Eurovision running order set; Finland 41% favorite

The Eurovision Song Contest published the Grand Final running order on Friday, locking in the 25-song sequence for Saturday night’s show in Vienna. Finland entered the final as the bookmakers’ favorite, while Australia moved up sharply in the last published market snapshots ahead of the live broadcast. The 70th edition of the contest is being staged at Wiener Stadthalle, with the Grand Final scheduled for 21:00 CEST on May 16. ### Which countries open and close the show? Denmark will perform first and Austria will perform 25th, according to the official Grand Final page and EurovisionWorld’s running-order list. Germany was placed second, Israel third and Belgium fourth, while Romania will perform 24th immediately before host country Austria closes the lineup. (eurovisionworld.com) Austria’s closing slot had already been determined by draw, while the rest of the sequence was set by the producer, Austrian broadcaster ORF, and approved under Eurovision’s existing format for the Grand Final. EurovisionWorld said half the participants were drawn into first-half or second-half groupings and others fell into the “Producer Decides” category. (eurovision.com) ### Where did Finland and Australia land in the running order? Finland was placed 17th and Australia 8th in the Grand Final sequence published by Eurovision’s official site. The official page lists Finland’s entry as “Liekinheitin” by Linda Lampenius x Pete Parkkonen, while Australia’s song “Eclipse” is performed by Delta Goodrem. (eurovisionworld.com) France will perform 15th, Italy 22nd and the United Kingdom 14th, according to the same running order. Sweden was placed 20th, Norway 23rd and Romania 24th, giving the final stretch a run of Nordic and southern European entries before Austria closes the show. ### How strong is Finland’s lead with bookmakers? (eurovision.com) Aussievision published a final odds snapshot on May 16 showing Finland at 41% and Australia at 22%, with Greece at 7%, Israel at 6% and Romania at 5%. The outlet said its figures were drawn from European betting markets and cited EurovisionWorld for the underlying odds. (eurovision.com) ESCToday reported later on May 16 that Finland’s implied win probability stood at 41.4% across 25 international bookmakers, while Australia had risen to 22.6%. ESCToday described Australia’s move as a late-week surge after the Friday jury show rehearsal and said Finland remained the overall favorite despite the narrowing gap. (aussievision.net) ### What does the official Eurovision site say about the night’s schedule? Eurovision’s official “Eurovision Week” guide says the Grand Final begins at 21:00 CEST on Saturday, May 16, following semi-finals on May 12 and May 14. The same guide names Victoria Swarovski and Michael Ostrowski as hosts for the live shows in Vienna. (esctoday.com) Eurovision’s Vienna 2026 hub says 35 countries took part in this year’s contest, with 25 reaching the Grand Final: host Austria, the Big 4 of Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom, and 20 qualifiers from the two semi-finals. The official voting page says viewers in participating countries and the “Rest of the World” can vote during the Grand Final. (eurovision.com) ### Why was the running order not drawn straight through? EurovisionWorld said ORF, this year’s producing broadcaster, decided the Grand Final order after allocation draws held following the semi-finals. The site said the producer-built sequence is intended to balance the show after countries are first assigned to broad placement categories rather than exact slots. (eurovision.com) The European Broadcasting Union announced rule changes for 2026 last November, including the return of juries to the semi-finals and broader voting-framework revisions. Those changes did not remove the producer-set running order for the Grand Final, which remained in place for Vienna 2026. May 16 is the final competitive night of Eurovision 2026, with 25 entries set to perform in Vienna and voting available through national broadcasters and Eurovision’s official voting platform. (eurovisionworld.com) The live Grand Final page carries the full order and scoreboard, while the official vote-and-watch page lists how viewers can cast ballots during the show. (eurovision.com 1) (eurovision.com 2)