How will Canada choose its first Eurovision Song Contest entry? | CBC News

Canada's going to Eurovision. Here's what happens next

Countries take the Eurovision Song Contest very seriously. Canada needs to come ready to play

Eurovision superfans know exactly what kind of a wild ride Canada is in for as it prepares to enter its first Eurovision Song Contest.

For everyone else, here's a cheat sheet.

The road to the Grand Final starts with selecting one entry to represent Canada.

There are two ways that can happen: a public process, where Canadians choose the act, or an internal process, where a delegation selects the song and performer.

CBC/Radio-Canada says it won't have any official information to share until the autumn.

Canada will enter the 2027 Eurovision Song Contest

But in his Canada Day address, Prime Minister Mark Carney said at least part of the process will be public.

Mark Carney hints at how Canada's Eurovision song will be chosen

"You will decide, and it's gonna be a tough choice. You will decide which Canadian artist first steps onto that Eurovision stage beneath our flag," he said.

It's too soon to say whether that means a countrywide talent search, a delegation narrowing the options, or Canadians choosing who performs a song written by Canadian artists. Every country does it differently.

For a country just beginning to participate, there are clear benefits to getting the public involved early.

A public competition would introduce "a bunch of different artists who compete for basically the love of Canadians and, at the end of the day, Canadians will choose and vote for who they think is best to represent them," said Toronto-based Eurovision superfan and content creator Shawn Myers.

He called that option a "a really, really exciting approach."

For years, Myers has watched the contest unite people as they root for their country's song, but that requires a critical mass of viewers.

A public competition is a good strategy for helping Canadians "feel part of the journey," said Martina Zwiesack, a Swiss-Canadian TV producer at the Swiss public broadcaster SRF who was part of the production team for the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest in Basel.

Why one superfan thinks now is the right time for Canada's Eurovision debut

"I think a big part of the fun is to be able to have an event in the home country and have the experience of, like, seeing a development ... to show [performers] and to get to know them," she said.

The case for choosing behind closed doors

In Switzerland, preparations begin in August with songwriting camps and workshops. The songs are evaluated, market research is done, different artists are paired with different songs and each undergoes on-camera testing. The long process ends with a delegation deciding which song is best and who should perform it — all with one goal in mind: winning.

The benefit is that the process does not rely on one country's voters to match the taste of voters around the world. What gets an act through Switzerland's national final may not get it into Eurovision's boundary-pushing, often wildly creative Grand Final.

But Zwiesack says Canada doesn't need to worry about that yet.

"I feel the Canadians are exquisite connoisseurs of music and very creative and there's, like, such a broad spectrum of music," she said. "I feel that the public embraces that broad, creative and colourful bouquet."

IN PHOTOS | Highlights from Eurovision

Canada and other participating countries will face a firm deadline to make their selections, usually sometime in March.

No matter how the entries are chosen, the songs and performers must meet criteria set by the European Broadcasting Union. The 2027 rules aren't public yet.

Once Canadians know and love their song, the next job is winning hearts and minds in Europe and around the world. Or, as Myers puts it, "getting immersed into the amazing, incredible Eurovision world."

The contest's fan base is huge and devoted, and fans want to know as much as they can about the songs and performers before the semifinals. The Canadian act will be expected to perform at pre-parties across Europe, do international media interviews and perhaps even collaborate with contestants from other countries on TikTok — whatever it takes to build support before voting day.

The next Eurovision Song Contest will be held in either Burgas or Sofia, Bulgaria.

The host city has not been chosen, but artists and delegations will travel there for rehearsals before the contest officially begins in May 2027.

Myers says the top performers usually have three ingredients: quality, memorability and cultural relevance.

Quality can mean strong vocals — "vocal techniques, vocal acrobatics, that does well in this competition," he said. Memorability can come from "incredible staging, fireworks, pyro, props." And cultural relevance can mean something distinct, such as Bulgaria's traditional Balkan beats or Norway's use of Indigenous Sámi chanting known as yoiking.

"You need something ... that sets you apart from the rest," said Myers, insisting just one of those three elements isn't enough.

After all that strategy, practice and performing, the top prize is mostly exposure and bragging rights.

The winner gets a crystal trophy and the chance to perform the song one final time. Their home country gets to host the following year's competition.

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.