We have 37 broadcasters, naturally representing 37 countries, entering the Eurovision Song Contest for 2023. The full list has been confirmed by the EBU:
Albania – RTSH, Australia – SBS, Armenia – AMPTV, Austria – ORF, Azerbaijan – İctimai, Belgium – VRT, Croatia – HRT, Cyprus – CyBC, Czech Republic ČT, Denmark – DR, Estonia – ERR, Finland – YLE, France – FT, Georgia – GPB, Germany – ARD/NDR, Greece – ERT, Iceland – RÚV, Ireland – RTÉ, Israel – IPBC/Kan, Italy – RAI, Latvia – LTV, Lithuania – LRT, Malta – PBS, Moldova – TRM, Netherlands – AVROTROS, Norway – NRK, Poland – TVP, Portugal – RTP, Romania – TVR, San Marino – SMRTV, Serbia – RTS, Slovenia – RTVSLO, Spain – TVE, Sweden – SVT, Switzerland – SRG / SSR, Ukraine – UA:PBC, United Kingdom – BBC.
There are a few things to note in this list.
The first is that Ukraine, following its victory in Turin at Eurovision 2022, will rightly be given an automatic berth in the Grand Final, along with the “Big Five” of Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom, the latter also being the host broadcaster. That leaves 31 countries to sing through the Semi-Finals, so we’re going to have an unbalanced approach with a 15/16 split. The smaller Semi Final is going to offer a 66 per cent natural chance of qualification to the Saturday night, some of the best odds yet.
Australian broadcaster SBS continues to be invited by the EBU to the Contest. It is the only associate member to have that privilege – the talk of Kazakhstan’s Khabar Agency, which will be making its fifth appearance in Junior Eurovision this December, appearing in the Eurovision Song Contest has not come to fruition.
Three countries have withdrawn, Bulgaria, Montenegro, and North Macedonia. Montenegro was one of the six countries that saw their jury vote annulled by the EBU. The remaining five – Azerbaijan, Georgia, Poland, Romania, and San Marino – will be taking part in May next year.
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