It’s getting hotter and hotter in Kyiv as the majestic Ukranian capital gears up for the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest and Eurovision fever is set to hit the city. The excitement and anticipation in Kyiv is rising day by day as the countdown to Eurovision is in full swing. The EBU has officially confirmed today the list of the 2017 ESC participating countries.  A total of 43 nations will be coming to Kyiv for the biggest musical extravaganza in the world.

The EBU has confirmed today that 43 countries will compete at the forthcoming 2017 Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv next May. Romania and Portugal are back in the game after a year’s absence, whilst Bosnia & Herzegovina will be opting out of the competition due to the restructuring of its national broadcaster BHRT. Australia will be back in the competition for the 3rd time, SBS has been invited to the contest once again by the EBU after its magnificent result in Stockholm.

We haven’t seen 43 countries in the competition since 2008 when the record of participating countries was broken in Belgrade and equalled in Dusseldorf in 2011.

The maximum number of countries permitted to compete in next year’s contest is 46, whilst the Grand Final will feature a total of 26 nations battling for the Grand Prix. 10 countries from each semifinal proceed to the Grand Final, thus 20 nations will join the host country Ukraine and the BIG Five (Spain, United Kingdom, Italy, Germany and France) on 13 May.

Hence 37 countries will battle each another in the semifinals for the golden ticket to the Grand Final: 18 countries will compete in one of the semifinals whilst 19 in the other.

The 2017 Eurovision Song Contest Participating Countries

• Albania (RTSH)
• Armenia (AMPTV)
• Australia (SBS)
• Austria (ORF)
• Azerbaijan (ICTIMAI TV)
• Belarus (BTRC)
• Belgium (RTBF)
• Bulgaria (BNT)
• Croatia (HRT)
• Cyprus (CYBC)
• Czech Republic (CT)
• Denmark (DR)
• Estonia (ERR)
• Finland (YLE)
• France (FTV)
• Germany (ARD/NDR)
• Georgia (GPB)
• Greece (ERT)
• Hungary (MTVA)
• Iceland (RUV)
• Ireland (RTE)
• Israel (IBA)
• Italy (RAI)
• Latvia (LTV)
• Lithuania (LRT)
• F. Y. R. Macedonia (MKRTV)
• Malta (PBS)
• Moldova (TRM)
• Montenegro (RTCG)
• The Netherlands (AVROTROS)
• Norway (NRK)
• Poland (TVP)
• Portugal (RTP)
• Romania (TVR)
• Russia (CHANNEL ONE)
• San Marino (RTV)
• Serbia (RTS)
• Slovenia (RTVSLO)
• Spain (TVE)
• Sweden (SVT)
• Switzerland (SRG/SSR)
• Ukraine (NTU)
• United Kingdom (BBC)

The 2017 Eurovision Song Contest is scheduled to be held on 9, 11 and 13 May at the IEC in Kyiv, Ukraine.