Contest to represent Canada at Eurovision now open

Contest to represent Canada at Eurovision now open

Canada's representative must have strong vocals, a proven stage presence and big digital footprint

Canada has one shot to make a splash in its debut at the Eurovision Song Contest.

Will it try to channel Céline Dion's success in 1988 with a moving ballad and powerful vocals? Or will it take the more off-beat approach Eurovision has become famous for and do something akin to Greece's performance this year, when Akylas dressed up like a big orange cat and pretended to be in a video game?

Whichever artist is chosen to represent Canada on the world's biggest stage will have a lot of influence on that decision, and — as of today — the portal is open for performers to apply.

Anyone can enter, but amateurs beware: CBC/Radio-Canada is looking for a performer with a proven track record.

Already, three potential competitors have made their intentions known. There's Rêve — a Montreal-born artist who won the 2023 Juno Award for Dance Recording of the Year. Then, there's Talk — who turned heads at last year's Canada Day concert and won the Juno for breakthrough artist of the year in 2024. And finally, bbno$ — who won the Fan Choice Juno in both 2025 and 2026.

On a most basic level, would-be Eurovision contestants must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, aged 18 years or older as of May 1, 2027, with the ability to travel internationally and to successfully pass standard background checks.

But the online portal will be asking applicants for much more than that, including two videos — one of a live, unaltered performance, and one explaining why they are passionate about Eurovision.

Singers need to have elite vocal command and be prepared to sing in both official languages. (Sorry, Angine de Poitrine fans, the song contest rules say all submissions must include lyrics, and Canada's song will be both English and French, not alien.)

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Artists don't have long to get their application package together. The portal closes Sept. 9, after which CBC/Radio-Canada will determine a shortlist of finalists.

"We've been sort of building the airplane as we're flying it, if I'm being honest," said Jennifer Dettman, CBC/Radio-Canada's head of delegation for the Eurovision Song Contest Canada.

Being totally new to a well-established contest like Eurovision means Canada has a lot to learn, she said, and not a lot of time to do it.

She said CBC/Radio-Canada's music experts and television experts, as well as outside experts from the music industry, will all be consulted to create the shortlist.

For the first year, Dettman said, they're looking for people with a big digital footprint, who are already comfortable on stage, have no problem belting it out and, ideally, already have a big fanbase in Europe (per Eurovision rules, you can't vote for your own country).

That means established artists are mostly likely to be shortlisted in year one, but Dettman said that might change in years come, and she encouraged emerging artists to put their names forward anyway.

Canadians will get to vote for their favourite performer on the shortlist — that's where the application videos come in. They'll be shared online so Canadians can throw their support behind the person they want to see on the Eurovision stage.

A televised contest, which some fans were calling for, just isn't doable this year, Dettman said.

"We thought, OK, we're biting off more than we can chew, so no big television show this year."

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The results of that online public vote will be combined with a separate jury vote to finally select one artist to be the first to represent Canada in Eurovision.

"Now we're sort of figuring out the pieces of how that actually works and who would be on that jury," said Dettman, who expects the Eurovision performer will be chosen before winter.

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The selected artist will have a lot of influence on the final song, but they don't need to come in with their own original music, or even have a songwriter they usually work with.

Dettman said the delegation is already "doing deep outreach to the songwriting community ... saying to them, 'who wants to be involved?'"

Only established songwriters are being considered this year, but Dettman said that too may change as Canada becomes a more experienced Eurovision competitor.

Canada's selected artist will be booked and busy from the moment they get on the shortlist until the Eurovision Grand Final in May.

"They have to agree that they're prioritizing this," said Dettman. They'll be involved in the songwriting process, "then we have to do a music video, then we have to do the actual performance. ... It's a tremendous amount of work [that] has to be done by March."

March is when Eurovision vets all the song submissions to make sure they're eligible before the big show.

Dettman said the artists will be fairly compensated for the work they put in, though the ultimate prize in Eurovision has always been the exposure.

"You'll have more eyeballs on you than the Super Bowl halftime show."

Helen Surgenor is a producer for CBC News based in Toronto, currently working for the entertainment unit. She spent years waking up before dawn to make the daily news podcast World Report. She has reported in Alberta, Iqaluit and Barbados. You can reach her at helen.surgenor@cbc.ca.