Newcomers Czech Out 2007
After years of will-they-won’t-they speculation, it appears that Czech Republic – one of the few East European countries not to have graced a Eurovision stage with their presence – will finally make their contest debut in Helsinki next year. According to the Eurovision website Oikotimes , Czech national broadcaster Ceske Televizije is already making plans for a national final, to be held in March next year. The channel’s head of music and dance, Radim Smetana, said around ten competitors would battle it out to perform the Republic’s first ever Eurovision entry, with the public invited to vote for their favourite via mobile phone and email.
Although the full line-up of countries won’t be confirmed for some time, next year’s Eurovision has the potential to be a crowded one. Aside from the Czech Republic, it’s still possible that Georgia, who is now an active member of the EBU, could make its debut (following speculation they would do so this year), while Serbia and Montenegro could now both enter as separate countries, following the Montenegrin vote to become an independent nation in May.
And there’s also suggestion that Austria, who sat out the 2006 contest following a poor result the previous year, may return to the line-up in 2007 – as may Hungary, who also withdrew from this year’s event for financial reasons.
The most interesting rumours, however, surround the possible comeback of old favourites Luxembourg, who haven’t taken part since 1993 despite having one of the best track records in Eurovision history Apparently one of the country’s broadcasters, Tango TV, is set to become a member of the EBU this summer – and has already said it wants to see the Grand Duchy back on the Eurovision stage. Frankly it’s a prospect Team Eurovision is pretty excited about – after hearing the ‘Luxembourg are coming back’ rumours every single year, could it be that they’re finally about to come true?