Eurovision 2012 News: 43 countries will compete in Azerbaijan
The EBU announced its final list of competitors for the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest Tuesday. 43 countries will gather in Baku, Azerbaijan in May for the international competition.
Poland will not be participating in this year's contest due to coverage of the European Football Championship. Taking that country's place is Montenegro, which last competed in 2009. Armenia will also be part of the lineup after guaranteeing security for their delegation. Armenia and Azerbaijan have been involved in violent territorial disputes.
Here is the full list of countries participating:
Albania
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan (Host)
Belarus
Belgium
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Croatia
Cyprus
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
FYR Macedonia
Georgia
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Malta
Moldova
Montenegro
Netherlands
Norway
Portugal
Romania
Russia
San Marino
Serbia
Slovakia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Ukraine
United Kingdom
The next step takes place January 25 with the ESC semi-final allocation draw. Azerbaijan, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and United Kingdom will draw for which semi-final each will vote in while the other 37 countries will determine which event they will participate. The semi-finals will take place May 22 and 24 with the Eurovision Final happening Saturday, May 26.
Mike McComb – TVLatest.com
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