Canada, it’s time to meet your Eurovision finalists.
asserted
it → ’ → finalists
Two Juno winners, a pop-music veteran, and a pair of Quebec TV singing-competition victors have been selected as the five performers who could represent the country at next year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Burgas, Bulgaria.
uncertain
who → select → Burgas
Now, it’s up to Canadians to vote for the one they feel worthy of the global stage.
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they → ’ → stage
CBC/Radio-Canada unveiled the artists during a splashy event on Tuesday that was shared across its TV, radio and social platforms, before the broadcaster opened voting to the public.
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broadcaster → unveil → public
It’s the first time Canada has participated in the event, and the first new country to join the competition since Australia in 2015.
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Canada → ’ → 2015
The dynamic vocal powerhouse, born Nicholas Durocher, won breakthrough artist at the 2024 Juno Awards after his single “Run Away to Mars” became a viral sensation.
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single → bear → Mars
Toronto-based pop singer Rêve, born Briannah Donolo, also has a track record of big Canadian hits, including her 2021 single “CTRL + ALT + DEL,” which was in heavy rotation on pop radio and won dance recording of the year at the Junos in 2023.
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which → base → 2023
Tyler Shaw is the most experienced musician of the group, having established his career in 2012 with the hit song “Kiss Goodnight,” which helped earn him a Juno nomination for breakthrough artist.
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which → establish → artist
He has since found global success, which included a No. 1 song in Poland, “Fire.”
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which → find → Poland
William Cloutier is a Quebec singer-songwriter who got his start in some of the province’s biggest televised singing competitions.
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who → get → competitions
He won the top prize on “Star Académie” in 2021, and stole viewers’ hearts earlier this year on Quebec’s version of “Celebrity Big Brother,” where he was voted fan favourite.
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he → win → Brother
Josiane Comeau, who performs as Josiane, will be familiar to viewers of the French-Canadian version of “The Voice,” where the Dieppe, N.B., singer became an underdog champion.
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singer → perform → Voice
She won the 2020 edition, despite being eliminated in the auditions round the previous year.
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She → win → round
The public broadcaster says Canadians can view performances by the finalists at CBC.ca/eurovision and then vote for their favourite.
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Canadians → say → favourite
Each person can vote up to 10 times before polls close on Nov. 5 at 11:59 p.m. PT.
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polls → vote → PT
The winner will be announced in December.
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winner → announce → December
Who has the best chance of representing Canada?
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Who → have → Canada
At first glance, there are three artists — Talk, Rêve and Shaw — who have dominated English-language radio for years.
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who → be → years
But the power of the francophone voters should not be underestimated.
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power → underestimate → voters
French Canadians have a deep connection to Eurovision, largely through Céline Dion, who represented Switzerland at the 1988 contest — a performance widely considered her international breakthrough.
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who → have → contest
That history could give Quebec’s Cloutier and Josiane, who proudly identifies as Acadian, a meaningful edge in the popular vote.
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who → give → vote
All five finalists expressed confidence at a Eurovision press conference at CBC’s Toronto headquarters, but Talk wasted no time staking his claim.
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Talk → express → claim
Joining via video call from Boston, he appeared on a giant screen that loomed above his competitors, while dressed in a Canadian-flag-inspired ensemble that included maple leaf sunglasses and a bandana.
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that → join → sunglasses
“I want show the world that Canadians are among the most talented people to walk the earth,” he said.
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he → show → earth
“I think any of the finalists would be a great choice.
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any → think → finalists
But I really think this opportunity was built for me and I’m ready to win.”
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I → think → me
CBC leaders say 325 music artists submitted applications to compete this year.
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artists → say → applications
Those were narrowed down to a shortlist of 15 performers, who were put before a seven-member jury of music industry professionals who chose the final five.
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who → narrow → five
The jury included executives from CBC/Radio-Canada, as well as a music festival organizer, a social media strategist, a singer, a composer and a choreographer.
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jury → include → Canada
But the CBC declined to offer insight into how the applications broke down by demographic.
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applications → decline → demographic
While Canada has a rich history of Black and Indigenous musicians, none were represented in the final five, a gap that CBC’s head of Eurovision delegation, Jennifer Dettman, acknowledged.
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head → have → delegation
“We moved very quickly,” she said.
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she → move → ?
“As we were building out Year One, in this process we were really thinking about Year Two and Year Three.”
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we → build → Year
Dettman said the organizers intend to reach out to “all communities of artists in the country” and “make sure that they know that this opportunity is for them.”
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opportunity → say → them
“Certainly, we see very clearly the engagement and work we need to do, to make sure that all artists are invited into this process,” she added.
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she → see → process
Canada’s announcement comes amid new Eurovision turbulence
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announcement → come → turbulence
Earlier on Tuesday, the Netherlands announced that it was reversing a decision made in September to return to the show, after the country pulled out of last year’s edition to protest Israel’s participation.
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country → announce → participation
NPO, the country’s umbrella organization for public broadcasters, said in a statement that it was unable to secure a broadcaster that would send a Dutch artist.
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that → say → artist
“Due to the sensitivities surrounding the themes currently at play, we have decided to take a step back for the time being,” said Jet de Ranitz, the organization’s director.
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Ranitz → surround → time
Five longtime participants — Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Iceland and Slovenia — boycotted the 2026 edition after organizers declined to kick Israel out over its conduct of the war against Hamas in Gaza and violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
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organizers → boycott → Bank
The Aporia
