2024-05-08 03:42:02
37 nations want to win the Eurovision Song Contest this year. However, some countries were denied participation in the competition.
In Malmö, Sweden, anticipation is building for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024. The semi-finals of the music competition will take place on Tuesday and Thursday. The two live shows will reveal which 26 of a total of 37 nations qualify for the final on Saturday, May 11th.
Five acts, however, do not have to worry about their progress. Great Britain, Spain, France, Italy and Germany form the so-called “Big Five”: They are seeded for the final for various reasons, but this year they will have the opportunity to perform their ESC song on the big stage during the semi-finals present. However, there are also some countries that will be missing in 2024 – the reasons for this are varied.
The field of participants in the Eurovision Song Contest is shrinking: While 41 countries had confirmed their participation in 2019, this year there are only 37. There were a few cancellations in the run-up to the event. Above all, Romania’s decision not to send any musicians to the ESC this year came as a shock to many fans of the TV event. The Romanian broadcaster Televiziunea Română (TVR) justified the much-discussed decision at the end of January with cost reasons. The financial outlay is currently too high for Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Slovakia.
Political discrepancies are also causing some countries to turn away from the Eurovision Song Contest. After the Russian attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022, after consultation with other members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Russia’s exclusion from the 2022 competition was announced – this position has not changed to this day. While Hungary, on the other hand, is bothered by the LGBT-friendly stance of the ESC, Turkey rejects the Big Five regulation: Both states will therefore not be there in 2024.
Last but not least, there are also some bureaucratic hurdles that, year after year, ensure that some countries are not allowed to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest. Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Liechtenstein and Monaco, for example, do not belong to the EBU, but membership is a prerequisite for ESC participation.