The EBU just made it a whole lot easier for Eurovision to get even bigger. Some time before August, officials made a minor but significant change to the rules and guidelines listed on the official Eurovision.tv website. Under the section “which countries can take part”, they added a line about associate members of the EBU that could blow the contest open.
This addition states that:
Associates of the EBU may also be eligible to enter the Eurovision Song Contest, this is decided by the Reference Group, the governing body of the Eurovision Song Contest, on a case by case basis.
This could mean that any of 20 new countries, who are currently associate members, could take part. Who are they though? Could they bring anything new and should they be part of the contest?
Who are the associate members that could join Eurovision?
Australia
Australia have been part of the Eurovision party for the last three years now and competed for the last two. Whilst their original participation was meant to be a “one-off” for the 60th anniversary celebration, they were invited back in 2016. Nobody would be surprised to see SBS — an associate member since 1979 — present again in Kyiv. Australia are mega fans of the contest too, having broadcast the show live for many years. By now, they’re almost part of the furniture. We’ve already suggested The Veronicas as their act for 2017! Still, some fans disagree with a country so far from mainland Europe being in the contest. In any event, we look forward to seeing them at Junior Eurovision 2016 in just one month.
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan’s Khabar Agency only joined as an associate member earlier this year. In some ways, it does make you wonder whether this rule change had them in mind. With a fairly rich music scene behind them (just check out our wishlist), there’s good reason to think they could do well at the contest. They’d also join the long list of former Soviet states competing, so they’d be in good company.
USA
Maybe not one of the most popular choices on this list, but having the United States at Eurovision could bring an untold number of new fans. Justin Timberlake’s appearance as the interval act in 2016 could have opened up the floodgates. Logo TV also broadcast the show live for the first time in the USA. One potential stumbling block could be that Logo aren’t an associate member of the EBU. There are three US broadcasters who are though: ABC, CBS and NBC.
Canada
Alternatively, if not the USA, why not Canada? CBC have been an associate member since 1950, after all. We’ve also seen some amazing Canadian exports at Eurovision before. Just think of Celine Dion, Lara Fabian…and Rykka.
China
China’s Hunan TV have broadcast the contest live for the past two years. In Vienna, they even spoke to us about their intention to participate. They didn’t appear in Stockholm, but could an appearance in Kyiv be on the cards? Well, much like with the USA, there is a slight issue. Only China Central Television (CCTV) and the Shanghai Media Group (SMG) have associate member status. Hunan would need to act fast, unless one of the other broadcasters usurped them to take part.
Japan / South Korea
Japanese and South Korean artists are now more popular than ever in Europe, or so it seems. Japanese acts such as Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and Babymetal (who will soon perform at the O2 Arena in London) have made breakthroughs. Legendary J-Pop artists like Hikaru Utada or Ayumi Hamasaki might get a chance to perform to their biggest audiences yet. Could Japan’s NHK or TBS be convinced to give Eurovision a go?
Similarly, K-Pop is on the rise across the world. Bands like EXO and Girls Generation have sold out arenas worldwide. We can’t also forget the influence of PSY, who made a huge impact on the European charts. KBS could easily pick a well loved artist to try and further their breakthrough in Europe. Not only that, but both countries would be likely to take part in Australia’s “Asiavision” concept. What better way to get ready than to take part in the original?
See some of our favourite Asian artists here.
Other countries
There are countless other options when looking at the list of associates. Chile or Brazil could represent for South America. India could bring some Bollywood flair (and not just Shava), or South Africa and Mauritius could deliver African realness.
As you can see, there’s so many options available now after this change. The question is, who do you want to see? Vote in our poll below. You can vote for as many as you would like, but you can only vote ONE time, so be sure to click the box next to each country you want at Eurovision before pressing submit. There is also an option for NONE OF THEM if you want Eurovision to stay as it is. Make sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments section too.
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Problem with Kazakhstan is time zone.
ESC will be start in kazakht time at 2.00 and game over at 5.00 o clock.
Kazakh people sleap in thise time. All people.
Australia hasen’t this problem because esc startet at the day, morning.
But Kazahstan has the worst time.
NBC could air here in the USA. They show The Voice and the winner of the fall edition(it airs twice a year here in the fall and spring)going on to the ESC. Scheduling it would be a pain,however. Especially the semifinals.
I would love ALL of them to participate. This should become a world contest, it would be great and really fantastic opportunity to do something as the whole world. If they can make Olympics of sports why not Olympics of Music.
I really want fewer countries in the contest, not more. I don’t know how that would be achieved, but I do believe the grand final would be a better programme with only 10 acts. The contest, like Europe, is just getting too complicated and although I’ll always support it, others will be turned off by this convolutedness.
The only thing that would make me mad about this is if the associated countries prevent members from participating. The maximum number of countries every year is 46 – so 20 in each semi final. So far, there hasn’t been a problem but just 4/5 of these countries entering could prevent a european country from doing so which isn’t fair.
On a side note, I hope that Logo TV becomes an associated member for the USA!!!!
oh, i didnt know malaysia is an associate member. suuurre, my country was colonised by several european countries, so the least EBU can do is let us compete
“In other words, the new rule is that there are no rules. We make them up as we go along, so suck it.” Nice to see somebody in this godforsaken comments section is smart enough to figure things out. BTW – Kazakhstan is the only country mentioned that has even a microscopic chance of joining the contest. None of the other countries’ broadcasters care a whit. Should an “entry” from any of them happen to emerge, you should assume it’s a scam – especially if it’s from America, because if they did I suspect no one would even bother informing… Read more »
@Pollaski, that was very effective and yes, creative (ew:)) @Foxreyna: ‘So this is now a contest on who is Christian and who is not?’ No, silly, this is a EUROvision contest. Euro = European = Civilization = Christendom. Without this religion there wouldn’t be Europe and its civilization as we know it. Such countries as Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan do not belong to this civilization, they never were, never will be. In fact, they all belong to another aggressively antagonistic towards Europe civilization. You didn’t (or don’t)) skip history classes, right? Anyway, we’ve got our own European muslims – Albanians and… Read more »
Being honest, I cannot realize that rule change with a good sight. Did EBU decide to change the rules about associate members’ participation after YouTube geoblocking (with some of those countries) this year??? First of all, let’s develop strategies for increasing the audience in associate countries — Eurovision could have had more than 100 million people watching the contest in 2016: just because the USA, Brazil, South Korea and Taiwan have more than 590 million inhabitants (counting all countries together) and it’s still unexplored!
I am from Iran, I love to see Iran in Eurovision (Mahan or Laleh represent us) xD But that will Never happen because we are an Islamic Country .____. I know Iran will never participate, but we Need some Persian Realness in Eurovision !!! ????????????????
NONE OF THEM! MAKE YOUR OWN DAMN CONTEST!
@Guliguli
Hiroshima and Nagasaki were part of a WAR, idiot. It actually ended the war, which means they were done right, especially because the alternative- an invasion of Japan- would have cost MILLIONS of lives. Was it terrible? Yeah. But as the saying goes- “It is well war be so terrible, lest we grow too fond of it.”
Only Kazakhstan and Australia, and Australia should join the Big 5 so that they don’t take a qualifying spot from a European country.
Australia, Lebanon and Kazakhstan. That’s it.
I’d let in Australia and Kazakhstan wouldn’t let in the rest.
i hope to see Mexico some day in eurovision
WE GIVE TO MUCH TO THE MUSIC WORL
BESAME MUCHO QUIZAS QUIZAS QUIZAS
as much as would like to believe that they would open for other countries. this is just a rule change to justify australia’s participation in the next year.
what i’m more interested is the asiavision development next year will the winner be the representative for eurovision?
@Pollaski So you say that 1500 Guatemalans were infected with syphilis not being informed about it in order to carry out a research because they asked the US? Did the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki also asked the US to bomb them? You no nothing about your f*cking country and don’t try to spread your f*cking propaganda.
Kazakhstan should definitely be in Eurovision. The rest can enter as guest entrants.
Nope to all of them.
i want Argentina.
I kind of agree with Graham Norton, whilst loving and being excited tlfor each song, the one thing Eurovision does not need is another one!
The final is already massive with 26 and I’m not sure if it’s fare to all participants. I hate the semi finals where acts are sent home on a Tuesday night despite the amount of time and energy used to create them.
I honestly don’t feel expansion now is what is needed. Focus on song quality and equality and diversity within what we do have is however.
Time line of EBU to destory Eurovision 1. Remove live orchestra 2. 50/50 jury/televoting with “so-called juries” from people not in the music industry 3. Invite Australia as one-time-only participant, but later we know that this is a lie 4. The 2016 annoucement system divide the spirit of unite unite Europe 5. Bring Asian countries, which share no common cultures, especially the East Asian country. Just look at the song in recent years, can you find anything that is cultural to Europe???? All songs feels like make in UK/US/Sweden, in English. Song from Balkan becomes pop music, Lyrics from Italy… Read more »
It seems that wording is to seal Australias participation in the contest due to 30 years of broadcasting instead of suggesting other associate members will be participating soon. Besides if SBS can hurry up and set up Asiavision then I can see them taking a rest from Eurovision soon to focus on their own contest with the possibility of returning later
Mark Beckenbreur;
So this is now a contest on who is Christian and who is not?
That’s more ‘retarded’ than I’ll ever comment on this site.
I don’t understand why the people commenting on here are so.. traditional and back-wards looking. The fact is if we want another 60 years with the contest it need changes to keep it current and in time. ESC wouldn’t have become this popular if it didn’t change some rules. It wouldn’t have made it past the naughties if it continued to be in the same declining shape it was during the 90’s and naughties. Globalisation is an issue and is here to stay, even in ESC and seeing how ESC always reflects it’s era it should reflect upon that. No… Read more »
I don’t like the idea to be honest. Having Australia is ridiculous (Kazakhstan would make more sense) and I think there are already too many countries in the contest. The ABU can make its own “Asiavision”.
I think EBU should be looking to create “worldvision”. An event at the end of the year that includes the Eurovision winner (or maybe the Top 5) alongside countries from all over the world (maybe in their own regional contests like Asiavision)
@Crumbs LMAO you really went to your propaganda subscription feed there didn’t you. 90% of that is an already scewed up situation that we were practically begged to help in, and in most cases made better, if not perfect. You got one right- we f-ed up Abu Ghraib in teh worst way- and even then we punished those responsible. The fact of the matter is, and you can deny it if you want, when American’s get involved, they ADD value far more often than they subtract it. Eurovision’s an exception though. I’ll keep you posted when that changes, although I… Read more »
Jonas, I’m not trying to be classy. Just skip ffs.
‘Kazakhstan more European than Israel’))) Wow.. This one is delusional.
Another cretin said: ‘Don’t forget that 60 of Kazakhstan’s population are Russian-speaking. Therefore let Kazakhstan be there. Even geographically they belong to Europe (while Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Israel and Morocco don’t).’
Righttt!, they speak Russian (even though it’s not the case) and it is enough to be European and that piece of ‘European’ soil Kazakhstan has makes them complete Western European country! YES! Let them in, Wiwi.. Please! You can make it happen.))
Reading some of the comments made me laugh, seriously.. these people are retarded)) ????
Mark, I’m not sure what your first language is, but people with class don’t use the word “retarded”.
Yours, Jonas
Thought Police
Foxreyna;
‘They should let Kazakhstan, and Iran compete. Australia is here to stay. Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia are all more Eastern than Kazakhstan, yet they can participate, but Kazakhstan can’t, they’re also not even in the broadcasting area. Same for Iran, some of it is more Western than Armenia.’
Oh God.., really? This one must to be the most retarded comment I’ve ever seen on here. Now Islamic Asian Kazakhstan with the mongoloid population became more Western that the Christian states with Caucasian people such Armenia and Georgia.
/killme
by the way shame on the universe for focusing on these observer countries and not actual members ie andorra/morocco/luxembourg/monaco/libya/algeria/egypt/lebanon/jordan/slovakia
syria/mauritius/bangladesh/oman oml imagine the islamophobia
ofc i’m a NONE OF THEM person but Kazakhstan yes and they should be a full member of the EBU regardless
australia get out 🙁
They should let Kazakhstan, and Iran compete. Australia is here to stay. Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia are all more Eastern than Kazakhstan, yet they can participate, but Kazakhstan can’t, they’re also not even in the broadcasting area. Same for Iran, some of it is more Western than Armenia.
In any event, the cause for concern in this article is not the prospect of new countries competing. It’s the fact that the EBU have just thrown out one of the most fundamental rules of the competition. In other words, the new rule is that there are no rules. We make them up as we go along, so suck it.
@Racal I agree with you. This is a challenge to the intimacy of the contest. And any system collapses after becoming to huge and complicated, like the nuclei of uranium atoms after getting additional neutrons. After introduction of Australia Eurovision became less interesting, regardless the fact that ausies have been sending quality songs. San Marino, with its failures, is more interesting for me, because I know that the country is competing with a rival – Iraly, like in a duel. Their politically and culturally motivated voting is more spectacular for me. And if they ever win, they’ll try to host… Read more »
@Pollaski Korean War, Afghanistan War, Syrian Conflict (financing terrorist organizations officially), Lybian War, World Anti Doping Organisation (allowing doping to American athletes alone), Honduras coup, Ukraine coup (aka Revolution) of 2014, Arab Spring, FIFA (corruption crisis), Apple (not paying taxes in Europe), General Motors (fabricating accusations against Volkswagen), syphilis clinical trials, IMF (dollar dominance after WWII when gold was removed as an absolute exchange unit), Balcan wars (bombardment of civilians), organized coup d’etats in a lot of countries in Latin America. Assange, Snowden, Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib, Cuba, Kardashians… And this list is endless.
@William Adams: You are right, I can click or not click. And I choose to click because I am interested in what countries will take part in next year’s contest. That doesn’t mean I agree with the fact that Eurovision should expand to all countries remotely tied to Europe. I still think Australia shouldn’t be in it, same for Kazakstan, and don’t even get me started on Azerbuyjan, the Land of Cheaters. It is also very subjective of you to say that new countries take it more seriously and I personally don’t agree. I have nothing against these countries (I… Read more »
A lot of people don’t seem to like that any of them may be able to participate but in all honesty. For something to continue for as long as Eurovision and have it go for even longer you do need changes (like with the voting and stuff) to keep interest and all that alive. I think it should by who has had the most interest and following. I’m neutral anyway as I’m American that watches this for the music I don’t get to hear here but countries like Australia and Kazakhstan that have showed a lot interest I think do… Read more »
OH,COOL! Let’s make it from Eurovision to Worldvision.It is stupid.
One question. Has all of these countries been invited formally by the EBU?
I would like any of them to participate, if that doesn’t change the tradition the contest has created during all this years… and of course if these countries don’t bring more diaspora voting (like Kazakhstan and Russia or NZ and Australia…)
With Australia, ok I get, they’re here to stay, whatever. But I honestly hope no one else will join, entries from big countries is going to completely shine over small and poor European countries who will have no chance to score anywhere near the top, and with new possible countries added i worry that soon they’ll lose hope and stop spending their money on esc. I mean I’ve already been mad for two years about Australia being so praised and overhyped, after esc 2016 i see all these articles about how Dami Im was the “highlight” of esc 2016. While… Read more »
These rules make it harder for actual European countries that are small and have no diaspora to achieve a good result let alone qualify.
I will go for NONE of them should participate and let’s focus on countries like Slovakia, Andorra, Luxembourg and Lichtenstein coming back.
Sure, of course it can be enjoyed without having a dog in the race. However, going for years & years without a win is not a good thing. Broadcasters will come under pressure from people who will begin to wonder if it is really worth pumping all that public money into an entertainment spectacle without any prospect of success. Attitudes will change – look at the UK, who largely believe they can’t win. Don’t tell me this doesn’t have an effect on the entries they send. Portugal have never won in all their 50+ years of competing, and they now… Read more »
In any case, I’d like to see India, Brazil, Cuba, Japan or China ONLY as guest acts. I don’t mind Australia participating every year, but having all those other countries as regular participants would really be too much. As for Iran, I can only take this as a joke. Who in their right mind would want them in Eurovision?
@Paul D:
Yeah, India would be super fun! Bring on that Bollywood realness! 😛
@Darren The Euro 2016 football championships were also broadcast in Australia, does that mean they should participate there also?? If Australian football added value to UEFA, and they could get around the logistical aspects (its a lot easier with a once a year competition like Eurovision than the consistent flying back and forth that UEFA participation would require), then yeah. Why not? Spoiler Alert: Australian football would not add any value whatsoever to UEFA. Its funny though- there’s a competition that DOES exactly do that- the Copa America in South America. Every competition they invite guest participants that aren’t South… Read more »