The list has finally dropped, and thankfully it did. With recent news about the withdrawal of Bulgaria, Montenegro and North Macedonia, there were fears of possibly more withdrawals to come, but those speculations are now over, as the EBU has finally confirmed that 37 countries will participate in the upcoming contest.
37 countries it is!
In the end, it is now clear which countries we well see in Liverpool next year, and considering we had 40 countries participating in 2022, and will have 37 participants in 2023, then it should be very clear which countries are taking part, but for good measurements, let’s have a look at the full list below.
Th 37 participating countries are (in alphabetical order):
- 🇦🇱 Albania – RTSH
- 🇦🇲 Armenia – AMPTV
- 🇦🇺 Australia – SBS
- 🇦🇹 Austria – ORF
- 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan – İctimai
- 🇧🇪 Belgium – VRT
- 🇭🇷 Croatia – HRT
- 🇨🇾 Cyprus – CyBC
- 🇨🇿 Czech Republic – ČT
- 🇩🇰 Denmark – DR
- 🇪🇪 Estonia – ERR
- 🇫🇮 Finland – YLE
- 🇫🇷 France – FT
- 🇬🇪 Georgia – GPB
- 🇩🇪 Germany – ARD/NDR
- 🇬🇷 Greece – ERT
- 🇮🇸 Iceland – RÚV
- 🇮🇪 Ireland – RTÉ
- 🇮🇱 Israel – IPBC/Kan
- 🇮🇹 Italy – RAI
- 🇱🇻 Latvia – LTV
- 🇱🇹 Lithuania – LRT
- 🇲🇹 Malta – PBS
- 🇲🇩 Moldova – TRM
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands – AVROTROS
- 🇳🇴 Norway – NRK
- 🇵🇱 Poland – TVP
- 🇵🇹 Portugal – RTP
- 🇷🇴 Romania – TVR
- 🇸🇲 San Marino – RTV
- 🇷🇸 Serbia – RTS
- 🇸🇮 Slovenia – RTVSLO
- 🇪🇸 Spain – TVE
- 🇸🇪 Sweden – SVT
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland – SRG / SSR
- 🇺🇦 Ukraine – UA:PBC
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom – BBC (Host Broadcaster)
This pretty much means, that all countries that took part in Turin earlier this year, will also be present in Liverpool next year, with the exception of the 3 withdrawing countries already mentioned. 2023 will also become the last contest for Australia to participate in, unless a new agreement is reached with their broadcaster SBS.
For 2023, despite the United Kingdom has been selected to host the contest, the final will still consist of 26 participants in the final, with the top 10 from each semi-final qualifying, as well as the pre-qualified countries participating, which as the BIG 5 and defending champions, Ukraine.
That means we will see one semi-final with a total of 16 participants, while the other semi-final will be with 15 participants. Whether it will be the first or the second semi-final with more or less participants will be decided later on.
Last time we saw a total of 37 countries participating was in 2014, when Copenhagen hosted, and before that was in 2006, when Athens hosted the contest, but back then there was only one semi-final night.
When looking at the 3 withdrawing countries this year, it is still fairly impressive to see that so many countries are able to participate. It is not the first time that both Montenegro and Bulgaria withdraws from the contest, due to lack of funds, so hopefully the two can return in the near future. As for North Macedonia, the small Balkan nation on the other hand, withdraws by themselves for the first time ever, the country made their debut in 1998, and has only been absent from the competition whenever they were relegated, prior to the introduction of a semi-final system.
Looking at the current situation and everything, are #YOU happy about the amount of countries participating or did #YOU hope for more than this?
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Source(s): Eurovision.TV
