My opinions on Eurovision 2026

Last Week,  WC 11 May 2026, was Eurovision week, A celebration where countries across Europe put forth a song to represent them in a competition. Last year, Austria won so this years competition was held in Vienna. Along with winning a trophy the winning artist's country is chosen as the host country of the next years competition.

The Winner - Bulgaria

After weeks of campaigning and even longer for practicing, Bulgaria's entry "Bangaranga" by Dara, a judge on The Voice of Bulgaria won the competition with what now is the largest gap between 1st and 2nd place of 173. Dara's entry is more similar to previous second places such as; "Rim Tim Tagi Dim" by Croatia in 2024 and "CHA CHA CHA" by Finland in 2023. Her entry is an upbeat hyper-pop song that mixes English and Bulgarian to create a catchy song. In lead up to the competition I listened to most of the songs and agree that Bulgaria is a deserving winner.

My top 10 compared to the results 

Where is the UK going wrong?

After following engaging in online discussion over the past week I think I have found where the UK and BBC have gone so wrong within recent years. We are trying too hard! Eurovision at its core is a celebration and that's where we're going wrong, the BBC are viewing Eurovision as a competition not as a celebration. Although I can't deny the intersectionality of other sources such as the treatment of European countries in the past by the UK and our presence on the global stage I don't believe this has such a major impact on our results evidenced by Sam Ryder's results in 2022. I think that in order to overcome this the uk must make changes to the way it acts around Eurovision and selects its act, I believe it would be best to select our artist through a national final like other countries allowing talent from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales an opportunity to represent the UK at Eurovision. This national final will not only allow for representation but will mean that the BBC isn't just choosing an artist they think the public will react to but one that the public actually likes. Within recent years the British public has become increasing criticising of our entries most noticeable in the case of Mae Muller who represented us in 2023. This idea that the Uk is trying too hard I think is also noticeable by the fact that since Sam Ryder our highest scoring entry was an upbeat song by a group of 3 girls that blended a pop song with elements os operetta. Throughout the run-up to the competition the engagement surrounding the girls by the Eurovision community was largely positive and the girls instead of focusing on pushing their song as much as possible decided to show the world the fun they were having being chosen to represent their country. 

Alongside this another controversy has arose surrounding the UK's entry this year however the public are being sympathetic. During the live final all the act are kept in a "green room" which this year was viewable by the public however despite this either way the documented treatment of the UK entry was left along by his team and the team of the BBC with the Danish representative having to invite him into their area so he wasn't alone. To my research neither the Uk representative "Look mom no computer" and the BBC haven't commented.

Tell me what you think in the comments.

My Full Ranking

 The working-class view spearheaded by Hannah   Spencer Mp for Gorton and Denton.

Hannah Spencer was elected as the MP for Gorton and Denton in February 2026 in a By-election. She is a Green Party representative born in the city of Bolton. Bolton's impact as a major cotton producing town during the Industrial Revolution like many others has lead to the local area being populated by Working-Class citizens. Hannah herself is from a working class background and prior to serving in parliament was a tradesperson in her community.

 

Her early impact

Before she was even elected, Hannah was a big name leading up to election. Like many working class areas, Gorton and Denton was a consistently a Labour hold even before the boundry changes, however polling showed that the constituency was likely to go to Reform Uk or Green Party. This was symbolic of a recent political shift in the Uk from a Two-Party System to one which involved 5 main parties. Hannah capitalised on her background, familiarity with the area and this shift to wage one of the most successful (in my opinion) political campaigns in recent times.

Within her first week Hannah had already made national headline news. Not for a dodgey background, not for outlandish suggestions, not for old resurfaced tweets but for the simple fact the she wore bright colours. Personally I believe this is reflective of the childish, absurd double standard of the dealings of government officials by members and the media. Other than focus on big issues facing the country and the world the Uk media and online mobs stage mass attacks on Hannahs appearance and personality simply because what she wore was different to those around her. 

Her first PMQ

On Wednesday 20th May 2026, Hannah Spencer was selected to put forth her first Prime Minister Question (PMQ), a chance for MP's to question government actions and highlight issues. Despite the questions over the use and impact of PMQ's raised as of late, Hannah put forth a question which has left the country and many in the political sphere divided. Following previous comments mad Hannah asked, "Does the Prime Minister agree with his own MP's (Labour MPs) who have defended their right to drink cheap alcohol at work, or does he agree with me that MP's shouldn't be drinking in the job, Given that we vote on huge things like the climate crisis, disabled people's rights, housing, child poverty.". This has raised questions but many members of the public who have been largely unaware of this part gf Westminster culture. After heckling directed towards her the Prime Minister, Kier Starmer, responded "There will be different opinions of wether people should be allowed to drink here or not, but I think we can agree that the people in this country want an economy that works for them" however he then decided to follow this up by deflecting, saying "the Greens think that their leader (Zak Polanski) walked on water, it turns out that he just lives on water and doesn't pay his council tax" referring to a HMRC inquisition into the property owned by Polanski which whilst selling he listen as his home for three years despite siting a different property as his main residence. This deflection only adds to negative public opinion towards both Zak Polanski and Keir Starmer himself without addressing the valuable question asked by Spencer. 

The Reaction

Following this some MPs defended their right to drink on the job by saying that it was a stressful job that had long hours. However the public are disinterested in this excuse as like Spencer said they are voting on very important issues and that many in the public also work long, stressful jobs in which they are not allowed to 'enjoy a pint" at, which only adds to the public's distrust in Westminster to deliver effective policies to positively effect them. Given that if Spencer's other claims of smelling alcohol on MP's breath during voting is true, should MP's be allowed to drink at work and if so how can we prove they are in right sound and mind to be in control of huge decisions that effect the public.

Please add to this discussion in the comments - L.Y