ERT, the Greek national broadcaster has confirmed to ESCToday that Greece will participate at the forthcoming 2017 Eurovision Song Contest.

ERT is yet to determine the mechanism it will use to select its Eurovision entry for Kyiv. More details regarding the 2017 Greek Eurovision project will be released in due course. It is unclear if the country will opt for a national final or an internal selection.

In 2016 Greece opted for an internal selection in order to opt for its Eurovision entry and act for Stockholm. The group ARGO flew the Greek flag at the 2017 ESC with their entry Utopian land. Despite an energetic performance Greece failed to qualify to the Grand Final.

Greece debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974 and has won the event in 2005 with Helena Paparizou‘s My number one, thus bringing the contest for the very first time on Greek soil in 2006.

With Greece in the house, 38 countries have so far confirmed their intention to participate at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest.

The final and confirmed list of the ESC 2017 participating countries is expected to be released by the EBU by the end of the year.

The period for countries to apply for participation at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest concluded on 15 September. Hereafter applicant countries have a grace period until 10 October to decide if they are to stay or not in the competition without facing a financial penalty.

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