MTVA has ruled out participating in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in Minsk, Belarus this November.
The Hungarian national broadcaster has stated that they will not be participating in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Belarus. MTVA confirmed that the nation will not be making their debut appearance in the contest, following a number of years of speculation regarding a Hungarian debut.
The Hungarian national broadcaster showed an interest in participating in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest between 2013 and 2015. In 2013 the broadcaster sent a representative to the 2013 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine to observe the show. The broadcaster also sent representatives to the Belarusian selection process to assess how a selection show could be held.
The following countries have stated that they will be participating in Minsk:
- Armenia
- Belarus
- France
- FYR Macedonia
- Georgia
- Ireland
- Italy
- Malta
- Netherlands
- Poland
- Portugal
- Russia
- Serbia
- Wales
The following countries who participated in the 2017 contest in Tbilisi, Georgia are yet to state whether they will be taking part in the 2018 contest;
- Albania
- Australia
To date Cyprus and Ukraine have confirmed their withdrawal from the competition. While Bulgaria, Denmark, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, Romania, San Marino, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland have ruled out returning to 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.
Source: MTVA
Hopefully Hungary debuts next year. I also hope the EBU raises the maximum number of competing countries at JESC to 20.
There’s nothing really in it for Hungary and child stardom is not really a thing there anyway.