Could North Macedonia return to Eurovision 2024? The national broadcaster Makedonska Radio-Televizija (MRT) continues to discuss whether the country will return to Eurovision after a one-year hiatus.
The News
When withdrawing from the 2023 contest, MRT said they intended to return to the contest in 2024. In minutes from recent broadcaster planning meetings, MRT Program Council president Smilka Janeska Sarkanjac explained that it was “good news” that Eurovision was planned in the broadcaster’s programme for 2024. At the October 18th meeting, Sarkanjac talked about the selection process for a representative, suggesting that the council should react before the representative and song selection procedure itself so that the same process would be more “transparent and successful”. In the following October 24th meeting, Sarkanjac called for discussions to start within the next 30 days about what a return to the contest would look like.
What else was covered?
Aside from the question of participation itself, these minutes produced some interesting pieces of information about a potential return from North Macedonia. The council debated bringing back the Skopje festival as a possible national final. Additionally, Sarkanjac stated that it was important for North Macedonia to be culturally represented through Eurovision, as:
“Со неучеството на Евровизија пропуштаме да се претставиме на меѓународната сцена.”
“By not participating in Eurovision, we miss out on presenting ourselves on the international stage.”
231st session of the Program Council of Macedonian Radio Television, 24.10.2023
North Macedonia’s Eurovision History
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.
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News Source: MRT
Photo Credit: Nathan Reinds / EBU
