Eurovision 2014: Confirmed Countries

[DanielLuis]

I remember in 2008 when the jury had power to pick one song they wanted in the final regardless of the televote. I remember in one semi Poland was their 10th pick but Poland was 10th in the televote anyway so it didn't matter. In the other semi however the jury bumped out Macedonia in favor of Sweden.

I know nobody probably complained cause bumping Macedonia for Sweden was probably popular among fans but it felt like the EBU knew they were playing with fire so they decided next year to put the jury in completely and have them count for 50%. If felt right in theory but just didn't seem fair, just like moving the qualifiers from 10 to 8 doesn't either.

In 2009, in the semis the voting system was exactly the same as in 2008. Only in the final was there 50/50.
And that system happened because many broadcasters were complaining about the block voting, which was also causing a drop in popularity of the contest in many countries.

 

[GWTW1939]

^^^
That's right I forgot about the jury only being used in the final in 2009 and then expanded to the semis as well in 2010 xdoh.

 

[wyq614]

But I feel that some strong enough songs can overwhelm block voting, for example Norway 2009 and Sweden 2012.

 

[DanielLuis]

But I feel that some strong enough songs can overwhelm block voting, for example Norway 2009 and Sweden 2012.

Block voting hasn't been so strong in the past few years

 

[CC92]

The winner and other top-positions stay largely uneffected by bloc voting since one always needeth a fair amount of 'neutral' votes to get there.

 

[vatroslav_cro]

35 confirmed countries so far.......I think it will stay the same number, or at least one or two countries are yet to confirm their participations, so it would be 37 in total......a very weak year, according to this fact....

 

[DanielLuis]

35 confirmed countries so far.......I think it will stay the same number, or at least one or two countries are yet to confirm their participations, so it would be 37 in total......a very weak year, according to this fact....

Greece and Slovenia aren't counted in this group of 35 I think, so I hope it'll be 37 at least.
If both of these countries could not participate, and Portugal and Poland could not return, we'd have 33 countries!

 

[GRE]

Greece and Slovenia aren't counted in this group of 35 I think, so I hope it'll be 37 at least.
If both of these countries could not participate, and Portugal and Poland could not return, we'd have 33 countries!

And also dont forget that Georgia and Romania were not absolutely sure !
So we could have 30-31 countries !
That means=> 12 countries in each semi ! 10 of them to the Final !

 

[Anjeza]

Are they really doing two semifinals with such a low number of participants? That doesn't seem logical for me (but well, it's the EBU... )

 

[A-lister]

And also dont forget that Georgia and Romania were not absolutely sure !
So we could have 30-31 countries !
That means=> 12 countries in each semi ! 10 of them to the Final !

I'm pretty sure the 35 countries that are currently preliminary in will stay, plus atleast Greece. So I think we'll end up with around 36-37 participants

Anyhow, this will mean that some countries will finally qualify atleast

 

[anto475]

Are they really doing two semifinals with such a low number of participants? That doesn't seem logical for me (but well, it's the EBU... )

I think there's a real danger though that this could just be a passing trend, that in a few years if the global economy gets stronger, and if there's success for the Scottish Independence Referendum and if Serbia resolves its differences with Kosovo, and also if Liechtenstein/Andorra/Monaco get their things in order, other countries will return and we'll have to go back to two semis again. I mean replacing two semis with one seems grand now, but if it's only for three/five years, it seems a little messy, and makes the organisation of the concert look very sloppy. I suppose only if we reach a scenario where we have less than 13 countries in each semi should we reconsider.

 

[A-lister]

I think there's a real danger though that this could just be a passing trend, that in a few years if the global economy gets stronger, and if there's success for the Scottish Independence Referendum and if Serbia resolves its differences with Kosovo, and also if Liechtenstein/Andorra/Monaco get their things in order, other countries will return and we'll have to go back to two semis again. I mean replacing two semis with one seems grand now, but if it's only for three/five years, it seems a little messy, and makes the organisation of the concert look very sloppy. I suppose only if we reach a scenario where we have less than 13 countries in each semi should we reconsider.

Why should it be a "danger" if more countries can take part and we would have comebacks? I'd say that'd be a good thing...

Though, it's a myth that some of these broadcasters are withdrawing due to the economy, they are simply using that as an excuse. I'm pretty sure haven't they been scr*wed over by the juries undeservingly over and over (like Bulgaria for instance), they'd still be in. But there's no point staying in something where you're not even welcomed by the organizer itself (EBU)

... I mean if you have to rely on importing entries from Sweden (with no actual connection to the act or the country's own music) or send some cheesy wailing mess trying to copy pre-crack Whitney Houston to get any sort of jury support, while in the meantime get the middle finger by the juries (who were put there by EBU!) for trying to be out-of-the-box or stay true to your own country's music scene or traditions, then obviously it's a general turn off to enter this in the first place. I mean the whole concept relies on entries representing their countries, and if you get mistreated for sticking to that concept, then why even enter in the first place?

 

[GRE]

Next year is the 60th edition of Eurovision.
And i believe that in 2015,EBU wants as many as possible countries in the contest.
Maybe we will see some debuts like Lichtenstein,Scotland,Kosovo,Kazakhstan.

 

[A-lister]

Next year is the 60th edition of Eurovision.
And i believe that in 2015,EBU wants as many as possible countries in the contest.
Maybe we will see some debuts like Lichtenstein,Scotland,Kosovo,Kazakhstan.

Scotland need to get independent first, and Kosovo need to be fully recognized (or maybe not I dunno).

Lichtenstein and Kazakhstan would be cool though.

 

[Mrm]

If Kosovo debuts, then do not count on Serbia's return! 100%!

 

[GWTW1939]

Has the EBU ever tried to get Luxembourg and Monaco back recently?

They should have started wooing them already if they want as many countries as possible for the 60th edition. You can't wait too long before you start otherwise it never happens. That's why even after ESC ends this year they should still be negotiating with the countries that have withdrawn.

 

[Mrm]

I doubt Turkey will return too!

 

[henhu]

Are they really doing two semifinals with such a low number of participants? That doesn't seem logical for me (but well, it's the EBU... )

Should we have a semifinal with 30 participants? Well, this isn't logical!
And 2004-2007 system was a disaster... Many good songs didn't qualify, 10 songs got unfairly in who all didn't deserve it and most of these flopped hard. (+ I am sure we have at least 36 countries this year, otherwise good to these countries who usually don't qualify)
Remember, Latvia in 2005 got barely to the final and then did top 5... I wonder how many potential top 5 songs didn't qualify then...

 

[anto475]

Why should it be a "danger" if more countries can take part and we would have comebacks? I'd say that'd be a good thing...

Though, it's a myth that some of these broadcasters are withdrawing due to the economy, they are simply using that as an excuse. I'm pretty sure haven't they been scr*wed over by the juries undeservingly over and over (like Bulgaria for instance), they'd still be in. But there's no point staying in something where you're not even welcomed by the organizer itself (EBU)

... I mean if you have to rely on importing entries from Sweden (with no actual connection to the act or the country's own music) or send some cheesy wailing mess trying to copy pre-crack Whitney Houston to get any sort of jury support, while in the meantime get the middle finger by the juries (who were put there by EBU!) for trying to be out-of-the-box or stay true to your own country's music scene or traditions, then obviously it's a general turn off to enter this in the first place. I mean the whole concept relies on entries representing their countries, and if you get mistreated for sticking to that concept, then why even enter in the first place?

You're not understanding me, I mean that if we go back to one semi for 2014, and then we revert back to two semis in, say, 2020, the danger is there for the contest itself, as the organisation of the contest looks shoddy, flip-flopping between formats like this. Like Euro 2016 is changing format for the first time since 1996 and people are giving out about it. People give out about the Eurovision enough, this would be more fodder for them. And I'm fairly sure there are some countries that are genuinely leaving because of the economy, Cyprus for example. I can imagine that once those that really can't afford it come back, the others will follow as they'll have had time to cool off, and that'll probably happen around the same time.

 

[A-lister]

You're not understanding me, I mean that if we go back to one semi for 2014, and then we revert back to two semis in, say, 2020, the danger is there for the contest itself, as the organisation of the contest looks shoddy, flip-flopping between formats like this. Like Euro 2016 is changing format for the first time since 1996 and people are giving out about it. People give out about the Eurovision enough, this would be more fodder for them. And I'm fairly sure there are some countries that are genuinely leaving because of the economy, Cyprus for example. I can imagine that once those that really can't afford it come back, the others will follow as they'll have had time to cool off, and that'll probably happen around the same time.

I understood this point, though it also sorta came across as you wouldn't want any more countries (or comebacks of withdrawn ones) so I guess I got that wrong. Well, I don't want just one semi-final, I think the semis were too big back in 2004-2007, so even if the semis will be smaller now I think two is good enough (well I guess if ESC would shrink even further then yeah, changing the format would be needed eventually but I don't think that will happen now atleast).

Yes, there are some countries that might withdraw because of the economy, but I'm 100% sure there are some countries that use that as an excuse but are withdrawing because they are pissed off a la Turkey (though unlike Turkey, they are for a good reason).