Looking ahead to 2017

While we wait for an official confirmation from Ukraine about their host city for next year’s contest, here’s a roundup of what we do know about next years entrants, from confirmed participations to national selections.
Armenia: Armenia confirmed their participation a while back, with the introduction of a major national selection show called ‘Depi Evratesil’ (To Eurovision). The show itself will run for three months from October to December, and will have six members of the Jury who will consist of previous successful Armenian entrants who will be able to support contestants on their Eurovision Journey to Ukraine. They are Hayko (2007), Inga and Anush (2009, and 2015 for Inga as part of Geneology), Aram Mp3 (2014), Essai (2015) and Iveta Mukuchyan (2016).

Austria: Austria confirmed their participation for Ukraine, on the 28th May 2016. Whilst there has been no official confirmation on their method of selecting their entrant, it is expected that they will hold a national selection, as has been the case in 2015 and 2016.
Belgium: Belgium confirmed participation after two consecutive successful entries. RTBF, is the broadcaster that will select the countries entry for Ukraine, and it is expected that it will be an internal selection which has been the case for previous entrants. Rumours have been circulating that either Pierre Lizee or Olivier Kaye who both entered the Voice will be the lucky entrant.

Cyprus: Cyprus officially confirmed participation on the 8th August 2016. Further details about their selection process for Ukraine are yet to be revealed, but should be expected in the coming months.
Denmark: Denmark will be using ‘Dansk Melodi Grand Prix’ for their 2017 contest, which has always been their method of selecting their Eurovision entry. One thing for certain, is that Danish Broadcaster (DR) wants an entry that will make the final. The director of entertainment for DR, Jan Lagermand Lundme has said that they are looking for “good songs with a strong chorus, which have the potential to be a hit, and that can get us in the final of Eurovision”.

Estonia: Estonia will be using ‘Eesti Laul’ once again to select their 2017 entry for Ukraine. The final will take place on 4th March 2017 at the Saku Suurhall in Tallinn.
Finland: Finland will be using ‘Uuden Mudiikin Kilpailu to select their entrant for 2017. Submissions will be open from 1st September 2016 to the 5th September 2016. The final will take place in February 2017, where the winning entry will be determined by both public voting and jury voting.
France: France confirmed participation after their successful 2016 entry. Although no official details have been revealed about their selection process, it is believed that France, will internally select their 2017 artist and entry like they did in 2016.
Hungary: Hungary confirmed participation all the way back in May, and although details have not been revealed about their selection process, it is highly likely that they will once again use A Dal to select their entry for 2017, as this has been the case since 2012.
Iceland: Iceland recently confirmed participation on the 22nd August 2016, and it is believed that RUV will use ‘Songvakeppnu Sjonvarpsins’ to select their entrant for Ukraine in 2017. Further details about the selection process can be expected in the coming months.
Ireland: Ireland confirmed participation back in May, and whilst details about their selection process have not been revealed, we can expect to hear more news from RTE in the coming months.
Israel: Israel will use ‘Rising Star’ to select their 2017 entrant, like they did in both 2015 and 2016. It has been revealed that the show will start in January, and will consist of ten shows from which the winner will be selected.
Latvia: After two consecutive qualifications to the Grand final, LTV will once again be using ‘Supernova’ to select their entrant for Ukraine. Submissions will be open from August 17th to the 28th of October 2016. The final will take place on the 26th February 2017 where the winner will be decided by televoting alone.

Malta: PBS confirmed participation on the 17th August 2016, and it is highly likely that there will once again be a national selection to decide the Maltese entrant for Ukraine.
Norway: NRK will use ‘Melodi Grand Prix’ to select their 2017 entrant for Ukraine. Submissions are open until the 11th of September 2016. The final is due to take place in 2017, where 10 songs will be fighting for the right to represent Norway at Eurovision.
Poland: TVP confirmed participating back in May, after their successful 8th place in Stockholm. Details have not been revealed for selecting their entry, but it is believed that they will produce another national selection show as was the case this year.
Portugal: Portugal have confirmed that they will be returning to the contest next year, after a one year break. Whilst no details have been revealed, it is expected that they will be using their long running ‘Festival da Cancao’ to select their entrant. Further details can be expected in the coming months.
Sweden: SVT, will once again use ‘Melodifestivalen’ to select their entrant for 2017. The final is expected to take place in March 2017.

Switzerland: SRF will be selecting their 2017 entrant through a national selection process. There will be changes to the selection. The online part of the selection process will be scrapped. Submissions will be open from the 26th of September to the 24th of October 2017. Between six and ten songs will be performing in the final, which will take place on the 5th of February 2016, from which the winner will be decided by televote only.
Ukraine: After winning the contest in Stockholm, Ukraine will be hosting the 2017 edition in home soil. Where it will be hosted is still be decided. STB and NTU have made a call for songs wishing to represent the nation on home soil. Further details will be revealed in the coming months.

So far, these are the countries that have confirmed participation for 2017. With the deadline for confirming participation not until December, we can expect more confirmations and news over the next few months.
Which countries confirmation are you most excited about? Which countries selection are you looking forward to? Let us know your thoughts