North Macedonia NORTH MACEDONIA 2023 - not taking part

[ESC United Mod Team]

 

[Mainshow]

I think the same way.
I just assume that the rising participation fees might be one of the criteria why smaller countries drop out and that the EBU needs to get their act together (especially since it has already been mentioned by a few countries)

 

[HayashiM]

Slovakia is the "poorest" country within the European Union and participating in Eurovision isn't really cheap (still more lucrative than some homemade production, though)

? I don't think that's really true...

EU - European Union 2024

countryeconomy.com

I agree Eurovision could downsize a bit, though.

 

[Mainshow]

? I don't think that's really true...

EU - European Union 2024

countryeconomy.com

I agree Eurovision could downsize a bit, though.

I need to find the source where I read it but Slovakia still belongs to the three "poorest" countries within the European Union:
https://europe-cities.com/2022/06/22/slovakia-is-the-third-poorest-country-in-the-eu/

Hungary was named as well but they clearly stopped participating because of "LGTBQ+ content" (or do they think that "homophobia" is a way to mask their economical/financial status?).

Having experienced hard economic reforms to join the European Union, the country is known as the eurozone’s second-poorest member.

Effects of Poverty in Slovakia | The Borgen Project

Slovakia became independent from Czechoslovakia in 1993. Since then it has struggled to break the cycle of poverty. Having experienced hard economic reforms to join the European Union, the country is known as the eurozone’s second poorest member... poverty in Slovakia continues to rise.

borgenproject.org

Ah, I probably read it when Slovakia got EURO as their currency? - It was some years ago, though.

Anyway, EBU needs to downsize a little and make sure that participating in Eurovision won´t be perceived as a financial obstacle by a few members anymore.

 

[A-lister]

There's almost zero interest in Georgia or the Czech Republic either and they still participate (see low viewing figures).

Slovakia is the "poorest" country within the European Union and participating in Eurovision isn't really cheap (still more lucrative than some homemade production, though).

North Macedonia and/or Montenegro have somehow complained about the participation fees and costs for accommodation in the UK. It's not a far-fetched thought that this might be very true for some "smaller and not-so-rich" countries.

Slovakia the "poorest"? Now that's simply not a correct statement.

But it is true that being richer or poorer is not really relevant here, it is basically the economy of the public broadcaster that matters and obviously how willing a country is to sponsor this or the ability to get sponsors.

Lack of public interest is certainly not a driving force to enter either, and small countries with poor broadcasters are the least likely to enter although we still see Georgia and Moldova in for instance (in the case of Georgia, I think minister of tourism might be involved to sponsor, although obviously doing a bad job lol, Moldova, I think has some rich oligarchs that is part of the play and the state also sees the importance in international promotion).

 

[Mainshow]

Slovakia the "poorest"? Now that's simply not a correct statement.

But it is true that being richer or poorer is not really relevant here, it is basically the economy of the public broadcaster that matters and obviously how willing a country is to sponsor this or the ability to get sponsors.

Lack of public interest is certainly not a driving force to enter either, and small countries with poor broadcasters are the least likely to enter although we still see Georgia and Moldova in for instance (in the case of Georgia, I think minister of tourism might be involved to sponsor, although obviously doing a bad job lol, Moldova, I think has some rich oligarchs that is part of the play and the state also sees the importance in international promotion).

Yeah, I didn´t recall it correctly. Slovakia is the "poorest" country of the Euro-Zone (currency).

Anyway, like you´ve pointed out the broadcaster´s estate/economy is relevant here.
That said, it doesn´t come as a surprise that countries which may not be as "rich" as other countries in Europe may struggle with participating in Eurovision from time to time - especialy, if there is a lack of sponsors.

"Lack of public interest" might have been true for Italy for a while but they still decided to come back in 2011 and the general public´s interest in following the contest might be growing (since then.. also due to sending high.profile A-listers to Eurovision).

Anyway, I hope to see North Macedonia come back soon

 

[KoibitoESC]

Very of sad. rich and can pay fees to make macedonia and montenegro enter eurovision. make all country honorable.

 

[macmillanandwife]

I'm not surprised N. Macedonia decided to withdraw. At least they have a better excuse than "the flag incident" that happened this year. Circles was actually one of the better NQ songs and it did get 11th place, and would have probably qualified if the juries didn't dump all their points to Azerbaijan. I'll take this withdrawal as taking a "creative break" and hopefully they'll come back with a great song in 2024.

 

[A-lister]

I'm not surprised N. Macedonia decided to withdraw. At least they have a better excuse than "the flag incident" that happened this year. Circles was actually one of the better NQ songs and it did get 11th place, and would have probably qualified if the juries didn't dump all their points to Azerbaijan. I'll take this withdrawal as taking a "creative break" and hopefully they'll come back with a great song in 2024.

I hope you're right, although Circles was a pretty lame song... but a "creative break" sounds about alright .

 

[hijirio]

I will not really realize their absence, considering they went for soulless English entries most of the previous years.
I just see it as a wasted opportunity. Pred da se razdeni flopped in the semi, so did Vasyl. But at least the former showcased Macedonian culture and language. I wish Macedonia had used the previous 3 years to showcase its culture and flop in style. At least the euros spent would have mattered for a good cause.

 

[Sammy]

I‘m still sad they sacrificed „Imperija“ back then to a stupid internal fight… I‘m sure it would have done quite well.

 

[aletem]

The not taking part is not just a financial reason, but the constant uproar from people wanting Macedonia to pull out of the contest. People are now happy saying that withdrawing was the best decision MRT has done in a long while and they hope it stays that way. Honestly, I am kind of happy too. This year the contest lost even the faded spark it had remained. Also, with this team and the ideas they have (or rather don't have), better to not take part.
The JESC is there this year, as it is part of the budget for the year. I am not sure if Macedonia will take part in JESC next year (unless they win, which is not happening).

 

[Brandt]

The last time I felt like Macedonia cared about their participation was in 2012. It was a top quality entry with the singer, vocals, staging and ultimately the song.

2018 was a huge missed opportunity, which would not have been the case with a decent staging and better vocals.

Can't say I feel the contest has lost something by their withdrawal. I sure hope they would be back in the following years stronger than ever, though.

 

[Looren]

Feels like the contest lost a lot for me, North Macedonia was in my top 3 three times in last four editions

 

[Stiven]

Okay while the reasons are mainly financial I am sure they are not the only reason. Although as I previously mentioned the Contest is pretty unpopular in the music crowd was always relatively supportive, however as expected this did change this year because of the flag incident to give a short explanation many of the Macedonian musicians were shocked at how MRT basically threw Andrea under the bus and took the side of the facebook bots and nationalist the way MRT acted really tarnished any reputation our ESC team had with the musicians (which wasn't that high to begin with) which put in to question who will willingly put them self in a similar situation and be ready to receive no support from the ESC team for an incident the team is responsible for, so our team decided to take a break in order to make people forget about their incompetence. How long we will see but I'm sure we will be back I just hope not with the same team but knowing the Balkans where nepotism rules supreme this is highly unlikely.
Anyway to end on a brighter note MakFest happened this weekend and several of our ESC and JESC representatives took part:

 

[njdevils94]

I will not really realize their absence, considering they went for soulless English entries most of the previous years.
I just see it as a wasted opportunity. Pred da se razdeni flopped in the semi, so did Vasyl. But at least the former showcased Macedonian culture and language. I wish Macedonia had used the previous 3 years to showcase its culture and flop in style. At least the euros spent would have mattered for a good cause.

How dare you disrespect Reggae pop-rock Barbara Dex winning sensations Eye Cue like that!

 

[elanyvx]

Makfest is a good festival. In the future MRT can use it as Eurovision selection instead of organizing a low-level selection with songs in English. Example from Makfest 2022:

 

[hijirio]

How dare you disrespect Reggae pop-rock Barbara Dex winning sensations Eye Cue like that!

Definitely in my top 3 of 2018

 

[Mainshow]

Is the official Eurovision site trolling or why did they post a sequence of "Proud" ( 2019) with the Hashtag (#Eurovision 2023) followed by the emojis (The flag of North Macedonia and some comet?)

https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=476&href=https://www.facebook.com/reel/720009349659175/&show_text=false&width=267&t=0

Are they going to participate all of a sudden? Or does the EBU feel "proud" of themselves for working on ESC2023 and they just took posted that performance as an individual post because that entry´s song title describes their emotions right now?

 

[MopManMoss]

https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=476&href=https://www.facebook.com/reel/720009349659175/&show_text=false&width=267&t=0

I dont have facebook what is this

 

[Looren]

https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=476&href=https://www.facebook.com/reel/720009349659175/&show_text=false&width=267&t=0

Tells me I can't watch the video, what does it say ?