Main points
- Turkish singer Sertab Erener has refused to perform at Eurovision 2026 due to the difficult international situation and a planned concert in Istanbul.
- Despite this, the Eurovision organizers prepared a special interval act with performances by stars of past years, including Ukrainian artists Ruslana and Verka Serdyuchka.
Sertab Erener / Photo by Aytekin Yalçın / Collage by Channel 24
Turkish singer Sertab Erener, winner of Eurovision 2003, has refused to perform in the Eurovision 2026 final.
She announced this in her Instagram stories and even revealed the reason for her decision.
The grand final of the 70th anniversary Eurovision Song Contest is scheduled for May 16 and will take place in Vienna at the Wiener Stadthalle arena.
The artist decided to withdraw from the show due to the difficult international situation. She also noted that she already has a concert scheduled for that date. The performance will take place in Istanbul at the KüçükÇiftlik Park venue.
I'll tell you something that no one knows: I was invited to Vienna for the final night to perform at Eurovision. But due to the current world political situation, I didn't want to be there. And besides, I already had my own concert scheduled for May 16th,
Sertab Erener said.
The video with this statement was saved by users and published on the New Türk Tv YouTube channel.
At the same time, the Eurovision organizers have prepared a separate performance for the final with stars of past years. Among them will be Ukrainian artists. In particular, Ruslana, the winner of 2004 with the song “Wild Dances”, and Verka Serdyuchka, who took second place in 2007 with the hit Dancing Lasha Tumbai, will appear on stage.
Also performing will be Alexander Rybak, Lordi, Max Mutzke, Christian Kostov and Erika Wikman. This will be a special interval act called “Celebration! – The best reunion of all Eurovision stars”. This was announced on the Eurovision website.
What is known about Turkey's participation in Eurovision?
Turkey first participated in Eurovision in 1975. Since then, the country has performed 34 times. The most successful performance was by Sertab Erener, who won in 2003 with the song Everyway That I Can.
Sertab Erener – Everyway That I Can: watch the video online
At the same time, in 2012, Turkey decided to stop participating in the contest. The reason was disagreements with the new voting rules and the format of the final. In particular, the country did not like the fact that part of the result is determined by the jury and part by the audience, as well as the fact that some countries automatically enter the final without selection. These are the so-called Big Five – Italy, Germany, France, Spain and the United Kingdom. These countries enter the final without selection, as they are the largest financial donors to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).