ARMENIA – On 8 September 2020, the EBU released the initial list of participants with 13 competing countries. Germany will make their debut appearance, while Albania, Australia, Ireland, Italy, North Macedonia, Portugal and Wales will not return, having participated in 2019.
Despite initially confirmed as a participating country, Armenia withdrew from the contest on 5 November 2020 due to the ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh war, reducing the number of participating countries to 12.
On Instagram, Armenia’s Head of Delegation David Tserunyan revealed that Maléna Fox had been internally selected to represent Armenia this year.
“Dear friends and Eurovision fans, it is with great sadness that we announce our withdrawal from JESC 2020. Our team has been working tirelessly for months, to make our participation possible even during Covid19 and this unprecedented aggression in our region. But the war in Artsakh enters into a severe stage. All of us have relatives, friends, neighbours who have sacrificed their lives fighting for our freedom and our right to exist. In times like this, it is our duty to stand with our nation and our motherland. Back in July, we have internally chosen Maléna to represent our country. A 13-year-old girl, who is immensely talented, kind and passionate for music and her country. I’m proud to say that she was a big part of this decision and we all feel grateful to have such an incredible generation of young Armenians.”
Make no mistake, we will come back, stronger than ever.
This is the lowest number of participating countries since 2013, which also had twelve participating countries.
