Eurovision starts rehearsals for 35 acts

Eurovision is at the stage where fans start treating every lighting cue like a geopolitical signal. But the first thing to clear up is simple — on Friday, May 1, 2026, the artists themselves have not started rehearsing yet. The official schedule points to Saturday, May 2, for the first on-stage artist rehearsals in Vienna, with the live shows set for May 12, 14 and 16 at Wiener Stadthalle. (eurovision.com) ### So what actually starts now? What starts now is the final transition into contest mode. Vienna is hosting the 70th Eurovision Song Contest, and 35 broadcasters are sending entries. The venue, Wiener Stadthalle, is already in full operational use, but the contest has been in pre-rehearsal mode rather than artist-performance mode. (([eurovision.com)### Why does the date matter so much? Because Eurovision rehearsal week is highly structured. Stand-ins go first, then delegations review footage, then artists get their first proper run on the main stage. That matters because the first artist rehearsal is the moment when all the pre-contest promises — props, camera ideas, costume reve(eurovision.com)rsals had already begun on April 25 and that broadcasters could request changes before artist rehearsals on May 2. (eurovoix.com) ### Who’s actually competing? There are 35 entries this year. The official Eurovision site lists all of them and flags three returning broadcasters — Bulgaria, Moldova and Romania. That’s one of the bigger structural storylines this year, because a 35-country field is healthy but still compact enough that every staging choice gets a lot of scrutiny very quickly. (eurovision.com) ### Why are fans obsessed with rehearsals? Because rehearsals are where the contest’s abstract part becomes visible. A song can sound huge in a three-minute music video and then die on camera in an arena — or the reverse can happen. Eurovision is a TV contest as much as a music contest, so camera blocking, LED use, costume contrast, an(eurovision.com) That’s why rehearsal week can move betting markets and fan expectations fast, even before any jury or public vote is cast. The official calendar locks in the live-show dates, but rehearsal week is where people start guessing who is really ready. (eurovision.com) ### What happens after first rehearsals? The contest moves into a tighter loop — more rehearsals, then preview shows, then the broadcasts. Wiener Stadthalle’s public schedule lays out the rhythm clearly: evening preview shows the night before each live broadcast, afternoon previews on show day, and then the televised semi-finals and Gr(eurovision.com)ational juries vote. (stadthalle.com) ### When does the press fully enter the picture? Not immediately. The Eurovision newsroom page says on-site accredited media can collect badges starting Thursday, May 7. That lines up with the usual pattern — early artist rehearsals are more controlled, then coverage widens as the contest gets closer to the semi-finals. So if you’re seeing “rehearsals have star(stadthalle.com)veral different phases into one phrase. (eurovision.com) ### And the UK angle? The BBC did use May 1 to confirm its 2026 presenting lineup, which tells you broadcasters are shifting from selection season into event-week coverage mode. That’s adjacent news, not the core contest milestone. The core milestone is still tomorrow’s first artist rehearsals. (radiotimes.com))) ### Bottom line? Eurovision is now in the real countdown, but May 1 is the last day before the performances start showing their true shape. The actual artist rehearsals begin on Saturday, May 2 — and that’s when this year’s 35-act field stops being a playlist and becomes a contest. (eurovision.com)