Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

First they were 43 as slipped away by RTP, then EBU confirmed 42 , and now it's 43 again and the curse is beaten for once and apparently Macedonia has paid its debts to EBU, or at least managed to get an agreement when and how to pay it. Thus, 2018 will match 2008 and 2011 as the record number of participating countries, 43. If only Bosnia & Herzegovina were able to take part we would have had a new record. Or if Turkey or Slovakia returned... (or Andorra, Luxembourg, Monaco or Morocco for that matter :-) ) I feel pretty much like Kaliopi at 2'30 mark....

  Only twice Eurovision song contest has managed to reach the record number of participants, 43, in 2008 and 2011. It seems every time since when 43 has been announced something has happened and it has dropped to 42. Be it Bosnia-Herzegovina wihdrawing or Romania being kicked out. This time it is Macedonia. It's pretty safe to assume Macedonia was in RTP's list of 43* they confirmed last week before EBU made public it has cut off MRT of its services including news, sports etc and of course Eurovision song contest due to a debt of 0,5-22 million euros depending on your source. This recalls the Romanian affair of 2016, only that it happens well ahead of the contest unlike then when Ovidiu Anton was already packing his bags to go to Vienna wheh he and Romania was stopped. This time Macedonia's participation in Junior Eurovision song contest 2017 goes on as planned but Eurovision 2018 itself is a no go, unless the debt is paid or solution found.  *It would be real su...

  RTP has revealed today there will be 43 countries taking part in Eurovision song contest 2018 in Lisbon. That means those three countries (Macedonia, Moldova and Russia) that haven't yet officially confirmed are in as expected.  43 is however a troublesome number as it has been reached before but then dropped to 42 for various reasons, like EBU kicking Romania out in 2016. But twice before this record number has been reached: 2008 in Belgrade thanks to debuts of Azerbaijan and San Marino, and 2011 in Dusseldorf thanks to return of Italy.  In 2018 sadly Bosnia & Herzegovina and Turkey still stay out and no new record numner is reached. Participating countries in Lisbon 2018: Albania, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceand, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Por...

EBU has finally made public the list of participating countries in the Eurovision song contest 2017 in Kyiv and no, there are no new countries but with the return of Portugal and Romania, and Australia in once again it's up to 43, the highest number since 2011, and overall the highest ever shared with 2008 and 2011.  Here they are: Albania, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France,Germany,, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, F. Y. R. Macedonia,Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and United Kingdom Missing out are Andorra, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Luxembourg, Monaco, Slovakia, Turkey and Morocco.