Rep: Canada will be participating in the Eurovision Song Contest.
Last week, the North American country became a full member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which owns and operates the competition, following a vote at the EBU General Assembly in Prague.
The move makes them eligible to take part in the annual singing competition, and today it was confirmed that the country intends to take part again next year.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has reportedly proposed joining Eurovision in his 2025 budget. It is unclear whether Mr Carney, who lived in the UK for years when he was governor of the Bank of England, is a fan of Eurovision, but he appears to be aiming for closer economic and political ties with Europe.
The country in general is crazy about this contest. Despite not being able to attend this year’s event in Vienna, Canada was one of the most enthusiastic voting blocs, finishing in the top three countries in the “rest of the world” poll and making Canadians one of the largest groups outside of Europe to purchase tickets for the semi-finals and finals.
And despite not previously being eligible to participate, the country has been home to a number of Eurovision contestants over its 70 years. Most famously, Celine Dion represented Switzerland in 1988, winning one of the closest Eurovision races in history, beating Britain by a single point.
The first Canadian to take part in the contest was Cherise Lawrence, who competed two years ago in 1986 for Luxembourg and came in third place.
The country is expected to reveal how it plans to select its first official contestants later this year.
Celine Dion won the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest for Switzerland
Canada is not the first country outside Europe to participate in the contest. Australia and Israel are both regular participants, the former in 2015 and the latter in 1973.
Both came close to the top spot this year, but lost to Bulgarian competitor Dara. Israel’s Noam Bettan took second place and Australia’s Delta Goodrem took fourth place. (Italy finished in the top five, along with contestant Sal da Vinci.) Five countries withdrew from last year’s competition in protest of Israel’s participation: Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Iceland and Slovenia.
Eurovision was first launched in 1956 and celebrated its 70th anniversary last year. The singing competition, which attracted 131 million participants across 35 TV markets this year, has embarked on a period of expansion in recent years. NBC’s American version did not air until 2022, but an Asian spinoff is scheduled to air in Thailand in November.
A Broadway show based on Will Ferrell’s 2020 film Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire is also in the works.
