Eurovision 2027 News: Canada, Switzerland’s AI Twist & More

September has arrived, which means normal people are thinking about autumn. Eurovision fans are thinking about May.

The Eurovision 2027 news cycle is already warming up, and this week has delivered exactly the sort of wonderfully random combination only Eurovision can produce: Canada is searching for its first-ever representative, Switzerland has introduced AI-supported analysis into its selection process and Junior Eurovision has decided that Malta should basically become one enormous village party.

So yes.

Eurovision season is officially alive again.

Canada’s first Eurovision artist search is getting serious

Canada joining Eurovision still feels slightly surreal, but the country’s debut is very real.

CBC/Radio-Canada will compete for the first time at the Eurovision Song Contest 2027 in Burgas, Bulgaria, becoming the first new country to join the competition since Australia in 2015.

And we now have a much clearer idea of how Canada intends to find its first representative.

The strategy is simple:

artist first, song later.

Canadian performers and their representatives have until 9 September to apply, meaning the search is still open as we publish this.

CBC/Radio-Canada will then create a shortlist intended to reflect the diversity of the Canadian music scene. The public will get a say through an online vote, with the final decision combining public input and assessment from a music-industry jury.

Once the performer is selected, the broadcaster will work with them and music-industry professionals to develop the actual Eurovision entry.

It is an interesting reversal of the traditional “here are ten songs, choose one” national-final model.

Canada wants the performer first.

Then it wants to build Eurovision around them.

No giant Canadian national final — at least not yet

Canada’s Head of Delegation Jennifer Dettman has now explained that CBC/Radio-Canada considered different European selection models before settling on its approach.

The broadcaster consulted organisations including the BBC in the UK, SBS in Australia, Finland’s Yle and Switzerland’s SRG SSR, while Radio-Canada also spoke with broadcasters in France and Belgium.

Essentially, Canada did its Eurovision homework.

But for year one, there will not be a huge televised national final.

The timeline was simply too tight.

That does not mean Canada will never have one. Dettman has indicated that a television selection could become an option in future years.

And honestly?

Give Canada approximately three Eurovision seasons before someone builds a 12-week national final involving pyrotechnics, Céline Dion references and at least one song partially in French.

We are willing to wait.

Who exactly is Canada looking for?

CBC is not necessarily searching for an unknown singer waiting to be discovered in their bedroom.

The broadcaster says it wants a performer with a proven ability to command very large live audiences, whether through vocal ability, stage presence or a distinctive artistic identity.

That wording immediately makes the Canadian fandom game rather entertaining.

Could Canada send an emerging act?

Absolutely.

Could it also decide that its first Eurovision appearance needs somebody with a substantial existing career?

Also absolutely.

For now, there is no confirmed artist, and random fan wish lists should remain exactly that: wish lists.

But Canada clearly understands one fundamental Eurovision truth already.

A good song matters.

A performer who can own three minutes of live television matters just as much.

Switzerland has closed submissions — and AI is joining the jury room

Meanwhile, Switzerland officially closed submissions for its Eurovision 2027 entry on 7th September.

That alone would not normally qualify as particularly spicy Eurovision news.

The interesting part is what happens next.

SRG is keeping its established internal-selection structure, combining national and international music experts with an international Eurovision fan jury.

But this year, the process will also be supplemented by AI-supported analysis.

Yes.

Artificial intelligence has entered the Eurovision chat.

Before anyone imagines ChatGPT sitting behind a desk holding up a scorecard, that is not what SRG has announced.

The AI component forms part of research-supported analysis within the wider selection process; it does not replace the human juries making the choice.

The broadcaster is also deliberately making its expert and fan panels somewhat younger in response to updated EBU requirements.

Still, the AI addition raises an interesting Eurovision question.

Can an algorithm understand Eurovision?

Eurovision is an oddly fascinating place to experiment with data because technically there are plenty of things an algorithm could analyse.

Song structure.

Streaming behaviour.

Audience preferences.

Previous voting patterns.

Tempo.

Hooks.

Demographic reactions.

But Eurovision is also the competition where something completely irrational can happen for three minutes on a Saturday night and suddenly millions of people decide they love it.

How does an algorithm measure charisma?

Camp?

The moment someone changes key while standing inside a giant rotating object for no obvious reason?

Exactly.

Used as another piece of information, AI-assisted analysis could be genuinely interesting.

Used as a formula for creating “the perfect Eurovision song”, it could produce precisely what Eurovision does not need:

music designed by committee to offend nobody and excite nobody.

For now, Switzerland appears to be doing the former rather than the latter.

And given that the Swiss selection system produced Nemo and The Code, perhaps we should allow them to cook.

Humans still appear to be in charge.

Meanwhile in Malta: Junior Eurovision has chosen chaos, colour and festa

And now for the happiest part of this Eurovision update.

On 7 September, the EBU and Maltese broadcaster PBS revealed the stage and visual identity for Junior Eurovision 2026, which takes place in Ta’ Qali on 24th October.

The concept?

Join the Festa.

The entire show is drawing inspiration from Malta’s traditional village festa culture: colourful façades, balconies, flags, festoons, brass bands, lights, confetti and the atmosphere of streets slowly building towards a huge evening celebration.

In other words, Malta looked at Junior Eurovision and thought:

needs more Malta.

Correct.

Sixteen countries will compete, including Italy, Spain, France, Ukraine, Ireland, Portugal and host nation Malta.

And visually, the concept already looks much more culturally specific than the generic neon-arena identity Eurovision events can occasionally fall into.

Junior Eurovision is getting balconies.

We approve.

Eurovision season has officially begun

The main Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Burgas on 11, 13 and 15 May 2027, and 1 September marked the point from which commercially released songs became eligible for the new season.

We do not have the full participating-country list yet.

We do not have the artists.

We certainly do not have a winner.

What we do have is Canada preparing for a historic debut, Switzerland experimenting with how technology might help identify its next entry and Malta covering an arena in the visual language of a Mediterranean street festival.

Which means the Eurovision machine is starting again …slowly at first.

Then national finals.