After a number of months speculation it appears that the 2014 Junior Eurovision Song Contest will consist of a total or 16 participating countries.
Armenia
Belarus
Bulgaria (Return)
Croatia (Return)
Cyprus (Return)
Georgia
Italy (Debut)
Malta
Montenegro (Debut)
Russia
San Marino
Serbia (Return)
Slovenia (Debut)
Sweden
Netherlands
Ukraine
Meaning that unless there are some last minute changes to be made, Azerbaijan, Macedonia, and Moldova will be withdrawing from the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. Macedonia confirming their withdrawal, although no official statement from Azerbaijan or Moldova have been made public.
Over recent years the Junior Eurovision Song Contest participant list has been slowly getting smaller, although after much effort by the EBU, talking with a number of national broadcasters the list is growing once again. Last year in Kiev we saw 12 countries take part, this year that number has grown by 4, totalling 16 participating nations.
Three surprise debuts in the contest for 2014, Italy, Slovenia, and Montenegro. and 4 surprise returns to the contest being Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Serbia. Thanks to the hard work of the EBU over recent months convincing national broadcasters to return to the Junior Eurovision Family.
The 2014 Junior Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Marsa, Malta on November 15th.
