San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026

San Marino is set to be represented in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 with the song "Superstar", written by Anderz Wrethov, George Alan O'Dowd, Julie Aagaard, John-Emil Johansson, Thomas Stengaard and Senhit Zadik Zadik, and performed by Senhit herself, with uncredited vocals from O'Dowd under his stage name Boy George.^[1] The Sammarinese participating broadcaster, San Marino RTV (SMRTV), organised the national final format San Marino Song Contest to select its entry for the contest.

Prior to the 2026 contest, San Marino RTV (SMRTV) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing San Marino 15 times since its first entry in 2008.^[2] Its debut entry, "Complice" performed by Miodio, failed to qualify for the final and placed last in the first semi-final.^[2] SMRTV subsequently did not participate in both the 2009 and 2010 contests, citing financial difficulties.^[3][4] It returned in 2011 with "Stand By" by Italian singer Senit, which also failed to take the country to the final.^[2] From 2012 to 2014, SMRTV sent Valentina Monetta to the contest on three consecutive occasions.^[5] Monetta's first two entries failed to qualify to the final, however in 2014, she managed to bring San Marino to the final for the first time with "Maybe", which ultimately placed 24th.^[2] Following four consecutive non-qualifying years, San Marino qualified in 2019 with "Say Na Na Na" by Serhat and finished in 19th place.^[2] Senit, under her new stage name Senhit, was to return to represent the nation with "Freaky!" at the 2020 contest, however, following the contest's cancelation, SMRTV re-appointed Senhit for 2021.^[6] Her 2021 song, "Adrenalina", performed alongside American rapper Flo Rida, qualified for the final, where it placed 22nd.^[2] The Sammarinese entries from 2022 to 2024 all failed to qualify, until "Tutta l'Italia" by Gabry Ponte qualified in 2025, ultimately getting last place in the final.^[2] SMRTV confirmed its intention to participate in the 2026 contest on 8 September 2025,^[7] announcing the following day that it would continue to use the San Marino Song Contest to select its entry.^[8]

In late October, SMRTV posted the rules and regulations for the fifth edition of San Marino Song Contest to select the Sammarinese entry, and set the date of the final round as March 2026 at the Nuovo de Dogana. In a change from the previous year,^[8] the semi-finals were reduced to two instead of eight.

San Marino Song Contest 2026 consisted of two semi-finals and were hosted by Maddalena Corvaglia and Marco Carrara, while the 21-participant final round of the event took place on 6 March 2026 and was hosted by Simona Ventura.

A submission window for interested artists and composers was opened in late October 2026^[9], with a deadline initially set for 20 January 2026, subsequently extended to 25 January.^[10] Over 800 applicants from a total of 40 countries were received by the deadline.^[11]

The selection of semi-finalists first consisted of an audition phase called Dreaming San Marino Song Contest, with live auditions held at San Marino Outlet Experience in Falciano in four rounds: the first on 20 November 2025, the second from 17 and 20 December 2025, the third on 7 January 2024, and the fourth from 27 January to 1st February 2026. Artists not residing in San Marino, Italy or neighbouring countries were able to attend the auditions online instead of attending in person. In addition to the regular selection process, SMRTV also confirmed a collaboration with Tour Music Fest, a Sammarinese music competition for emerging artists, for a second year in a row.^[12]

At the end of the auditions, SMRTV selected the 240 artists who qualified for the "Stage & Live Academy" phase, where the 40 artists admitted to the semi-final were selected.

The semifinals took place on 4 and 5 March 2026 at the Teatro Nuovo in Dogana and were hosted by Maddalena Corvaglia and Marco Carrara. The artists who progressed to the semi-finals were publicly announced by SMRTV over two days: the acts for the first semi-final were revealed on 16 February 2026, followed by the artists competing on the second semi-final revealed the next day.^[13][14] The shows were filmed on 3 March 2026.

Ahead of the semi-finals two artists (Park and Samuele di Nicolò) subsequently withdrew their planned entries in the contest, which were subsequently replaced by two reserves (Yume e Ciro Maddaluno) initially eliminated from the "Stage & Live Academy" phase.^[15] The ten finalists were selected by an international jury consisting of Massimo Bonelli (artistic director and record producer), Joseph Cauchi (Maltese executive producer), and Tomislav Štengl (head of the Croatian delegation to the Eurovision Song Contest).^[16]

The final took place on 7 March 2026 at the Teatro Nuovo in Dogana and was hosted by Simona Ventura. It featured ten pre-qualified entries, ten entries that qualified from the semi-finals; an additional finalist was selected through a wildcard reserved for singers holding Sammarinese citizenship.^[18] All twenty-one finalists were announced by SMRTV on 26 February 2026, prior to the broadcast of the semi-finals.^[16] Guest performances by non-participants included Cristiano Malgioglio, – who received a Lifetime Achievement Award from San Marino Secretary of State Federico Pedini Amati – Elettra Lamborghini and former Eurovision entrants Al Bano (Italy 1976 and 1985 along with Romina Power) and Tommy Cash (Estonia 2025).^[19][20]

The winner of the final was "Superstar", written by Anderz Wrethov, George Alan O'Dowd, Julie Aagaard, John-Emil Johansson, Thomas Stengaard and Senhit Zadik Zadik, and performed by the latter with uncredited vocals by Boy George.^[21][22] It was selected by a jury consisting of Federica Gentile (television and radio host), Massimo Zanotti (conductor and arranger), Beppe D'Onghia (pianist, composer and conductor), Mario Andrea Ettorre (marketing manager at the Italian Society of Authors and Editors) and Roberto Sergio (SMRTV director).^[16]

The final also saw several acts receive special awards from the jury for their participation. These included SMRTV's Ludovido Di Meo Award to Pellegrina Pibigas with "Il giorno che", – awarded by a press jury composed by Renato Tortarolo, Federico Vacalebre, Laura Rio, Loredana Errico, and Francesca Pierleoni^[23] – the Critics Award to Dolcenera with "My Love", – awarded by a selection panel composed by Morgan, Red Ronnie and former Eurovision entrant Iva Zanicchi (Italy 1969)^[16] – the Dreaming San Marino Award for the Best Emerging artist to Maya Azucena with "My Sin", the Titano Style Award for the Best Look to Rosa Chemical, and, finally, the SIAE Award to Dolcenera.

The Eurovision Song Contest 2026 will take place at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria, and consist of two semi-finals held on the respective dates of 12 and 14 May and the final on 16 May 2026. All nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final will progress to the final. On 12 January 2026, an allocation draw was held to determine which of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show, each country will perform in; the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot.^[27] San Marino was scheduled for the second half of the first semi-final.^[28]