On Tuesday, the Participants List for the 2020 Junior Eurovision Song Contest was released – although the European Broadcasting Union has indicated this may not be the final one.

Seven countries have withdrawn ahead of this year’s Contest and ESCXtra have approached their national broadcasters to see if they will participate since the format change was announced. It appears that the format change may not have been communicated to the withdrawing countries.

An SBS spokesperson, from the Australian broadcaster, told ESCXtra the following:

“Due to the restrictions and the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, SBS informed the EBU in July that Australia would not be competing in the Junior Eurovision Contest 2020. The new format had not been confirmed or communicated at this stage.”

Whether or not SBS and Australia will rejoin the Participants List has yet to be announced.

Author: Richard Taylor

Source: ESCXtra