Adrian Kavanagh, 31st December 2013
The 2014 Eurovision Song Contest is scheduled to take place in Copenhagen, Denmark, between 6th and 10th May 2014, but with a number of countries withdrawing from the 2014 contest the number of participants could well be the lowest since the semi-final system was introduced in 2004. Cyprus, Croatia, Serbia and Bulgaria are withdrawing from the 2014 contest. However Poland (missing since the 2011 contest) and Portugal (who did not take part last year) are returning, meaning that 37 countries will be taking part in this year’s event.
The acts – artists (and songs) – that have been selected by the different participating countries (and the semi-final allocations) is a follows:
| Country | Artist | Song | Comment |
| FRANCE | Twin Twin | Moustache | Finalist – Big 5 |
| GERMANY | Elaiza | Is it Right? | Finalist – Big 5 |
| ITALY | Emma Marrone | La Mia Città | Finalist – Big 5 |
| SPAIN | Ruth Lorenzo | Dancing In The Rain | Finalist – Big 5 |
| UNITED KINGDOM | Molly Smitten-Downes | Children of the Universe | Finalist – Big 5 |
| DENMARK | Basim | Cliché Love Song | Finalist – Hosts |
| ALBANIA | Hersi (Herciana Matmuja) | One Night’s Anger | Semi Final 1 |
| ARMENIA | Aram Mp3 | Not Alone | Semi Final 1 |
| AZERBAIJAN | Dilara Kazimova | Start A Fire | Semi Final 1 |
| BELGIUM | Axel Hirsoux | Mother | Semi Final 1 |
| ESTONIA | Tanja | Amazing | Semi Final 1 |
| HUNGARY | András Kállay-Saunders | Running | Semi Final 1 |
| ICELAND | Pollapönk | No Prejudice | Semi Final 1 |
| LATVIA | Aarzemnieki | Cake To Bake | Semi Final 1 |
| MOLDOVA | Christina Scarlat | Wild Soul | Semi Final 1 |
| MONTENEGRO | Sergej Ćetković | Moj Svijet | Semi Final 1 |
| NETHERLANDS | The Common Linnets | Calm After The Storm | Semi Final 1 |
| PORTUGAL | Suzy | Quero Ser Tua | Semi Final 1 |
| RUSSIA | Tolmachevy Sisters | Shine | Semi Final 1 |
| SAN MARINO | Valentina Monetta | Maybe | Semi Final 1 |
| SWEDEN | Sanna Nielsen | Undo | Semi Final 1 |
| UKRAINE | Maria Yaremchuk | Tick-Tock | Semi Final 1 |
| AUSTRIA | Conchita Wurst | Rise Like A Phoenix | Semi Final 2 |
| BELARUS | TEO | Cheesecake | Semi Final 2 |
| FINLAND | Softengine | Something Better | Semi Final 2 |
| FYR MACEDONIA | Tijana Dapčević | To The Sky | Semi Final 2 |
| GEORGIA | The Shin and Mariko Ebralidze | Three Minutes to Earth | Semi Final 2 |
| GREECE | Freaky Fortune feat. Risky Kid | Rise Up | Semi Final 2 |
| IRELAND | Can-linn featuring Kasey Smith | Heartbeat | Semi Final 2 |
| ISRAEL | Mei Feingold | Same Heart | Semi Final 2 |
| LITHUANIA | Vilija Matačiūnaitė | Attention | Semi Final 2 |
| MALTA | Firelight | Coming Home | Semi Final 2 |
| NORWAY | Carl Espen | Silent Storm | Semi Final 2 |
| POLAND | Donatan and Cleo | My Slowianie | Semi Final 2 |
| ROMANIA | Paula Seling & Ovi | Miracle | Semi Final 2 |
| SLOVENIA | Tinkara Kovač | Spet/Round and Round | Semi Final 2 |
| SWITZERLAND | Sebalter | Hunter of Stars | Semi Final 2 |
The reduced number of participants means that 16 countries will be taking part in Semi Final 1 on 6th May 2014 and 15 countries will be taking part in Semi Final 2 on 8th May 2014. With ten countries to qualify from both of these semi finals, this significantly improves the different countries’ chances of making it to the final relative to the case in 2011 when 43 countries took part and the two semi-finals both involved nineteen countries or the case in 2007 when 28 countries took part in a stand-alone semi-final to compete for ten qualification berths.
Tags: Eurovision
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