Eurovision’s First Plagiarism Story of 2026

The finals of the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest are still four months away. Scheduled to be held in mid-May in Vienna, Austria, it is likely the most anticipated musical event of the year.

However, even as the participating countries are selecting their songs, we already have our first major plagiarism controversy of the 2026 Eurovision season.

Mother Nature, the song by Eva Marija, recently won the Luxembourg Song Contest and was selected to represent the country in the semi-finals in May. However, listeners claim that the song is too similar to the 2016 song Keeping Your Head Up by Birdy.

In a statement to the newspaper Wort, Jeff Spielmann, the Media Manager for Luxembourg in Eurovision, said that his organization is “holding talks with, among others, the European Broadcasting Union, Rocklab, the composers, the artist, and the music rights organization Sacem.”

However, he further elaborated that Mother Nature was written during a songwriting camp last year and that, “Birdy’s song in no way served as a template.”

Regardless, plagiarism allegations and Eurovision seem to go hand-in-hand. Almost every year, there is some accusation of plagiarism. However, though one song was withdrawn before it could be entered, no song has ever been pulled from the show over plagiarism allegations.

This story is unlikely to break that streak. Since the song has already been officially selected, unless there is an extremely compelling legal reason to pull it, it will likely remain in the contest.

Still, this scandal comes at a difficult time for the Eurovision Song Contest. This year’s contest has already been mired in controversy, and the song selection process is just now ramping up.

Disclosure: Though I am a plagiarism expert I am not an expert on musical plagiarism. As such, I won’t be offering much commentary on whether the allegations carry weight or not.

A Controversial Year

As we discussed before, the Eurovision Song Contest is typically a relatively lighthearted affair. It’s a mix of music, elaborate performances, national pride, and general spectacle. The 2025 contest had an estimated 166 million viewers across 37 markets.

However, the 2026 contest has already been mired in controversy. Several countries, including Ireland, Iceland, the Netherlands, Spain, and Slovenia, pulled out of the contest in protest of Israel’s participation following the Gaza war.

Spain, in particular, is a major loss for the contest as it is widely considered part of the “Big 5” of the event and, historically, had automatic entry into the finals. 

As of this writing, of the 35 countries that remain, only four have selected and announced their song. Those countries are Luxembourg, Romania, Malta, and Albania. 

That, in turn, is the environment this plagiarism scandal is taking place in. Just weeks after the Israel controversy and as the selection process is just ramping up. In short, it’s difficult to imagine a worse time for this kind of news.

That said, this scandal is unlikely to do much to harm the contest. It’s unlikely that the song will be withdrawn, and even if it is, Eurovision is a big enough juggernaut to survive one song being removed and replaced.

However, if history is any indicator, this likely won’t be the only plagiarism story this year. Most likely, it’s just the start.

More to Come?

As we discussed above, Eurovision has long been a magnet for plagiarism allegations. You have over 30 nations competing and each country has a process through which a song is selected. Every year, countless dozens of songs are written just for this contest.

In addition to plagiarism allegations over the music, you also have allegations over the performances. Even the stage design itself has been targeted for plagiarism.

Most years, this is just background noise. As Ewan Spence said in 2013, fans are often quick confuse similarity with plagiarism. Even when there are potential issues, they routinely get blown out of proportion because of the intensity and the attention on the contest.

But this year it hits different. This year, Eurovision is coming out of the gate trying to move on from a significant controversy that already has it down several major participants. This year, Eurovision wants and needs to put the focus on the songs and the participants, not the controversies surrounding them.

Stories like this one, which may not have mattered much in years gone by, now carry new weight. They risk being a new distraction in season already beset by distractions.

For the sake of Eurovision, I hope that this is the only plagiarism controversy and that it does end up being just a minor setback. But the contest and remaining participants would be wise to put extra effort in avoiding future ones.

Simply put, this is a bad year for such stories to pile up as they will be much more difficult to simply brush aside.

Bottom Line

Eurovision is always going to generate plagiarism stories. The amount of work that goes into, the number of eyes on it and the competitiveness of the event make that all but inevitable.

Most years, it’s just theatrics. It’s something for the diehard fans to discuss that rarely has any major impact on the song itself. But 2026 is different. The contest is already fractured and mired in controversy, stories like this amplify those issues.

To be clear, I don’t think Eurovision is going anywhere. The contest began in 1956 and has, for the most part, only grown since then. It’s a mainstay of the region and a cultural touchstone shared by millions.

But, if there ever was a year to keep plagiarism controversies, and controversies in general, to a minimum, this is it. Eurovision can and will thrive after 2026, but how the next few months go will determine whether 2026 is an unpleasant blip that’s easily forgotten, or an unwelcome turning point.