Preparations are in full swing for the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest as Ukraine gears up to host the musicfest next year. Which countries will be joining the party? Will there be any comebacks? withdrawals? debuts? How many countries are coming to Kyiv? Let’s check it out….

Thunder and lightning! It’s getting exciting! The 2017 Eurovision season is here….. The majestic city of Kyiv is all set to welcome Europe come May when the Eurovision bandwagon lands in the Ukrainian capital bringing with itself all the glam, gloss and rasmatazz…

Around 40 plus countries are expected to join the party next year in Kyiv. 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.

A total of 43 countries have confirmed their intention to participate in Eurovision 2017. The deadline to apply for participation concluded on 15 September and the grace period for applicant countries to withdraw their application without facing a financial penalty concluded on 10 October.

The official list of the 2017 ESC participating countries has been released by the EBU.

Will Australia participate in Kyiv?

Australia  has been invited by the EBU to participate at the Eurovision Song Contest  the contest for the 3rd time in 2017. Seeing the country’s massive success in the competition in Stockholm and how the Aussies embrace the competition the EBU has once again extended an invite to the Aussies. The country has been broadcasting the contest since 35 years and is a fervent follower of the competition.

Will there be any debuts?

Liechtenstein is very keen to compete in the contest, but is yet to join the EBU in order to be eligible for participation. The landlocked country hopes to join the Eurovision family one day when it becomes an EBU member, until then we will have to wait, thus we won’t see Liechtenstein debut in Kyiv.

Kazakhstan will not debut in the competition next year as its broadcaster Khabar Agency is only an EBU associate member, thus it s not eligible to participate in Eurovision.

Who is returning?

Portugal and Romania are set to return to the contest next year. Portugal withdrew from the competition in 2016 but has confirmed its return in 2017. Whilst Romania has also confirmed it participation in Kyiv, thus looking forward to return to the contest, after having its member services withdrawn earlier this year by the EBU due to a non payment of debt. The country was forced to stay out of the competition in 2016.

Who is withdrawing?

So far there has been no talk or indication from any country planning to withdraw from the contest next year, apart from Bosnia & Herzegovina, who has confirmed it will not participate in ESC 2017.

Who will not return?

Monaco, Luxembourg, Andorra, Slovakia and Turkey have all confirmed that they will not return to the competition next year.

Confirmed countries

1. Sweden
2. Denmark
3. Norway
4. Finland
5. Estonia
6. Switzerland
7. France
8. Belgium
9. The Netherlands
10. Armenia
11. Ukraine
12. Germany
13. Ireland
14. Portugal
15. Iceland
16. Malta
17. Cyprus
18. Slovenia
19. Latvia
20. Lithuania
21. Spain
22. Czech Republic
23. Poland
24. United Kingdom
25. Italy
26. Belarus
27. Croatia
28. Israel
29. Austria
30. FYR Macedonia
31. Albania
32. Romania
33. Montenegro
34.  Azerbaijan
35. Bulgaria
36. Georgia
37. Hungary
38. Greece
39. Serbia
40. Moldova
41. Russia
42. San Marino
43. Australia

 

Will not return

1. Andorra
2. Luxembourg
3. Monaco
4. Bosnia & Herzegovina
5. Slovakia
6. Turkey

 

Will not Debut

1. Liechtenstein
2.  Kazakhstan

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