In the aftermath of the 2007 contest, many rumours are abounding both online and in the press about possible withdrawals. However, at least two of these have been proved false already – those of the Netherlands and Austria, both of whom will participate in the 2008 contest.

NOS boss Gerard Dielessen recently confirmed to partner site Belgovision.com that the Netherlands will never withdraw from the Eurovision, despite recent disappointing results culminating in another failure to qualify from the semi final by Edsilia Rombley in Helsinki.

Austrian broadcaster ORF have also confirmed that Austria will be present in Belgrade, despite a 27th place in the 2007 semi final with Eric Papilaya. After selecting their participant internally in 2007, they are reviewing the different possibilities for choosing their song in 2008.

Rumours also exist over a possible Andorran withdrawal, however the Andorran head of delegation recently said that the contest was "too important to promote Andorran music", so at the time it seems unlikely that they will leave either.

esctoday is closely monitoring possible participation of all the countries with regards to 2008, both for withdrawals, possible returns and possible debuts.