In 2023, Montenegro and North Macedonia will not participate in the Eurovision Song Contest.
The BBC writes about it.
The reason was the high cost of participating in the competition. This money is contributed by public broadcasters, but the amount depends on the size of the country. According to the BBC, after the disqualification of Russia, some countries have to pay more.
"In addition to the significant costs of registration fees, as well as the cost of staying in Great Britain - we also faced a lack of interest from sponsors, so we decided to direct existing resources to the financing of current and planned national projects," — said the public broadcaster of Montenegro RTCG.
North Macedoniaʼs MRT broadcaster noted that "increased entry fees" as well as the countryʼs energy crisis forced them to cancel Eurovision.
The total amount to be paid by all contestants is usually around £5 million, but the exact cost per country is not disclosed.
The BBC is expected to pay between £8m and £17m to host the event on behalf of Ukraine in Liverpool.
- At Eurovision 2022, representatives of Ukraine, Kalush Orchestra, won, but due to the war, next year the competition will be held in Britain, which took second place. This will be the ninth time that the Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Great Britain — more than any other country. The competition will be hosted by the British city of Liverpool.
- Ukraine will automatically enter the grand final of Eurovision together with the so-called big five countries — Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, which support the event financially and automatically advance to the final.