The grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest will see 25 acts take the stage in a bid to be crowned this year's champion, with the competition returning to Austria 11 years after the nation last hosted. The 2026 run of the European music competition has already seen more than 30 countries take to the stage ahead of the Grand Final on Saturday (May 16), which will be held at the Wiener Stadthalle and broadcast live in the UK on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from 8pm. Only 25 made it to the Grand Final. The top ten countries from each semi-final, which took place on Tuesday (May 12) and Thursday (May 14), made it through, alongside the 'Big Four' countries - the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy - which would usually be the 'Big Five' but Spain is boycotting the competition this year. But why are Australia in the competition, when it's not a European country? Australia's Special Broadcasting Service, commonly known as SBS, is an associate member of the European Broadcasting Union. The network began airing the Eurovision Song Contest in 1983 and has broadcast the event annually ever since. Between 2010 and 2014, the Special Broadcasting Service gave Australian audiences the chance to take part in a televote during the Eurovision Song Contest final. However, the votes were unofficial and therefore had no impact on the competition’s final standings. However, our friends from Down Under were invited to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2015, which was originally intended to be a one-time participation, to celebrate the 60th edition of the competition. But in November 2015, after seemingly leaving bosses impressed, SVT (Sveriges Television) confirmed that Australia would compete again in 2016 and they have since been allowed to return on an annual basis, but they now have to qualify for their spot by competing in the semi-finals. So, during the second semi-final of Eurovision 2026 on Thursday (May 14), all eyes were on Australian pop star Delta Goodrem as she represented her home country this year. The actress and singer took to the stage with her song Eclipse, accompanied by a harpist, before eventually playing a gold sparkly piano herself. As the former Neighbours star’s performance climaxed, she was elevated into the air from the top of the piano. And after she was seen making it through to the final, Delta has put Australia as the second favourite to win the competition, and is rapidly closing in on Finland, who have long been tipped to lift the coveted trophy. So what happens if Australia wins the Eurovision Song Contest? It doesn't mean that we'd be heading to the other side of the world next year, as they must nominate a European co-host , who will stage the competition on their behalf. Australia were close to winning Eurovision in 2016 in Stockholm, Sweden, when Dami Im finished in second place with Sound of Silence. They finished with 511 points, just 23 points behind the winners, Ukraine. Australia received 15 sets of 12 points across the juries and the televote.