Singer’s Management Team Appeals to EBU over Vidbir 2026 Rules – Eurovoix

The management team of Olya Polyakova, has written to the EBU asking them to intervene in the Ukrainian selection for Eurovision 2026 and change the rules.

UNN reports that Mykhailo Yasinskyi, the manager of Olya Polyakova, has written to the European Broadcasting Union and Supsilne to complain regarding the rules of Vidbir 2026. This comes days after Suspilne already stated it has no plans to change the rules for Vidbir 2026.

It has not been confirmed which rule the singer and her team want changed, but it is expected that the singer wants the removal of a rule stopping artists who performed in Crimea or Russia after March 15, 2014 or Belarus after February 24, 2022 from representing the country. Olya last performed in Russia in 2015 and is, as a result, ineligible to compete in Vidbir 2026.

In a social media post, Mr Yasinskyi states that unless the rules for Vidbir are changed, then they will sue the broadcaster and that this “could lead to even bigger scandals”.

The European Broadcasting Union rarely gets involved in the national selections of its participating broadcasters. In the past 15 years, there have been no public reports of the EBU ruling that a channel must change the rules of its selection. The Reference Group of the Eurovision Song Contest may be involved in providing a view on disputed results or ruling on the eligibility of songs selected to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest.

The final of Vidbir will take place in February 2026. The winner of the selection will be determined based on the results of the jury and audience voting, and will have the chance to represent Ukraine at Eurovision 2026 in Vienna.

Ziferblat represented Ukraine at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Basel with their song “Bird of Pray”. The band finished in 9th place with a total of 218 points. Ukraine is a country that enjoys a 100% qualification record in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Image source: Culture Fix | Source: UNN

Ukraine first participated in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2003, when Oleksandr Ponomariov performed “Hasta la vista”. The following year Ruslana brought the country their first win with the song “Wild Dances”. It was a feat that would be replicated in 2016 by Jamala with her song “1944”; her emotionally charged song scored a record 534 points to take victory in Stockholm. In 2017 O.Torvald represented the country on home soil with the song “Time”. The group finished in 24th place, Ukraine’s worst result at the contest to date. Kalush Orchestra gave Ukraine their third victory in 2022 with “Stefania”. Ukraine is the last remaining country with a 100% semi-final qualification record.

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