After a weekend of auditions in Luxembourg’s Kirchberg’s district, a panel has selected eight artists who will perform in the Grand Duchy’s national selection in January, in the hopes to represent Luxembourg in Vienna 2026.
83 songs, 58 performers, 8 finalists
The auditions took place over two days, last week (Friday and Saturday), with Sunday being decision day for the selection panel. Fifty-eight artists took part, some with several songs, making it a total of eighty-three potential entry.
The selection panel consisted of:
- Karin Gunnarsson, contest producer for Melodifestivalen (Sweden)
- Gísli Berg, executive producer of Söngvakeppnin (Iceland)
- Paul ‘Dr Eurovision’ Jordan, UK Eurovision expert (UK)
- Ludovic-Alexandre Vidal, lyricist and co-writer of “La Poupée Monte le Son” (Luxembourg 2025) (France)
- Elsie Bay, singer-songwriter, former MGP participant (and songwriter in LSC 2024) (Norway)
Together, they selected eight artists who will compete in the final earlier next year, on 24 January at the Rockhal in Esch-sur-Alzette, next to the French border.
Who are the finalists?
The finalists are, in alphabetical order:
- Andrew the Martian
- Daryss
- Eva Marija
- Hugo One
- Irem
- Luzac
- ShiroKuro
- Steve Castile
Andrew the Martian
Andrew the Martian is the stage name of André Baptista, a self-taught musician and singer born in Portugal, and who has been living in Luxembourg for ten years. He mainly sings and raps in Portuguese. Below is his latest single:
Earlier this year, he took part, like many, in a songwriting camp at the Rocklab in Luxembourg, in preparation for the national selection.
Daryss
Daryss is not only a singer but an actor and dancer, having studied theatre at the Mons Conservatoire of Dramatic Arts in Belgium. She is shifting from plays and musical to music, although she still runs a theatre studio, and acts as a director and teacher in her fields.
She also took part in the auditions for LSC last year, but was not selected among the finalists. Below, you can find an example of one of her cover, of Cher’s “Welcome to Burlesque”
Eva Marija
Perhaps the most “Eurovision-fitting” profile in the line-up, Eva Marija was born and raised in Luxembourg from Slovenian parents, and fell in love with music and especially violin after seeing Alexander Rybak win the Contest in 2009, when she was 3.
She has studied violin, piano, bass guitar and sining at the Luxembourg Conservatoire, and is now studying songwriting in London, having studied at the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance last year.
Hugo One
Hugo One is classically trained, and has been singing since his school choir, but his style mixes soul, pop and disco. He has also performed at Luxembourg Pride, at the Philarmonie or at Den Atelier, Luxembourg’s first concert hall dedicated to alternative rock and independant musicians.
Like others, he also tried to participate last year, but he was not part of the final line-up although he declared that he had been part of the top 12. He has also worked a few times with Robin Larsson, who had co-written “Human Eyes”, a song that did make it to the final line-up in 2025. Below is one of his singles co-written by Larsson, from this year
Funnily, Hugo One gained some celebrity through news articles for being seen as an Elon Musk lookalike by quite a few people who meet him for the first time.
Irem
Like Eva Marija, Irem studied at the Luxembourg Conservatoire, having studied musical theory and jazz dance. She also studied at the Luxembourg Athénée, also known as the Kolléisch (think “college”), the oldest secondary school in the country, where she took part in the Kolléisch in Concert annual concerts, before launching her own career.
Her first EP, “Look At Me”, was released in 2023, and her second one, “Diamonds and Birkins” earlier this year.
Whatever happens, she is sure to go to Vienna, victory or not, as she currently studies physics there.
Luzac
Luzac is an alumnus of the Luxembourg Song Contest 2025, having also tried to participate in 2024. In 2021, he released his first single, “J’y arriverai“, and shifted to writing and composing for himself rather than for other artists. Alongside his musical career, he also works as an educator in psycho-educational support.
Last year, he finished third with his song “Je Danse”, which was co-written by Edsun (from LSC 2024) and Linda Dale (co-writer of “The Code”, the winning song of Eurovision 2024).
ShiroKuro
ShiroKuro are a pop/rock trio made of Matias Pollicino (drums), Nathanaël Paulis (vocals and violin) and Louis Comblin (guitar and piano), who met at the Royal Conservatory of Liège, where they are still based. Matias and Nathanaël are Belgians, while Louis is Luxembourger.
Their studies led them not only to music composition (and percussion for Matias) but also concert and music production, as well as artist management. You can find their latest single below:
Steve Castile
If you have seen online ads for music-playing applications for your phone, so did Steve Castile, since he began playing with a piano app on his iPod. He quickly shifted to actual instruments, and has been playing guitar and piano for fifteen years.
First a songwriter and producer, he started singing eight years ago, and has also studied psychology. He is currently completing a master’s in Cultural Media Studies in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany, not too far from Basel. You can find some of his covers on his Instagram account and Youtube channel, the most recent being below:
So, how do you feel about these eight artists? Who are you looking forward to the most? What kind of song do you expect from them? Tell us more in the comments below or on social media!
Be sure to stay updated by following @ESCXTRA on Twitter, @escxtra.bsky.social on Bluesky, @escxtra on Instagram, @escxtra on TikTok and liking our Facebook page for the latest updates! Also, be sure to follow us on Spotify for the latest music from your favourite Eurovision acts. As well as YouTube to see interviews and reactions to the latest Eurovision news.
