Why isn’t Montenegro in Eurovision 2023?
EUROVISION 2023 will see European nations sending their best singers to compete for the coveted glass microphone.
Sadly, Montenegro will not be participating in the upcoming song contest.
Why isn't Montenegro in Eurovision 2023?
The grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest is happening on Saturday, May 13, 2023.
There will be two semi final rounds taking place on May 9 and May 11 2023 in Liverpool.
The semi final rounds will determine who will join the big five in the grand final.
Despite the popularity of the contest, there are only 37 countries participating n Eurovision 2023, the lowest number since 2014.
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Montenegro is one of the many countries not participating.
The Montenegro broadcaster RTCG announced their withdrawal from the competition with a statement which said:
"Besides the significant costs of the registration fee, as well as the cost of the stay in the United Kingdom, we faced a lack of interest from sponsors.
"With that being said, we decided to direct existing resources to the financing of current and planned national projects, and organizational and program reforms."
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The cost of taking part is the reason why a few European nations are not billed to compete in 2023.
Has Montenegro ever won Eurovision?
Montenegro competed in Eurovision in 2005 as The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.
Their debut appearance was successful, coming in second place in 2004 and placing seventh in 2005.
After the 2006 Montenegrin Independence referendum, Serbia and Montenegro entered Eurovision as separate countries.
Montenegro has participated in Eurovision 12 times since it debuted in 2007.
Montenegro has never won Eurovision, they qualified for the grand final twice since their debut in 2007, placing 19th in 2014 and 13th in 2015.
Which other countries are not performing in Eurovision 2023?
With the cost of entering the competition estimated to be millions of pounds, plus the expenses of staying in the UK, many nations have chosen not to participate.
Montenegro is not the only European nation that withdrew from the popular singing contest.
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North Macedonia and Bulgaria announced their withdrawal from the song contest, also citing financial difficulties as the reason.
Monaco, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Luxembourg and Slovenia also announced that they would not be taking part.