The final list of participants for the 2010 running of the Eurovision Song Contest is out. A total of 39 countries will be represented in Oslo, 3 less than in 2009. The Lithuanian broadcaster, LRT, who earlier announced their withdrawal, will finally send a representative to Norway.
This is the list of participant countries/broadcasters for Eurovision 2010:
- Albania (RTVSH)
- Armenia (AMPTV)
- Azerbaijan (Ictimai TV)
- Belarus (BTRC)
- Belgium (VRT)
- Bosnia & Herzegovina (BHRT)
- Bulgaria (BNT)
- Croatia (HRT)
- Cyprus (CyBC)
- Denmark (DR)
- Estonia (ERR)
- Finland (YLE)
- France (FT3)
- FYR Macedonia (MKRTV)
- Georgia (GEGT)
- Germany (NDR/ARD)
- Greece (ERT)
- Iceland (RÚV)
- Ireland (RTÉ)
- Israel (IBA)
- Latvia (LTV)
- Lithuania (LRT)
- Malta (PBS)
- Moldova (TRM)
- The Netherlands (TROS)
- Norway (NRK)
- Poland (TVP)
- Portugal (RTP)
- Romania (TVR)
- Russia (RTR)
- Serbia (RTS)
- Slovakia (STV)
- Slovenia (RTVSLO)
- Spain (TVE)
- Sweden (SVT)
- Switzerland (SRG / SSR)
- Turkey (TRT)
- Ukraine (NTU)
- United Kingdom (BBC)
The 2010 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest will hence see 39 countries on stage, 3 less than this year, when 42 broadcasters sent a representative to Moscow. The withdrawals of Andorra, Montenegro, Hungary and the Czech Republic are now confirmed by the list released by the EBU, unlike that of Lithuania. The country's broadcaster LRT announced weeks ago that they had formally withdrawn from the competition, but they still were hoping for additional funding to make it to Oslo next year. They finally got it thanks to a partnership agreement signed with the company Teo LT. Georgia also returns to Eurovision after its absence last year.
As usual, the big-4 countries plus the host nation Norway have already secured a spot in the final. The rest of the countries, 34, will be allocated into one of the two semifinals – 17 in each – to be held on the 25th and 27th of May. Per Semi-Final, 10 countries will qualify for the final, bringing the total amount of finalists to 25. The Semi-Final allocation draw, to determine which country will take place in which Semi-Final, is scheduled to take place in early February. The draw for the running order will take place on 22 March. The outcome of the three shows will be decided via a combination of jury vote and televote at a 50/50 split.
Svante Stockselius, Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of the EBU, said to Eurovision.tv:"Despite the tough economic situation, 39 broadcasters signed up for the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest, proving that it is still Europe's favourite TV-show. We are also happy to have Georgia back in the competition."About the upcoming contest he said:"I am confident we can expect an extraordinary event in Oslo, full of surprises. It's going to be exciting for sure, and we are looking forward to bring Europe and the world some great new songs!" .
