National selections for the Eurovision Song Contest

National selections refer to the processes in which the broadcasters of the countries participating in the annual Eurovision Song Contest select the artist and song that will represent them in the contest.[1]

The two principal ways for broadcasters to select their entries are open selections (national finals) and closed selections (internal selections).[1] Since the introduction of semi-finals in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 – due to the extensive amount of participating countries – and the rule of the Big Five countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom),[2][3] a wide range of countries often alternate between national finals and internal selections based on final placing at the contest.

National finals

Salvador Sobral, winner of the 2017 Contest with the song "Amar pelos dois", was chosen in the Portuguese national final, Festival da Cançao.[4]

National finals are the process in which the public of a country can choose the artist with their song, often combining public televoting with the vote of an expert jury.[1]

Organised by the broadcaster, these national finals (consisting of one or more shows) can be televised or non-televised, however most of the time they are televised as prime-time television shows.[1] Oftentimes the artist is selected internally and the public of the country chooses a song for them with the national final. Alternatively, the broadcaster can select a song and make the public choose the artist that will perform the song through a national final.[1]

Possibly the most known national final is Melodifestivalen in Sweden, which features four live shows (semi-finals) in different cities across the country, a Second Chance show and a final in Stockholm. In 2012, over an estimated four million people in Sweden watched the final, almost half of the Swedish population.[5][6]

Saara Aalto, participant of the 2018 Contest was selected under a mixed format; she was internally selected by the Finnish public broadcaster Yle, and her song "Monsters" was chosen under the Finnish national final, UMK, among her other songs "Domino" and "Queens".[7]

Another example of a national final format is Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK) in Finland; during 2018 and 2019, each participant wanting to represent Finland sent three songs to the Finnish public broadcaster Yle, which would select the entrants, and the public of the country would then choose one song among the three that he/she had presented to the broadcaster previously, at a national final.[8][9][10][11]

Internal selections

Sergey Lazarev, third place artist in the 2016 Contest with the song "You Are The Only One" and the 2019 Contest with the song "Scream", was internally selected by the Russian public broadcaster RTR.[12][13]

Internal selections are the process in which the broadcaster of a country selects internally both the artist and the song, without holding a public vote.[1]

Even though the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) "strongly" encourages countries to hold their own national finals,[1] several countries such as Russia, Bulgaria and Austria are among those that have opted for internal selections for most of their entries in the contest. Choosing this method is also common for countries that have failed to qualify to the Grand Final on several occasions.

Participants

Main article: List of countries in the Eurovision Song Contest

As of 2019 contest, 52 countries have participated among the potential list of 56 members of the EBU,[14] and a record 43 countries participated in 2008, 2011 and 2018.[15][16][17]

Table key

     Inactive – Countries that have participated in the past, but have not recently participated.

     Former – Former countries that have been dissolved.

Selection history of the participating countries

Country	Debut year	Latest entry	Absent years	National final[lower-alpha 1]	Internal selection[lower-alpha 1]	Broadcaster(s)
Belgium	1956	2019	1994 1997 2001 2020[lower-alpha 2]	Eurosong 1957–1963 1965–1984 1986–1989 1991–1993 1995–1996 1998–2000 2002 2004–2006 2008 2011-2014 2016	1956 1964 1985 1990 2003 2007 2009–2010 2015 2017–present	VRT (Dutch) RTBF (French)[lower-alpha 3]
France	1956	2019	1974[lower-alpha 4] 1982 2020[lower-alpha 2]	1958 1961 1970 1973 1976–1979 1980–1981 1983–1987 1999–2000 2005–2007 2014 Destination Eurovision 2018–2019	1956 1957 1959 1960 1962–1969 1971–1972 1974–1975 1988–1989 1990–1998 2001–2004 2008–2009 2000–2013 2015–2017 2020	RTF (1956–1964) ORTF (1965–1974) TF1 (1975–1981) France Télévisions (1983–present)
Germany	1956	2019	1996[lower-alpha 5] 2020[lower-alpha 2]	1956–1958 1960–1965 1969–1973 1975–1976 1978–1992 1996–2008 Unser Lied 2010–2019	1959 1966–1968 1974 1977 1993–1995 2009 2020	HR (1956–1978) (ARD) BR (1979–1991) (ARD) MDR (1992–1995) (ARD) NDR (1996–present) (ARD)
Italy	1956	2019	1981–1982 1986 1994–1996 1998–2010 2020[lower-alpha 2]	Sanremo Music Festival 1956–1966 1972 1997 2011–2013 2015–present	1967–1971 1973–1980 1983–1985 1987–1993 2014	RAI
Luxembourg	1956	1993	1959 1994–present	1976 1978 1989 1992	1956–1958 1960–1975 1977 1979–1988 1990–1991 1993	CLT
Switzerland	1956	2019	1995 1999 2001 2003 2020[lower-alpha 2]	Concours Eurovision 1956–1957 1959–1961 1963–1970 1972–1993 1998 2000 2002 2004 Die Grosse Entscheidungsshow 2011–2018	1958 1962 1971 1994 1996–1997 2005–2010 2019–present	SRG SSR
Netherlands	1956	2019	1985 1991 1995 2002 2020[lower-alpha 2]	Nationaal Songfestival 1956–1960 1962–1979 1981–1984 1986–1990 1992–1994 1996–2001 2003–2006 2007 2009-2012	1961 1980 2008 2013–present	NTS (1956–1969) NOS (1970–2009) TROS (2010–2013) AVROTROS (2014–present)
Austria	1957	2019	1969–1970 1973–1975 1998 2001 2006 2008–2010 2020[lower-alpha 2]	1981–1984 1990–1991 1993–1994 2002–2005 2011–2013 2015–2016	1957–1968 1971–1972 1976–1980 1985–1989 1992 1995–1997 1999–2000 2007 2014 2017–present	ORF
Denmark	1957	2019	1967–1977 1994 1996[lower-alpha 5] 1998 2003 2020[lower-alpha 2]	Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 1957–1966 1978–1993 1995–1997 1999–2002 2004–present	N/A	DR
United Kingdom	1957	2019	1958 2020[lower-alpha 2]	Festival of British Popular Songs 1957 A Song for Europe 1959–1963 1964–1975 1976–1991 1992–1994 1995 2000–2003 The Great British Song Contest 1996–1999 Eurovision: Making Your Mind Up 2004–2007 Eurovision: Your Decision 2008 Eurovision: Your Country Needs You 2009–2010 Eurovision: You Decide 2016–2019	2011–2015 2020	BBC
Sweden	1958	2019	1964 1970 1976 2020[lower-alpha 2]	Melodifestivalen 1959–1963 1965–1969 1971–1975 1977–present	1958	Sveriges Radiotjänst (1958) SR (1959–1979) SVT (1980–present)
Monaco	1959	2006	1980–2003 2007–present	N/A	1959–1979 2004–2006	TMC
Norway	1960	2019	1970 2002 2020[lower-alpha 2]	Melodi Grand Prix 1960–1969 1971–1990 1992–2001 2003–present	1991	NRK
Finland	1961	2019	1970 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2020[lower-alpha 2]	Euroviisukarsinta 1961–1969 1971–1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004–2011 Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK) 2012–2017 2018–2020		Yle
Spain	1961	2019	2020[lower-alpha 2]	1961–1962 1964–1965 1969–1971 1976 2000–2001 2005 2007–2010 2012 2014 Operación Triunfo (OT) 2002–2004 2018–2019 Destino Eurovisión 2011 2013 Objetivo Eurovisión 2016–2017	1963 1966–1968 1972–1975 1977–1999 2006 2015 2020	TVE
Yugoslavia	1961	1992	1977–1980 1985[lower-alpha 4] 1993–present	Jugovizija 1961–1972 1981–1992 Opatija Festival 1973–1976	N/A	JRT
Portugal	1964	2019	1970 2000 2002 2013 2016 2020[lower-alpha 2]	Festival da Canção 1964–1969 1971–1999 2001 2003–2004 2006–2012 2014–2015 2017–present	2005[lower-alpha 6]	RTP
Ireland	1965	2019	1983 2002 2020[lower-alpha 2]	National Song Contest 1965–1982 1984–1986 Eurosong 1987–2001 2008–2015 You're a Star 2003–2005 The Late Late Show 2006–2007	2016–present	RTÉ
Malta	1971	2019	1973[lower-alpha 4] 1974[lower-alpha 4] 1976[lower-alpha 4] 1977–1990 2020[lower-alpha 2]	Malta Song for Europe 1971–1976 1991–2018 X Factor Malta 2019–present		PBS
Israel	1973	2019	1980[lower-alpha 4] 1984[lower-alpha 4] 1994 1996[lower-alpha 5] 1997 2020[lower-alpha 2]	Israel Song Festival 1978–1979 Kdam Eurovision 1980–1989 1991–1993 1995–1996 2001 2005–2006 2008–2011 2013 2014 HaKokhav HaBa 2015 2016–2020	1973–1977 1990 1998–2000 2002–2004 2007 2012	IBA (1973–2017) KAN (2018–present)[14]
Greece	1974	2019	1975 1982[lower-alpha 4] 1984 1986[lower-alpha 4] 1999–2000 2020[lower-alpha 2]	Ellinikós Telikós 1979–1980 1982–1983 1986–1991 1998 2001–2003 2005–2012 2017 Eurosong - A MAD Show 2013–2015	1974 1976–1978 1981 1985 1992–1997 2004 2016 2018–present	ERT (1974–2013, 2016–present) NERIT (2014–2015)
Turkey	1975	2012	1976–1977 1979[lower-alpha 4] 1994 2013–present	1975 1978–1979 1980–1993 1995–2002 2004–2005	2003 2006–2012	TRT
Morocco	1980	1980	1981–present	N/A	1980	SNRT
Cyprus	1981	2019	1988[lower-alpha 4] 2001 2014 2020[lower-alpha 2]	1984 1990–2000 2004–2006 2008–2012 2015	1981–1983 1985–1989 2002–2003 2007 2013 2016–present	CyBC
Iceland	1986	2019	1998–1999 2002 2020[lower-alpha 2]	Söngvakeppnin 1986–1994 2000–2001 2003 2006–present	1995–1997 1999 2004–2005	RÚV
Bosnia and Herzegovina	1993	2016	1998 2000 2013–2015 2017–present	BH Eurosong 1993–1997 1999 2001–2005	2006–2012 2016	BHRT
Croatia	1993	2019	2014–2015 2020[lower-alpha 2]	Dora 1993–2011 2019–present	2012–2013 2016–2018	HRT
Estonia	1994[lower-alpha 7]	2019	1995 2020[lower-alpha 2]	Eurolaul 1993–1994 1996–2008 Eesti Laul 2009–present	N/A	ERR
Hungary	1994[lower-alpha 7]	2019	1996[lower-alpha 5] 1999–2004 2006 2010 2020[lower-alpha 2]	1994 1997 2005 2007–2008 A Dal 2012–2019	1993 1995 1998 2009 2011	MTVA
Romania	1994[lower-alpha 7]	2019	1995 1996[lower-alpha 5] 1997 1999 2001 2016[lower-alpha 4] 2020[lower-alpha 2]	Selecția Națională 1993–1994 1996 1998 2000 2002–present	N/A	TVR
Slovenia	1993	2019	1994 2000 2020[lower-alpha 2]	Slovenski izbor za Pesem Evrovizije 1993 1995 Evrovizijska Melodija (EMA) 1996–1999 2001–2011 2014–present Misija Evrovizija 2012	2013	RTV SLO
Slovakia	1994[lower-alpha 7]	2012	1995 1997 1999–2008 2013–present	Bratislavská lýra 1998 Eurosong 2009–2010	1993–1994 1996 2011–2012	STV (1994–2010) RTVS (2011–2012)
Lithuania	1994	2019	1995–1998 2000 2003 2020[lower-alpha 2]	1999 2001–2002 2004–2008 Lietuvos Dainų Daina 2009 Eurovizija 2010–2012 Eurovizijos atranka 2013–2019 Pabandom iš naujo! 2020	1994	LRT
Poland	1994	2019	2000 2002 2012–2013 2020[lower-alpha 2]	Krajowe Eliminacje 2003–2004 Piosenka dla Europy 2006–2009 Krajowe Eliminacje 2010–2011 2016–2018 Szansa na Sukces 2020	1994–1999 2001 2005 2014–2015 2019	TVP
Russia	1994	2019	1996[lower-alpha 5] 1998–1999 2017[lower-alpha 4] 2020[lower-alpha 2]	1994 1996 2005 2008–2010 2012	1995 1997 2000–2004 2006–2007 2011 2013–present	RTR (1994, 1996, 2008–present) C1R (1995–present)[lower-alpha 8]
North Macedonia[lower-alpha 9]	1998[lower-alpha 5]	2019	1999 2001 2003 2020[lower-alpha 2]	Skopje Fest 1996 1998 2000 2002 2005 2008–2011 2015 Nacionalen Evrosong 2006–2007	2004 2012–2014 2016–present	MKRTV
Latvia	2000	2019	2020[lower-alpha 2]	Eirodziesma 2000–2012 Dziesma 2013–2014 Supernova 2015–present	N/A	LTV
Ukraine	2003	2018	2015 2019[lower-alpha 4] 2020[lower-alpha 2]	2005–2014 Vidbir 2016–present	2003–2004	UA:PBC
Albania	2004	2019	2020[lower-alpha 2]	Festivali i Këngës 2004–present	N/A	RTSH
Andorra	2004	2009	2010–present	2004–2005 2009	2006–2008	RTVA
Belarus	2004	2019	2020[lower-alpha 2]	Eurofest 2004–2009 2012 Nationalny Otbor 2013–present	2010–2011	BTRC
Serbia and Montenegro	2004	2005	2006[lower-alpha 4] 2007–present	Evropesma 2004–2006	N/A	UJRT
Bulgaria	2005	2018	2014–2015 2019 2020[lower-alpha 2]	2005–2013	2016–2018 2020	BNT
Moldova	2005	2019	2020[lower-alpha 2]	O Melodie Pentru Europa 2005–2006 2008–present	2007	TRM
Armenia	2006	2019	2012[lower-alpha 4] 2020[lower-alpha 2]	2007–2011 2013 Depi Evratesil 2017–2018 2020	2006 2008 2014–2016 2019	AMPTV
Czech Republic	2007	2019	2010–2014 2020[lower-alpha 2]	Eurosong 2007–2008 Eurovision Song CZ 2018–present	2009 2015–2017	ČT
Georgia	2007	2019	2009[lower-alpha 4] 2020[lower-alpha 2]	2007–2012 2015-2017 Georgian Idol 2019-2020	2013–2014 2018	GPB
Montenegro	2007	2019	2010 2011 2020[lower-alpha 2]	MontenegroSong 2007–2008 Montevizija 2018–2019	2009 2012–2017	RTCG
Serbia	2007	2019	2014 2020[lower-alpha 2]	Beovizija 2007–2009 2018–present Internally selected composers 2010–2011 2015 Beosong 2013	2012 2016–2017	RTS
Azerbaijan	2008	2019	2020[lower-alpha 2]	Land of Fire 2008–2010 Milli Seçim Turu 2011–2013 Böyük Səhnə 2014	2015–present	İTV
San Marino	2008	2019	2009–2010 2020[lower-alpha 2]	1 in 360 2018	2008 2011–2017 2019–	SMRTV
Australia	2015	2019	2020[lower-alpha 2]	Eurovision - Australia Decides 2019–present	2015–2018	SBS
Country	Debut year	Latest entry	Absent years	National Final	Internal Selection	Broadcaster(s)

Unsuccessful attempts to participate

Country	Year	National Final	Internal Selection	Broadcaster(s)
Liechtenstein	1976[lower-alpha 10][18]		Y	1FLTV
Tunisia	1977[lower-alpha 10][19][20]		Y	ERTT
Serbia and Montenegro	2003[lower-alpha 10][21]	Beovizija		UJRT
Lebanon	2005[lower-alpha 10][22]		Y	Télé Liban

Notes and references

Notes

1. The list includes years in which the country planned to participate, but later withdrew.
2. The 2020 contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Italic indicates the country that planned to participate.
3. VRT and RTBF alternate responsibilities for the contest.
4. The country initially planned to participate, but later withdrew.
5. Did not qualify from the non-televised audio-only preselection round of 1996.
6. Despite the fact that was an internal selection, it counts as an edition of Festival da Canção.
7. Did not qualify from the preselection round of 1993.
8. RTR and C1R alternate responsibilities for the contest since 2008.
9. Until 2018 participated as F.Y.R. Macedonia.
10. The country decided to withdraw after the national selection took place.

References

1. "National Selections - Eurovision Song Contest". eurovision.tv. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
2. "In a Nutshell - Eurovision Song Contest". eurovision.tv. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
3. "How it works - Eurovision Song Contest". eurovision.tv. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
4. "It's a family affair for Portugal's Salvador - Eurovision Song Contest". eurovision.tv. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
5. "Månadsrapport Februari 2012" (PDF). MMS – Mediamätning i Skandinavien. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
6. Lindström, Therese (12 March 2012). "Över fyra miljoner såg finalen". Aftonbladet. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
7. "Saara Aalto's song for Lisbon is... Monsters! - Eurovision Song Contest". eurovision.tv. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
8. "Tässä ovat euroviisuehdokkaat Monsters, Domino ja Queens - mikä lähtee Viisuihin? Edustuskappale valitaan suorassa lähetyksessä 3.3". yle.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 30 July 2019.
9. Karhunen, Anna; Leskinen, Lauri (3 March 2018). "Monsters on UMK18-voittaja ja Suomen euroviisuedustaja – show nousee pimeydestä neon- ja laser-ilotulitukseksi". yle.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 27 June 2020.
10. "Darude announced as Finnish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 - watch and listen here the three competing songs". yle.fi. 29 January 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
11. "Darude feat. Sebastian Rejman: Look Away on Suomen euroviisuedustaja – Ympäristöteema siivitti selvään voittoon". yle.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 30 July 2019.
12. "Sergey Lazarev to represent Russia! - Eurovision Song Contest". eurovision.tv. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
13. "Sergey Lazarev returns to Eurovision with 'Scream' for Russia - Eurovision Song Contest". eurovision.tv. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
14. (EBU), European Broadcasting Union. "EBU – Members". www.ebu.ch. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
15. "Belgrade 2008 - Eurovision Song Contest". Eurovision Song Contest.
16. "43 nations on 2011 participants list! - Eurovision Song Test". Eurovision Song Contest. 31 December 2010.
17. "NEWS: 43 Countries will participate and tickets will go on sale on 30th November! - Eurovision Song Contest". Eurovision Song Contest. 17 November 2017.
18. "The Eurovision Song Contest 1956 – present". BBC. 26 April 2007. Retrieved 9 August 2009.
19. Kuipers, Michael (20 June 2007). "Tunisia will not participate "in the forseeable future"". ESCToday.
20. Cobb, Ryan (22 May 2018). "Israeli Minister "to invite" Arabic nations, including Tunisia, to take part in Eurovision 2019". ESCXtra.
21. Bakker, Sietse (27 November 2002). "No new countries at next Eurovision Song Contest". ESCToday. Retrieved 23 July 2009.
22. Bakker, Sietse (18 March 2005). "BREAKING NEWS: LEBANON WITHDRAWS". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 9 August 2008.

External links

Media related to Eurovision Song Contest selection events at Wikimedia Commons