There have been several unsuccessful attempts to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest. In order for broadcasters to participate, they must register their intention to compete before the deadline specified in the rules of that year's event. Each participating broadcaster pays a fee towards the organisation of the Contest. Should a country withdraw from the Contest after the deadline, they will still need to pay these fees, and may also incur a fine or temporary ban.[1]
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| Kosovo | |
|---|---|
| Member station | RTK (pending) |
| Appearances | |
| Appearances | 0 |
| External links | |
| http://www.rtklive.com/en/ | |
| [ Kosovo's page at Eurovision.tv] | |
Kosovo is one of the few European countries that have never participated in the Eurovision Song Contest. The Kosovar national broadcaster applied for membership to the EBU but has not been accepted as a full member.
After Kosovo's independence in 2008, its broadcaster Radio Televizioni i Kosovës (RTK) was applying for EBU membership, and wished to enter Kosovo into Eurovision Song Contest 2009.[2][3] Kosovo would have made their Eurovision Song Contest debut in 2009 if it could have joined the EBU. Kosovo is not yet recognized by all countries and not a member of the United Nations; UN membership is required to obtain full EBU membership. There is already a cooperation agreement signed between the EBU and RTK and the EBU supports the membership of RTK. As of 2011, RTK has observer status within the EBU and did participate in the Eurovision Young Dancers.[4][5]
According to the Kosovan newspaper Koha Ditore, a possible entry would be selected via a national final called Akordet e Kosovës, a former pop show that had been taken off the air some years ago. Antonio Gashi and Valton Beqiri [6] working for Akordet e Kosoves hope that RTK could soon join the EBU, they are itching to see Kosovo in the Eurovision Song Contest. In contrast with Luxembourg that doesn't want to participate, the desire for Kosovo to participate in the content is very large. For example on YouTube, Kosovars spread songs that are showing "Eurovision Kosovo" in the title.[7][8]
| Liechtenstein | |
|---|---|
| Member station | 1FLTV (pending) |
| Appearances | |
| Appearances | 0 |
| External links | |
| http://www.1fl.li/default.aspx | |
| [ Liechtenstein's page at Eurovision.tv] | |
Liechtenstein has never participated at the Eurovision Song Contest, however the contest has had a long history within the country, with at least one attempt to participate being made by the Principality.
Liechtenstein has never taken part in the Eurovision Song Contest before. However Liechtensteiners have had the opportunity to watch the contest on Swiss, Austrian or German television. The country has made attempts to participate in the contest in the past: in 1969 a French language song had apparently been selected to represent Liechtenstein at the Contest, held in Madrid, Spain. The song, "Un beau matin" by Vetty, would not have been able to represent the German-speaking country due to rules stating that only songs in the national language could represent the country – however as there was no Liechtensteiner television broadcaster in 1969 there was no possibility that Liechtenstein could enter the contest. Later, it was found that this was a pun made up by a French comedian. Later in 1976 a Liechtenstein entry was once again selected to compete in the contest – Biggi Bachman and "Little Cowboy" would have been the country's first entry had there been a national broadcaster, but as there was none in the country the entry was rejected from competing.[9][10]
On 15 August 2008, 1FLTV, licensed by the Liechtensteiner Government, became the first broadcaster based in Liechtenstein. This would allow the country to begin competing at the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time, should they decide to join the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), a pre-requisite for entering the contest.[11][12] Shortly after its foundation however, the broadcaster announced that they were not interested in joining the EBU or Eurovision at that time because they had no budget for membership.[13]
In July 2009, the broadcaster officially announced its intent to apply to join the EBU by the end of July, with the intent of taking part at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, to be held in Bærum, Norway.[14] Peter Kölbel, managing director of 1FLTV, officially confirmed the broadcaster's interest, revealing that they had plans to develop a national final similar to Deutschland sucht den Superstar, the German version of the Idol series.[15] In November 2009, 1FLTV decided to postpone EBU and Eurovision plans, due to financial reasons began to search for other options for funding EBU membership in the future.[16][17]
1FLTV submitted its application for EBU membership on 29 July 2010. If accepted, 1FLTV would have gained full EBU membership and would have been able to send an entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 2011.[18] However, Liechtenstein did not appear on the official list of participants for Eurovision 2011.
| Lebanon | |
|---|---|
| Member station | Télé Liban |
| National selection events | Our Eurovision |
| Appearances | |
| Appearances | 0 |
| External links | |
| Télé Liban's Eurovision page | |
| Lebanon's page at Eurovision.tv | |
Lebanon has never participated in the Eurovision Song Contest. The country's broadcasting organization, Télé Liban, was set to make the country's debut at the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 with the song "Quand tout s'enfuit" performed by Aline Lahoud, but withdrew due to Lebanon's laws barring the broadcast of Israeli content.
| Soviet Union | |
|---|---|
| Member station | CT USSR |
| Appearances | |
| Appearances | 0 |
| External links | |
| [ Soviet Union's page at Eurovision.tv] | |
The Soviet Union had never participated the Eurovision Song Contest, but it made several attempts in the late 1980s.
In 2009 Eduard Fomin, a former employee of the Ministry of Education of the RSFSR, revealed that in 1987 George Veselov, the Minister of Education for the Soviet Union, brought forward the idea of a participation of the Soviet Union at the Eurovision Song Contest due to the number of political reforms made by the President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev during the late 1980s. The idea was mainly a political one, with the thought that a win in the contest for the Soviet Union would impact on the relationships between the Soviet Union and the capitalist countries of the west. Valery Leontyev was suggested as a name for the Soviet Union's first participation, however Veselov's ideas were not shared by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, or by Gorbachev himself, believing it to be too radical a step to take, and so no Soviet participation was ever made.[19] Ten former republics of the Soviet Union would later compete in the contest on their own in the 1990s and 2000s: Russia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan, with five of the countries going on to win the contest.
| Tunisia | |
|---|---|
| Member station | ERTT |
| Appearances | |
| Appearances | 0 |
| External links | |
| http://www.tunisiatv.tn/template.php?code=137&langue=ar&langue=fr | |
| [ Tunisia's page at Eurovision.tv] | |
Tunisia was to perform fourth in the 1977 Eurovision Song Contest's running order. The reason for the country's withdrawal was never officially established; rumours suggest ERTT did not want to compete with Israel.[20][21] To date, the only African nation to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest is Morocco, who made just one appearance, in the 1980 contest. On 18 June 2007, the Tunisian television broadcaster ERTT confirmed that due to a governmental request they will not participate in the Contest.[22]
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