Today is the deadline for broadcasters to submit their application to participate in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Minsk, Belarus.
Today is the final day that the European Broadcasting Union will be accepting applications from broadcasters wishing to take part in this years Junior Eurovision Song Contest. Broadcasters are required to submit an agreement that states among other information; the fee they will be paying, the channel it will be broadcast on and slot that it will be shown in.
This years contest sees Wales make their debut appearance in the competition, having last considered taking part in the competition a decade ago. While France has confirmed that they will be returning to the competition 14 years after making their only appearance in the competition.
The 2018 edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Minsk, Belarus after the country won the bidding process before the 2017 contest even began. Olga Salamankha explained that Belarus was selected as the host for next years contest over other bids due to their long-term commitment to the competition.
The following countries have stated that they will be participating in Minsk:
- Armenia – National selection returns for first time since 2014
- Belarus – Host nation
- France – Returns after 14 years
- Georgia – Tamar Edilashvili selected to represent the country
- Ireland – National selection audition applications underway
- Italy – Fifth appearance of the country in the contest
- Malta – National selection to also select song for first time since 2010
- Netherlands – Junior Songfestival will be used to select participant
- Poland – Selection to be held in October
- Portugal – Broadcaster stated intention to participate having returned in 2017
- Russia – Anna Filipchuk selected with the song “Nepobedimy”
- Serbia – Call for songs underway
- Wales – First nation to debut in the competition since 2015
To date Cyprus is the only nation to confirm their withdrawal from the competition. Among the nation who have ruled out returning to the contest are; Bulgaria, Lithuania, Romania,and Switzerland.
The following countries who participated in the 2017 contest in Tbilisi, Georgia are yet to publicly state whether they will be taking part in the 2018 contest;
- Albania
- Australia
- Macedonia
- Ukraine
I’m still hoping for surprise return from some country.
How come today is the deadline and we have only 13 confirmed countries so far, while on the other hand still four countries from the previous year who are still undecided? When will the finally make up their mind – today a 23:59 ? Or even when it’s late???