The Republic of Moldova has qualified for the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 after advancing from the first semi-final held in Vienna on Tuesday, May 12. Romania is set to compete on Thursday in the second semi-final, represented by Alexandra Căpitănescu with the song “Choke Me.”

The first semi-final of Eurovision 2026 took place at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, where 10 countries secured spots in the grand final scheduled for May 16. They are Greece, Finland, Belgium, Sweden, Moldova, Israel, Serbia, Croatia, Lithuania, and Poland.

Moldova advanced to the final with the song “Viva, Moldova!” performed by Satoshi (video below).

Romania will compete in the second semi-final on May 14, broadcast live on TVR from 22:00 local time. Alexandra Căpitănescu will perform third on stage and will compete against entries from Albania, Denmark, Armenia, Cyprus, Switzerland, Norway, Azerbaijan, Luxembourg, Malta, Bulgaria, Australia, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, and Latvia, Tvrinfo.ro reported.

This year’s edition of the competition is held under the slogan “United by Music,” with semi-finals taking place on May 12 and 14 and the grand final on May 16. The previous edition of the contest was won by JJ for Austria with the song “Wasted Love.”

Romania has participated in Eurovision since 1993. Its best results remain two third-place finishes achieved by Luminița Anghel and Sistem in 2005, and by Paula Seling and Ovi in 2010.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Eurovision.com; by Corinne Cumming/EBU)