The national final season for the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest produced no huge surprises, much less any real injustices. The main note surrounded the return of a very famous past winner, and whether he could participate at Eurovision for a third time.

We start with the country of that very famous past winner – Norway.

Norway – Melodi Grand Prix 2026

Yes, Alexander Rybak was back. He was the Eurovision winner from 2009 with Fairytale and a participant in 2018 with That’s How You Write A Song. Listening to the audio before MGP 2026 began, Rybak, with Rise, seemed to have the strongest song. Upon the final itself, he was well beaten into second place by Jonas Lovv, who performed Ya Ya Ya. Lovv got 12 points from each of the juries and won the public vote, to finish with 265 points to Rybak’s 192. While Rise is no Fairytale, it’s certainly better than Ya Ya Ya. Lovv’s flamboyant performance and strong vocals seemed to rule the occasion.

Denmark – Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2026

Sissal, who was quite the revelation at Eurovision 2025 with her smooth and powerful voice when performing Hallucination, was back for another another attempt with a song called Infinity. She finished third in the super final with 30 points, which was just one behind the second song (Ericka Jane – Death Of Me) and nine points behind the winner (Søren Torpegaard Lund – Før vi går hjem). Nice enough song, and probably deserved second place. The winner was fair enough.

Estonia – Eesti Laul 2026

This year’s national final season was also one where a noted participant (at least to me) succeeded in returning to the Eurovision stage 21 years after their first appearance in 2005. When Estonia chose to send one of their most iconic and probably famous bands ever in Vanilla Ninja, all the Euro snobs whinged that Ollie wasn’t selected instead. It was his third attempt and he only finished third in a close super final. Even by his standards, his song, Slave, wasn’t that great and probably the weakest of his three. In contrast, Vanilla Ninja brought something in Too Epic To Be True that won the hearts of the Estonian public. While not their best or most synonymous song ever, it was the best at Eesti Laul this year. That’s objectively so, too!

Sweden – Melodifestivalen 2026

Felicia romped away with an easy win at this year’s Melfest with My System. Suffice to say, no injustices, even if I preferred others. Check my review.

Finland – UMK 2026

A similar situation to Sweden. A very strong winner with Linda Lampenius x Pete Parkkonen performing Liekinheitin. The only injustice being Kiki finishing last with Rakkaudenkipee.

My Top 5 National Final Injustices of 2026

1 Sweden – A-Teens – Iconic
2 Norway – Alexander Rybak – Rise
3 Finland – Kiki – Rakkaudenkipee
4 Sweden – Cimberly – Eternity
5 Denmark – Sissal – Infinity

Sweden: Felicia wins Melodifestivalen 2026 with My System

Finland: Linda Lampenius x Pete Parkkonen win UMK 2026 with Liekinheitin

Estonia: Too Epic To Be True as Vanilla Ninja win Eesti Laul 2026