Five Mystical Tupperware Containers Choose Eurovision

Eurovision 2026 isn’t a distant concept anymore. The moment the semi-final running order lands, the whole contest snaps into focus and suddenly you can feel the pressure of those early slots, the “forgotten by midnight” risk, and the way one placement can change a country’s odds before a note is even sung.

We walk through how the EBU splits countries across Semi-Final One and Semi-Final Two, if you care about Eurovision semi-final running order strategy, this is where the contest gets quietly decided.

Then we get to the 2026 voting changes. The vote cap drops from 20 to 10 per payment method, but we debate why that still isn’t the same as “one person, one vote” and what it means for fairness, cost, and fan behaviour.

And yes, we go there: juries are returning to the semi-finals. We unpack why that’s controversial, how it can clashes with televote favourites, and what it says about who Eurovision is really for. 

Hit play, share this with your Eurovision group chat, and subscribe then tell us where you land: should the public decide everything, or do you want juries back in the mix?

#eurovision #eurovisionsong contest #eurovisionpodcast #eurovisionaustralia #eurovisionfunny

Transcript

Cat Health Update And Good News

SPEAKER_00 0:29

Bonjour, Guten Tag, Prevent. Hello and welcome back to the Deuce Poix Podcast. Well, I have a reason for applause. Just a quick update for and thank you for all the lovely and well wishes. We have amazing news. My other cat, Toca, my second cat, is FIV. That's the cat, HIV free. And my other cat, Mr. Marshmallow. Oh my lord, as well as having HIV, it turns out the thing that was making him sick, he had cat malaria. If this, if there is a weird disease that no other cat on the face of the earth is gonna catch, or some weird, he had to have his eyelids operated on. He is gonna find a way to do it. He had cat malaria. Who knew cat could get cats could get malaria? It's the it's the equivalent of malaria in humans. It's a blood parasite. Gross. So we've had to give him medication. He is on the medication, he is already feeling a thousand percent better. Last night he got the zoomies, and then when I tried to pet his belly, he bit me. So woo! The little man is back, and so is Eurovision 2026. Now, just a quick note, we are not gonna go in depth this episode about any of the particular acts or the songs. I know some people don't want to know, they want to go in a bit blind. So we're gonna be talking about the rankings have been released. Well, the placement for semifinal one, semi-final two. We're also gonna be looking at dramatic new developments in the procedures of the semi-finals. Who can vote juries and who makes up those juries? So feel free if you want to go in blind about the acts, you can still listen to this episode. But there has been a growing call from some in the community for the voting system to be overhauled. This really caught on with some people when Russia was allegedly. I love it, we can say anything, we can't get sued, allegedly, tried to have a little bit of an interference in the voting system to ensure Stefania and the Kalush Orchestra did not win. So, what has the EBU done? They have interviewed all of its members, they've asked the big questions, and this they think is the answer. There's also some shocking developments with juries returning back to the semifinal decision process, as well as some other changes you were not expecting. But with the announcement of the running orders of semi-final and semi-final two, I've gotta say it, we all know what this means. It starts to feel real. It starts like it's time to get prepped and shall we have a look at semi-final one and semi-final two and the running order. First of all, let's just have a look at who is doing what in what round, and then we're gonna take a deep dive into how the different changes are going to affect things this year. Will they affect things? I think we can already say yes. Semifinal one. Now, how do they even decide who goes into semi-final one and semi-final two? We have all of our countries ready to compete in Eurovision 2026. Now, the first thing that you do from countries competing is you take your big five, or this year it's the big four. So the countries that pretty much pay the most keep everything running, keep the lights on, they're automatically through to the grand final. But now we've changed the rule for fairness. We do get to actually see them in the semifinal, or they don't have to compete for votes and you don't vote for them. So they're automatically gone through, but they do get to compete. The first thing that we do is we take those countries and we put them in a pot as well as the country that is hosting it, in this case, Switzerland. So then those countries are drawn out. Will they be competing in semi-final one, semifinal two? Okay, seems simple enough so far. They then take all of the remaining other countries and they put them in five pots. And before someone asks, I don't know if they actually have like five magical pots or five tupperware containers that they get from the kitchen, or this could all just be, you know, randomly generated on the computer. Who knows? I like to think it's magic tupperware containers in the communal kitchen at the EBU head office. But there are times where I think Eurovision just likes giving us heartburn. But anyway, so we have five mystical Tupperware containers. What they do is they take, they randomly pick a country out of one of the each five pots. Bam! Those countries are now in semi-final one. They then have another mystical pot and they pull out one of two options for those countries. Either they will be in the first half of the program or they will be in the second half of the program. Boom. Then once that's decided, they go back and they pick five more entries, one from each pot. Boom, they're now in semifinal two. They then do the same process. They pick are they in the first half or the second half of the semifinal? And essentially they go through and do this until all of the countries have been allocated. So now we have 15 random acts and two of the big five in semi-final one, and then we have 15 acts and three of the big five, and Switzerland in the second semifinal. But what do we do? So we've randomly pulled out the numbers of the hat. Is that the order that they appear? No. So if you remember a few years ago we did have the controversy of Ballad Gate, where ballad after ballad after ballad almost killed off more people in Europe than the Black Plague. So this is where the show's designer and the country's broadcaster actually have a bit of liberty. So, yes, it is decided, okay, these ones have to be in the first half, these have to be in the second half, but they actually get to design. So, how best to present this so it's more of a fluid and exciting theatrical event. They then give that to the EBU who gives the final tick. Essentially, it's making sure that we kick off with a banger, end with a banger, and nobody nods off in the middle. And this is why sometimes it can be at your detriment to have a fun little banger. Because, as we saw last year, first off the gate, vabe, it was a fun little two little Jedwoods in a boat. It kinks things off. We know that there is it's almost a kiss of death to go first. You run the risk of just being forgotten by the end of the night when everybody is drunk. But you need something lively, unforgettable that is gonna get the crowd up and dancing. There is only one country that you can rely on for that. It is, of course, Moldova. So this is how semi-final is going to run. Semi-final one. It's gonna be Moldova, Sweden, Croatia, Greece, Portugal, Georgia, Italy, Finland, Montenegro, Estonia, Israel, Germany, Belgium, Lithuania, San Marino, Poland, and Serbia. The second semi-final is being kicked off by Bulgaria, then Azerbaijan, Romania, Luxembourg, Chechia, France, Armenia, Switzerland, Cyprus, Austria, Latvia, Denmark, Australia, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Albania, Malta, and then the very last song goes to Norway. Okay, so we have semi-final one, semifinal two, we have the running order set. And I'm just gonna say I haven't actually listened to all of the songs so far, but I have heard pieces, I have heard some songs in entirety, some snippets, and I've got to say semifinal two, not only because there's gonna be from the snippets I've heard so far, I really think semi-final two is gonna be the intense battle. Okay, so two semifinals. What happens now? The voting. This is where some huge changes are coming in for 2026. The EBU has said its code of conduct is going to be strengthened, basically pushing that all country artists and songs have to be represented, and they want to disc discourage disproportionate promotion campaigns. Are the EBU's words? Broadcasters and artists are not permitted to actively engage in, facilitate or contribute to promotional campaigns by third parties that could influence the voting outcome. And as outlined in the updated code of conduct, any attempts to unduly influence the results will lead to sanctions. I need to have the Law and Order music. Now, this one, it sounds like a good step forward, but I still have my meh issue. Last year, one person or one phone number could vote up to 20 times. Obviously, every time you call and vote, it costs money. This year, however, they are reducing it from 20 votes down to 10 per number slash person. However, their exact wording is for the 2026 contest, the maximum number of votes per payment method in brackets, that's online, SMS, and phone call will be reduced from 20 to 10. And they say they'll be encouraging people to show their support across multiple entries, not just dedicating all of their votes to the one act. I really don't like this. I think it should just be one vote per person. Look, I know they have to pay for this whole thing, and I know the cost of Eurovision and actually putting it on becomes more and more expensive every year. I think currently we're up to something like 35 and a half. The last figure I heard was like 35 and a half million Euros. I know they have to pay with it, but I still think one person, one vote. I don't think you need 10 votes. But the other question that this weighs up is okay, yeah, alright, so you can only have 10 SMS votes, but then if you're fully dedicated, you can also go on and have another 10 online and then another 10 phone call. I just think one person, one vote. The other huge change that we are gonna see in Eurovision is 2026, is Eurovision is bringing the jury vote back to the semifinals. That's right. You heard it here. The Jewries are coming back to the semifinals. I am not a fan, anyone who's listened to this podcast for a long time. There's nothing to hide here. I've been very outspoken that I do not like the Jewries. I think if they want to have a separate jewelry vote, whatever, do it like a special award, like the miscongeniality, best in show, whatever you want to do, but I still find it ridiculous that five washed up has beans sitting in a room have as much value as 20 million people or insert population of your country. I think it's another example of the powers that be those in charge, the rich manipulating the common working person, telling us what we like, what is better for us that they know better. And I say boo. And we see it every year. There is a huge discrepancy between what the jury votes for and what the people vote for. So many times we see it, what is a clear people's favorite gets slashed down with minimal points from the jury. The other thing the jury has to realize when five people love it, 20 million people say no, but suddenly that sad old ballad's in with a shot. A lot of the times we sort of we end up with the inoffensive song that offends everybody the least. And that's not what we're here for. I know the powers that be at Eurovision absolutely fear what they regard as a novelty act, but let the people speak, especially now at what feels like yet another end of the world vent. You know what? Just let us pick the people's champion, let us pick the voice for the people. I honestly don't know what they are so afraid of. If we look back at say the last 10 years, what would have happened if the people were given the full unadulterated right to live our lives? 2015 would have gone to Italy grandemory. It is a travesty that never won. 2016, it would have gone to Russia, Sergei. You are the only one that could have got us to vote for Russia other than Dima. 2017, it would have been the same result. It went to Portugal. 2018, it went to the same person, Neta. 2019, we all know Norway was robbed. Spirit in the sky, the people's winner. 2020. Let's not talk about it. Insert tears. 2021, it would have gone to the same person. It went to Italy, it went to Maniskin. 2022, Kalush Orchestra, exactly the same. 2023, the People's Champion. And 2024, we just wanted to vote for the man saying a heartfelt goodbye to his cat. It's time you put the fate of the world back into the hands of the people. I mean, look at the state at the world, how it is right now. You've got nothing to lose, honestly. It can only be up from here. So what do you think? How do you feel about this news? How do you feel about the way they select them for the semifinal one and two? Do you think it's too overcomplicated? We should just go back to one name, whatever you picked, that's where your appearance. Do you think we should just go back to one name, one number, that's it? What about the juries back in the semifinal? Are you a yay or a nay? Do you say yes, we need all the help we can get, or off with their heads? The other thing that I am very interested in, into the listeners out there, how many times, knowing that you can vote up to this year up to ten times, how do you feel? Do you vote to the full maximum or do you put in one vote? Or do you have a top three, a top ten? Let us know. Well, we're gonna have future episodes talking about more interesting facts as we get prepared for the build-up to Eurovision 2026. We will also be doing a review of all of the songs. Can't wait to see how angry England is gonna make me this year. Who's gonna out French the French? And who's gonna take home that trophy? It's so close. I can smell it in the wind.