Junior Eurovision 2026 Final: Malta Hosts 16 Countries, Voting Explained

Sixteen countries take the stage for the final of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2026 on 24 October at 21:00 CEST, held at the Malta Fairs and Conventions Centre in Ta' Qali, Malta, according to the contest's Wikipedia entry and the industry site Eurovoix. The show is hosted by Gaia Cauchi, Destiny Chukunyere and Keane Cutajar.

Who is competing

The 16 competing broadcasters are Albania, Armenia, Cyprus, France, Georgia, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Montenegro, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, San Marino, Spain and Ukraine, per Eurovoix's list of confirmed participants. Azerbaijan and Croatia, both of which took part in the 2025 edition in Tbilisi, are not returning this year.

Spain's song, sung in Spanish, was written by Blas Cantó, Carlos Almazán, Daniel Ángelo Ortega and Lucas Paulano, Eurovoix reported. Ukraine's entry was written and composed by Svitlana Tarabarova, according to the Ukrainian outlet 112.ua, which noted that Ukraine finished second in 2025 with Sofia Nersesyan.

• Other confirmed performers, according to Eurovoix, include Albania's Eslin Kurti, Cyprus's Harry Georgiou, France's Alec, Georgia's Davit Lomidze, North Macedonia's Ana Stojanoska, Poland's Wiktor Sas and Portugal's Salvador Rio.
• Song titles and running-order positions for these acts were not available in the sources reviewed.

How the voting works

Half of the result comes from national juries. Each of the 16 countries is represented by a jury of three adults and two children, who rank the other countries' performances from 1st to 15th place, Eurovoix reported. The country ranked highest on average receives 12 points, the second 10 points, and so on down to 1 point for 10th place.

The jury final was held on 23 October at 21:00 CET, separate from the televised show. The other half of the result comes from an online public vote at JESC.tv, where viewers choose their three favourite songs; votes are distributed proportionally among those choices, according to Eurovoix's report on the 2026 voting rules.

Unlike the adult Eurovision Song Contest, viewers are allowed to vote for their own country's entry in the junior edition, Eurovoix noted. Online voting opened at 23:59 CEST on 23 October, once the jury final concluded, and the first window closes at 20:59 CEST on 24 October, just before the live final begins. A second, roughly 15-minute voting window reopens during the live broadcast for a final round of public votes.

Why two withdrawals this year

Eurovoix's July report confirming the 16-strong line-up stated that Azerbaijan and Croatia were the only countries from the 2025 roster not returning in 2026, without giving a reason for either withdrawal. All other participants from the Tbilisi edition are back for Malta.