quite sure but Czechia won't be happy about that."

Graham praised Australia's entry with an "extraordinary performance", and he wasn't the only one. Viewers rushed to X to praise the performance as one user wrote: "Delta GODrem taking us to Sydney 2027."

Another wrote: "Legendary performance!" A third said: "Easily the best song of the night so far."

Ukranian star Lelénka exclusively confessed to Express.co.uk : “It was never my dream, but maybe…when I was a teenager, I was watching Eurovision a lot, and I always thought it was so beautiful and colourful. And maybe consciously I've never dreamed about being a part of your Eurovision. But I think as a child maybe unconsciously there was this hidden wish in myself to become a part of it. And I'm really happy I have this chance, and I'm here right now.”

Greece's entry certainly brought some energy, with people taking to X to share their thoughts as one person wrote: "Can't understand a word of this Greece song but love it." Another wrote: "Greece is still finishing top 4 undoubtedly." A third said: "Very silly, but that's what I watch for. It's what I want from Eurovision."

Graham Norton made a dig at the two hosts, Victoria Swarovksi and Michael Ostrowski, stating that while they're both individually loved in Austria, he thought their chemistry was poor. He said in his voiceover: "Him and her, whatever they are, they just do not click. Whatever the opposite of chemistry is."

Albania's entry Alis is just determined to make his family proud. Alis told Express.co.uk he wants to make his country, his family and himself proud. He also admitted the contest was his dream. “Everyone has a dream, so it's everyone's dream to perform at least one time in Eurovision, because it's a one-time life experience. So, absolutely, since I was a little kid, I always dreamed, at least, you know, to feel that kind of stage. And yeah, now it's happening.”

Graham Norton took the moment to hit out at ESSYLA for wearing one boot as he joked about it and asked what her stylist was doing. He then teased: "Oh yeah that looks really good..." flooded with sarcasm. Taking to X a lot of people seemed to agree with him, with one user writing: "Why is she wearing one boot?" While another said: "Could they only afford one boot for the Belgium entry???"

Prior to her performance of Dancing on the Ice, Essyla exclusively told Express.co.uk performing in Eurovision was a childhood dream. “I have this memory that when I was five, I was playing at a playground with my little friends, and they all were playing in this huge playground, and I was like sitting in front of a small TV, which was showing a replay of Eurovision Junior, and I was like, ‘Oh, I wish it could be me, the little girl, so pretty, and, and I want to do that in life’. And actually I'm here today. But when I was a little girl watching Eurovision with my mom, I really couldn't imagine myself on this big stage.”

Viewers were furious as Israel took to stage. There has been a lot of controversy over them still being able to perform despite the ongoing Gaza conflict, resulting in multiple countries dropping out. Taking to X, one user wrote: "They turned the audience sound right down for the Israel song." Another fumed: "F*** Israel and their s****y song." A third raged: "F*** Eurovision for letting Israel participate yet again!"

Sarah Engels confessed Eurovision has always been a dream of hers. Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk she said: “Since I was a little girl, I always watched the Eurovision. It was a dream, but it was so far away from me I never expected that I would do it one day. And now I'm into this beautiful Eurovision family. I'm so proud to be a part of it.”

The winners of the popular competition will not be taking home a penny in prize money and instead will be given the Crystal Microphone trophy. The handmade, glass trophy has been the prize since 2008 and mini versions are said to be given to the songwriters and composers. But what winners are truly after is the platform they get after the show.

Graham issued an update on the voting system as he warned people they should use all their votes and that it would open up before the first song was used. He also reminded viewers that they cannot vote for their own country. Graham also shared an update to the votes as he issued a warning, he said: "Tonight the vote will open before the very first song so you can vote for your favourites as soon as you like. You can vote up to 10 times, for up to 10 countries, but be warned. You need to place all your votes in one go.

"You can't come back later to cast any unused votes. So make sure you are happy with your decision before you submit and proceed with payment."

The Eurovision hosts, Victoria Swarovski and Michael Ostrowski, opened up the show to celebrate the fact that it's currently in its 70th year. It's a huge milestone for such an exciting competition beloved by people all over the world.

Graham Norton is back at the helm of the BBC for Eurovision and viewers are already taking to X to say the same thing. One user wrote: "Graham Norton's commentary for Eurovision is so funny every year." Another said: "I love Graham Norton's commentary of Eurovision." A third wrote: "Watching Eurovision for Graham Norton only."

We are minutes away from Eurovision 2026 and the excitement is already bubbling online as people have shared fun outfits, food deliveries and stories of how they're spending their evenings. Predictions are already flooding in for who will take home the crown.

The backlash to Eurovision's decision to allow Israel to compete cauused multiple countries to drop out of the show. Spain, one of the "big 5" is always guaranteed a spot in the final, but they dropped out. Iceland, Ireland, The Netherlands and Slovenia also withdrew.

Instead of airing the competition, Ireland will be showing a Eurovision themed episode of Father Ted. RTE is one of the five channels across Europe to decide to pull out of the 70th anniversary show in Vienna because of the war in Gaza.

Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk at the London Eurovision Party last month, Soren admitted he had never thought Eurovison would happen for him. “In the sense that I’m a big Eurovision fan for me that was never a possibility, or something that you could even dream of. But now, the last couple of years, I kind of started being like, "Oh, I want to do that.”

The grand final will air on Saturday (May 16) at 8pm and if you're in the UK, you can tune into the live show on BBC One. If you're not currently in the UK or a participating nation, you can tune into the show on the Eurovision Song Contest YouTube channel.

UK entry Sam Battle, otherwise known as Look Mum No Computer, has teased that there's more to come than people think. He previously told The Independent: "I’m used to being an underdog. There’s all different ways of looking at it, but it’s not bothering me, because nobody’s actually seen the full [performance]. There’s a lot more going on than meets the eye – I’m hoping it’s going to surprise people."

He's not allowing anyone to underestimate him!

Voting opens just before the first song is performed at Eurovision, it stays open throughout the performances and for around 40 minutes after the last song. You can vote up to 10 times, but you cannot vote for your own country, no matter how much you may think they deserve it!