RTL,  Tele Letzebuerg the Luxemburgois national broadcaster has confirmed to ESCToday that Luxembourg will not participate at the forthcoming 2016 Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm next May. Thus we will not see Luxembourg return to the competition next year.

Luxembourg joins Monaco and Andorra in the list of countries that have confirmed that they will not compete in the contest next year. So far a total of 18 countries have confirmed their participation at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest; Greece, Malta, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Norway, The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Czech Republic, Switzerland, France, Ireland and Belarus.

The deadline for countries to submit their applications to participate at the 2016 Eurovision  Song Contest has been set on 15 September. Hereafter all applicant countries have a grace period until 10 October to decide if they will stay in the competition or not without facing a financial penalty.

The Luxemburgois broacaster currently concentrates on news feautures rather than music and entertainment shows. A participation at the Eurovision Song Contest would be both a financial and organizational strain on the channel, taking into account its low financial budget. The broadcaster has no plans to return to the contest at the moment.

The tiny European landlocked Duchy of Luxembourg was one of the founder members of the Eurovision Song Contest have debuted at the very first Eurovision Song Contest in Lugano in 1956, having won the event 5 times ( 1961,1965,1972,1973, 1983). Luxembourg was last seen in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1993 in Millstreet when Modern Times represented the country with the song Donnez Moi Une Chance De Te Dire.

The 2016 Eurovision Song Contest is scheduled to be held on 10, 12 and 14 May at the  Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden.

Stay tuned to ESCToday for the latest news on Luxembourg and the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest.