North Macedonia’s broadcaster MRT has released its proposed budget and proposed TV schedule for the 2023 calendar year. However, one noticeable thing about the budget is that money is not set aside for competing in the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest in the United Kingdom.
MRT’s budget for 2023
One of the most notable things about the proposed 2023 budget for MRT is, while Eurovision 2023 has been seemingly excluded, there is money set aside for Junior Eurovision 2023.
🇲🇰 Will North Macedonia withdraw from #Eurovision? In MRT’s proposed budget for 2023 released today, no budget is allocated for Eurovision 2023 (ЕВРОСОНГ in the 2022 budget). Yet, there is budget allocated for Junior Eurovision 2023 (јуниорски евросонг). pic.twitter.com/z6Nd1pcjcp
— ESC Discord (@ESCdiscord) September 20, 2022
Following the release of their budget for 2023, MRT also released their proposed schedule for next year. While the country is set to broadcast the Eurovision 2023, there are no notes about whether the country will participate, which was shown in previous years. This raises more questions as to whether North Macedonia will participate in next year’s competition.
MRT has uploaded their 2023 program today. Despite Eurovision being listed as something they will broadcast, a paragraph saying “MRT will participate in Eurovision […]” that was included in their 2020, 2021, and 2022 programs, has been removed, further hinting to a withdrawal. pic.twitter.com/vB4E2b0X6q
— ESC Discord (@ESCdiscord) September 21, 2022
MRT did hint they might withdraw from the contest earlier this year, following Andrea’s appearance at the opening ceremony, where she allegedly threw the country’s flag on camera, something which MRT and the country’s public took offense to. Despite this, North Macedonia went on to compete in the contest as planned where they placed 11th in the Semi-Final. Meri Popova, North Macedonia’s Head of Delegation, seemed to quash any rumors of a future withdrawal when they published a report which looked at ways the country could improve on its Eurovision results after the contest took place. However, no further updates have been heard since then.
At the time of writing, MRT is yet to confirm if they will be either participating or withdrawing from the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest.
North Macedonia’s Eurovision History
The upcoming year will see North Macedonia’s 21st participation at Eurovision. The ex-Yugoslav nation made its formal debut in the Contest in 1998 with Vlado Janevski’s “Ne zori, zoro”. Performing last, North Macedonia finished 19th out of 25.
Following Kaliopi’s participation in 2012 with “Crno i Belo”, North Macedonia began a 6-year non-qualification streak. Tamara Todevska’s participation in 2019 broke the streak with her song, “Proud” – which finished in 7th place, winning the jury vote.
In 2022, Andrea represented North Macedonia, singing her song “Circles”. Andrea performed in the second semi-final, finishing in 11th place out of 16. In total, Andrea received 76 points.
Do you want to see North Macedonia compete at Eurovision 2023? Would you like to see a return of a national final for 2023 if they do? Who would you like to see take part in the selection? As always, let us know what you think by commenting below. Also, be sure to follow “That Eurovision Site” on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok as we prepare for Eurovision 2023!
News Source: MRT/ESC Discord/Eurovoix
Photo Credit: EBU/Andres Putting
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[…] previously revealed MRT’s budget, where there was no money set aside for Eurovision 2023, it has been finally […]