Thirty-seven state broadcasters have confirmed they will take part in the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest, with just TVR (Romania) holding out on sending its RSVP.
Romania was not included in the list of participants published on 5 December, but the EBU revealed that the country was still in talks regarding its 2024 participation. Shortly after, Romanian broadcaster TVR explained that the payment of the participation fee, and thus the inclusion of Romania in the contest, will depend on the approval of a new budget plan which it had submitted to the Ministry of Finance, confirming earlier speculation; the EBU agreed to extend the deadline for the payment accordingly.
A draw is due to take place on 10 January in Malmö to decide who sings in which semifinal, meaning that would be the deadline for any confirmation from TVR.
According to a report published this morning, TVR’s budget is set to increase by 5% in 2024 however that may just be to keep up with inflation which still leaves any potential Eurovision participation for Romania in doubt, despite optimistic social media claims.
All about Eurovision 2024
The 2024 contest will take place in Malmö, Sweden, following the country’s victory at the 2023 edition with the song “Tattoo”, performed by Loreen. It will be the seventh time Sweden hosts the contest, having previously done so in 1975, 1985, 1992, 2000, 2013, and 2016. The selected venue is the 15,500-seat Malmö Arena, a multi-purpose indoor arena which serves as a venue for handball matches, floorball matches, concerts, and other events, noted for having already hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in 2013.
Fun fact: If Romania participates in 2024, we’ll have 38 countries competing for the first time in the history of Eurovision.