It’s official- 16 countries will take part in the 2014 Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Malta making this the highest attended contest since 2007. The final announcement came at theย Head of Delegation meeting in Malta this morning.
Executive supervisorย Vladislav Yakovlevย commended the host broadcaster PBS and said of the number of competing nations:
That sixteen countries have signed up to take part is a testament to their passion for Junior Eurovision, and the vision they have for this yearโs show.
There had been much speculation as to which nations would participate this year, with a few surprises from nations who had previously shown no interest in taking part alongside the withdrawal of countries that we have come to expect in recent years.
The official list is as follows:
- Armenia
- Belarus
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Georgia
- Italy
- Malta
- Montenegro
- Russia
- San Marino
- Serbia
- Slovenia
- Sweden
- The Netherlands
- Ukraine
In 2014 we see returning entries from Bulgaria (2 years away), Serbia (3 years away), Cyprus (4 years away) and Croatia (7 years away) with debut entries from Italy, Slovenia and Montenegro. Interestingly while we see five Balkan nations joining in this year, we lose FYR Macedonia who has withdrawn alongside Azerbaijan and Moldova.
Stay tuned for further updates from the Head of Delegation meeting whichย are expected throughout the day.
