The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 will be the fifty-first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, which will be held at the Olympic Indoor Arena, Athens, Greece. The scheduled dates for the contests are 18 May2006 for the semi-final and 20 May2006 for the final. ERT, the host broadcaster of the contest, have already started preparations and are ahead of schedule. The venue for the contest has already been chosen and the stage designs are being finalized.
File:Sublogo01.jpgOfficial logo and the sub-logo of the Eurovision Song Contest 2006.
The official logo of the contest has remained the same from 2004 and 2005 with the country's flag in the heart being changed. The 2006 sub-logo created by the design company Karamela for Greek television is apparently based on the Phaistos Disc which is a popular symbol of ancient Greece. According to ERT, it is "inspired by the wind and the sea, the golden sunlight and the glow of the sand". Following Istanbul's "Under The Same Sky" and Kyiv's "Awakening", the slogan for the 2006 show is "Feel The Rhythm" and is apparently tied into Greek tourism's "Feel The Myth" slogan. This theme will also for the basis for the postcards for the 2006 show, which will apparently emphasize Greece's historical significance as well as being a modern tourist destination.
OAKA Complex, venue of the Eurovision Song Contest 2006.File:OAKAoutside.jpgThe Olympic Hall from outside.
For the sixth year in a row, the venue for the Eurovision Song Contest, will be an indoor sports arena, the Olympic Indoor Hall (pictured right). The arena is one of the biggest and most modern indoor sports venues in Europe. It was one of the first facilities built for the 2004 Olympic games. The arena which is owned by the Greek state features covers an area of 75,800 sq metres and has a unique roof, supported only by four huge pillars (each being 35m tall and the two pairs 108m apart). It is the largest construction of this kind in the world.
While the arena can hold up to 20,000 it is believed that the Eurovision audience will be closer to 15,000 once the stage and camera positions are put in place. Only the Parken in Copenhagen in 2001 has
had a bigger live audience. Tickets are likely to go on sale in February 2006. Tickets are scheduled to go on sale over the internet in January, and if previous experience is anything to go by, will sell out within a few hours. The layout and pricing have still to be announced.
Greek television has confirmed that popular Greek singer Rouvas will present the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest. Born on the Greek island of Corfu in 1972, Rouvas began his pop career in 1991 and has been Greece's biggest pop star for over a decade. The singer's energetic performances (he previously represented Greece as a pole vaulter) have attracted a legion of fans, and he has been awarded countless gold and platinum discs in his home country and also won several prestigious music awards.
Sakis has also played a role in reconciliation efforts with Turkey. In 1997, he performed with Turkish singer Burak Kut in a concert in UN-controlled territory which separates the island of Cyprus. For this, he was awarded the International Abdi Ipekci Prize for understanding and co-operation. In 2004 he represented Greece at the Eurovision Song Contest in Istanbul, finishing third, the best result Greece had achieved to that point. Later the same year he performed at the closing ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics held in Athens.
ERT has still not confirmed the name of the female presenter, although it has said that there will be one. There have been some names mentioned such as, Nia Vardalos born in Winnipeg, Canada in 1962, who is a Canadian actress of Greek extraction. She is also a screenwriter and film producer and gained overnight success with "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" in 2002. A more unlikely member of the Greek diaspora, actress Jennifer Aniston, famed for her role in the popular sit-com "Friends" and her brief marriage with actor Brad Pitt, has also been mentioned, but is now seen as a very unlikely bet. An announcement on the female presenter is expected soon.
Elena Paparizou, who performed the winning song in Kyiv, will return to the Eurovision stage in Athens. Following the examples of Sertab Erener and Ruslana in the last two years, Helena will perform the links from the backstage "green room", interviewing the contestants. It is also speculated that she will perform as part of the show and present the trophy to the winners.
Current European Broadcasting Union rules allow a maximum of forty countries to enter the contest, which would allow all of the thirty-eight countries listed above to participate. The Greek Ministry of Tourism has indicated that the maximum in 2006 will increase to forty-four, although there has been no statement from the EBU on this issue.
Other active members of the EBU who could theoretically enter in 2006, but are very unlikely to do so are:
Tunisia (would have participated in 1977, but withdrew)
French television is currently in negotiations with various North African states (Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, and Algeria have been mentioned) to enter in 2006.
Liechtenstein has no television or radio station and so cannot join the EBU. It therefore cannot enter the Eurovision Song Contest, although many Liechtensteiners would like to. The Vatican City is an active EBU member but has no television station and so cannot enter the Contest (and has shown no desire to).
Individual Entries
Albania
Luiz will represent Albania is AthensOn December 18th in a show lasting over three hours the song that was chosen to go to Athens was "Zjarr E Ftohte (Cold Fire)" performed by Luiz Ejlli and a group of musicians playing traditional Balkan instruments and wearing traditional costumes. The winning entry was chosen by a mixture of a public televote and a panel of experts. There were two semi-finals in the evenings preceding the final, with the top twenty songs progressing to the final. The winning song "Zjarr E Ftohte" was composed by Klodian Qafoku, with lyrics written by Dr. Flori. In its performance version, the song is over three and a half minutes long and will therefore have to be re-arranged before May.
20 year old Luiz Ejlli is the first male singer to represent his country. Luiz originally came to fame in Albania when he won the 2004 "Idols" show. Later that year he competed in the Albanian National Final with the song "Hëna Dhe Vjet dashurojnë" (The Moon And The Stars Are Loving) and finished in second place, behind Ledina Çelo and the song "Nesër Shkoj" which represented Albania in Kyiv. Because Albania finished in 16th place in 2005, they will be competing against twenty four other countries in the semi-final of Eurovision 2006 on May 18th.
Andorran television has announced that it will make an internal decision on who will represent the country in Athens and the entrant will be unveiled in a special show in eith February or March. It is believed that despite two poor results in 2004 and 2005, the song will once again be performed in Catalan at Eurovision.
Armenia
Armenian broadcaster ARMTV confirmed a national selection takes place mid-February and that songs can be submitted until 20th January. The story about Meri Voskanian is entirely false.
Belarus
15 songs compete in the Belarussian final on February 10th, with the public selecting their three favourites. A panel of experts will then choose which of the three goes to Athens. Songs can be submitted to the Belarussian broadcaster until 9th January.
Belgium
Flemish broadcaster VRT will stage the Belgian final on February 19th. Before that there will be a series of four qualifiers and two semi-finals held in January and early February. Seven songs will compete in the final, and the list of performers in the qualifiers includes Vanessa Chinitor (1999) and Barbara Dex (1993). Big local stars Belle Perez, Kate Ryan and "Idols" winner Peter Evrard are considered to be the favourites.
Quarter-Final 1 - January 8th
Position
Song
Singer
1
P.O.W.E.R.
Brahim
2
Dame amor dame vida
Jeason
3
I'll be there for you
Sonny O'Brien
4
Hier sta ik
Fantoom
5
Beyond you
Vanessa Chinitor
6
Someone is calling
Zenna
7
Watch me move
Katerine
Quarter-Final 2 - January 15th
Position
Song
Singer
1
Easy esta noche
Casa Creola
2
Not that beautiful
Afi
3
The best time of my life
Tommy
4
Crazy
Barbara Dex
5
Feel like
Beatoxic
6
Als ik je morgen ergens tegenkom
Els de Schepper
7
Push it
Roxane
Quarter-Final 3 - January 22nd
Position
Song
Singer
1
I can't go on like this
Valérie Mouton
2
Je t'adore
Kate Ryan
3
Profile
Kaye Styles
4
Alleen jij
Axel Devries
5
History turning round
Laura D
6
Coward
Peter Evrard
7
I'm your man
Pim
Quarter-Final 4 - January 29th
Position
Song
Singer
1
In your heaven
Kaden
2
Gek
WOEST
3
I belong to you belong to me
Ali vs. Laura
4
Wonderland
La Sakhra
5
I'll be there for you
Triskèl
6
El mundo bailando
Belle Perez
7
Not right
Eve Kempbel
Bosnia and Herzegovina
File:Hajrudinvar.jpgHari will represent Bosnia & Hercegovina in AthensIt is now officially confirmed that Bosnian broadcaster has approached Hari Varesanovic to perform for Bosnia and Herzegovina at Eurovision 2006. Hari admitted that he will represent Bosnia in case he likes the song, and Bosnian broadcaster gave him carte blanche to invite composers and songwriters in his team to prepare the best possible entry. Among the authors invited in Hari's team are Tonci Huljic and Dino Merlin.
"I'm very glad authors from the whole region are going to take part in the project of making my song for ESC 2006", said Hari concentrating on preparation of the song for the contest. "We have a month to get things together and I am confident that a really good song will come out of this," he added.
Hajrudin "Hari" Varesanovic born in 1961 in Sarajevo is a famous and popular singer in Bosnia and Herzegovina and leader of the band Hari Mata Hari.
Bulgaria
Bulgaria chooses its second Eurovision entry in a national final on March 11th. Songs must be submitted by January 20th. 24 finalists will be announced on February 4th. A qualifying contest will take place on February 25th with the public selecting the top twelve songs to contest the final.
Croatia
The Croatian entry will be chosen on March 5th at the Dora, their national final. On the two previous evenings there will be semi-finals, with the top songs progressing to the final.
Cyprus
The Cypriot public selects its entry from ten songs on February 22nd. Before that here will be two semi-finals on February 11th and 12th. 114 songs were submitted by writers and composers from 20 countries. Semifinals will take place in the studios of CyBC, the final will take place at the Eleftheria Stadium in Nicosia. 20 songs will compete, 10 in each semifinal. Five songs per semifinal will qualify for the final. The winner will be elected by televoting. The songs, but not the singers were announced on January 4th, but there is a problem, as some songwriters have submitted songs to other countries Eurovision selections, which is against the Cypriot broadcasters CyBC's rules. CyBC are investigating and in an increasingly farcical situation, up to a quarter of the songs now face disqualification. CyBC will issue a statement next week.
Denmark
The Danish Final will be held on February 11th at the Gigantium Arena in Aalborg.
Position
Song
Singer
1
En som dig
Søren Poppe & Lene Matthiesen Nørrelykke
2
Heaven
David Mader
3
Je ne regrette rien
Neighbours
4
Twist of love
Sidsel Ben Semmane
5
Ta’ hjertet med
Claus Hasfeldt
6
Søde gys
Jørgen Thorup
7
Åh amore
Kim Schwartz
8
Make this night forever
Kristine Blond
9
Grib mig
Trine Jepsen & Christian Bach
10
2 in 1
Danni Elmo
Estonia
The Estonian Final will be held on February 4th at the ETV TV Studios in Tallinn. An international jury will choose the winner. The performers will be announced in mid-January.
Position
Song
Singer
1
It was you
Carola Szücs
2
Open up your heart
?
3
Everytime I tell you
?
4
Iseendale
?
5
Sweet separation
?
6
Through my window
?
7
Higher
?
8
Be 1st
?
9
Friends will be friends
Noorkuu
10
Mr Right
?
Finland
The Finnish Final will be held on March 10th at the Caribia hall in Turku, hosted by Heikki Paasonen & Jaana Pelkonen. Before the final, there will be 4 semi-finals held at the Tohloppi Studios in Tampere. The favourite song of each singer in the semi-finals (chosen by televoting) will qualify for the final, where the winner will be chosen in two rounds of voting - the first to select the top 6 and the second to select the winner.
Semi-Final 1 - January 13th
Position
Song
Singer
1
Eternamente Maria
Tomi Metsäketo
2
Look at your love
Jennie
3
Hard rock hallelujah
Lordi
4
Un posto fra le nuvole
Tomi Metsäketo
5
Take me higher
Jennie
6
Bringing back the balls to rock
Lordi
Semi-Final 2 - January 20th
Position
Song
Singer
1
Kerta viimeinen
Johanna Pakonen
2
Liian monta yötä
Johanna Pakonen
3
Over you
Ville Pusa
4
Eternally
Ville Pusa & Christa Renwall
5
This is what we came for
Nina & Hanna Riikka
6
Who I am
Nina & Hanna Riikka
Semi-Final 3 - January 27th
Position
Song
Singer
1
Shanghain valot
Annika Eklund
2
Sinussa on jotain
Annika Eklund
3
V.I.P.
Jane
4
Sivuoireita
Jane
5
Toinen minä
Kilpi
6
Katharsis
Kilpi
Semi-Final 4 - February 3rd
Position
Song
Singer
1
Antaudun
Marita Taavitsainen
2
Enkeli itkee
Marita Taavitsainen
3
Liian aikaisin
Katariina Hänninen
4
Pala taivasta
Katariina Hänninen
5
I can't wait
Safe Six
6
Livin' it up
Safe Six
France
A national final consisting of talent search performers will be held in early March and the public and a panel of experts will combine to select the winner. Before that there will be seven regional auditions including some in France's overseas territories. On 7th of January France 2 is launching the show Entree des artistes, which will air each Saturday at 11:55 CET, and will aim on selection of four candidates for the French final.
There will be 21 performers in the final, besides 4 selected during Pascal Sevran's show:
13 of them will be selected at internal semifinal after 7 regional castings organized by France 3 in cities of Lille, Nancy, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, Rennes and Paris. It is possible web voting will be implemented in this round. The last 4 candidates will be selected internally by Radio and TV channel RFO. The final is scheduled for the beginning of March and the winner will be decided by televoting and jury.
F.Y.R. Macedonia
The Macedonian entry will be chosen in a national final in late February or early March. Songs can be submitted until January 15th. A professional jury will select 20 songs to take part in the final and the winner will be decided by televoting only. The 2002 representative Karolina Goceva is said to be among the participants as well as Kaliopi and Esma.
Georgia
The Georgian broadcaster may have already internally selected a song and performer for Athens but are waiting on sponsors that will financially support the entry. Georgia has not officially stated that it will participate in Athens.
Germany
The German selection is on March 9th, with only three performers and songs as part of a special show celebrating 50 years of Eurovision. Singer/comedian Olli Ditrich with his country/pop band Texas Lightning, former Modern Talking singer Thomas Anders and 1972 Eurovision winner Vicky Leandros will compete. Although born in Greece, Leandros has lived in Germany for years. Her Eurovision winner "Apres Toi" was originally written for Germany, but when German television insisted on having a final in 1972, the songwriters offered the song to Luxembourg.
Greece
Greek television is likely to once again make an internal selection of a performer, and allow the public to choose the song. It is believed that a short list of high profile acts is currently being reviewed.
Iceland
Iceland has its national final on February 18th in Reykjavik. Before the final there will be a series of 3 semi-finals held on January 21st and 28th and February 4th with 8 songs in each. The top 4 songs in each semi-final (chosen by televoting) will qualify for the final where the public will also choose the winner. Among the singers are former Icelandic performers Anna Mjöll (1996) and Eyjólfur Kristjánsson (1991).
Ireland
Ireland was the first country to announce its Eurovision performer. 39-year-old Brian Kennedy will sing the Irish entry in Athens. The song will be chosen by the public from a selection of four songs in a special show in early spring.
Israel
The Israeli K-Dam will be held on March 15th, with twelve songs competing. An early favourite is Maya Buskila, the only big star in the contest, although the field also includes former "Star Academy" favourite Michael Kirkilan and American born Eddie Butler, who as part of the group Eden, represented Israel in 1999 with "Happy Birthday".
Position
Singer
Song
1
Guy Harari
?
2
Eddie Butler
?
3
Shlomo Gronich
?
4
Stalos & Oren Chen
?
5
Gabi Shushan, Uzi Fux & Sherry
?
6
Misha Kirkilan
?
7
Tzipi Mash'hid
?
8
Game Boys
?
9
Rama Messinger
?
10
Aviva & Maya Avidan
?
9
Maya Buskila
?
10
Diamonds
?
Latvia
The Latvian final will be held in early March and before the final there will be 2 semi-finals in February. The competing songs have now been confirmed, and 17 of 20 performers have been named, none of who have previously competed at Eurovision.
Lithuanian broadcaster LRT announced 22 of the 'big names' for the two semifinals, scheduled to take palce on 18th and 25th February. Lithuania will pick its 2006 Eurovision Song Contest representative at 4th March. So-called newcomers can earn a ticket for the semifinals in three preselections. After the three preselections, two more shows will take place on 4th and 11th February in which the best preselected newcomers will perform, to complete the list of semifinalists. During these shows, an unknown number of newcomers will be chosen to participicate in semifinals.
The following artists are guarantueed a place in the semifinals:
Position
Song
Singer
1
Kita diena/another day
4Fun
2
-
Aiste Pilvelyté
3
The heat
Alanas Chošnau
4
Madona
Aliukai
5
Day or night
Amberlife
6
Wonder who loves you
Artas
7
If my dream came true
B'Avarija
8
Pajurio samba
Bugs Band
9
Flirtin on the dance floor
C–Stone ir Favour
10
Tavo ir mano dalia
Edmundas Kucinskas
11
Geografias
Eduardo Gimenez
12
Už lango švente
Egidijus Sipavicius
13
Grafiti
Giulija
14
It's a longest way
Highway
15
Welcome
Inculto
16
We are the winners
LT United
17
Escape we tonight
Mantas
18
Alright
N.E.O.
19
Pavasario lietus
Nacija
20
I feel so free
Road Band
21
Lithuanian boy
Ruta Lukoševiciute
22
Back to the future
Saules Kliošas
The newcomers have been devided into three heats. During these heats they can qualify themselves for the semifinals. This is the result of the draw:
Heat 1 - 14th January
Position
Song
Singer
1
Not good to be mad
Egle Juodyte
2
Daydreaming
Eleonora Sobrova
3
Make me wanna loose you
Auguste Vedrickaite
4
Falling in love
Robertas Kupstas
5
Pop, vaig, de
Antanas Nedzinskas
6
Thoughts
Margarita Arta
7
I Dont think
Jonas Cepulis
8
All I need
Ola
9
Baby you are
Fate
10
Take me
Evelina Jocyte
Heat 2 - 21st January
Position
Song
Singer
1
Halo
Colder
2
Remember
Helada
3
Eternal love
Milana
4
4 Ever
Dove
5
Round and round
Gravel
6
Funny
Sekme
7
Song about love
Super Kolegos
8
Iš Lempos
Flaer
9
Give me your heart
Smir Yok
10
Leisk svajoti
Evelin
Heat 3 - 28th January
Position
Song
Singer
1
Girl you know
Intros
2
Cockroach love
Stringai
3
Window to the world
Ashtrey
4
Turn around
Rugiageliu berniukai
5
Lifestyle
Tribute
6
Time to change
Onca
7
Again
Neri
8
I'm so happy
Banglai
9
Juros liga
Gediminas Nadtocis
10
The way to you
Dovile Miknaityte
Malta
The Maltese Final will be held on February 3rd & 4th - two of the finalists will be the first and second placed songs from the "Opportunity 2" show which is for performers who have never taken part in previous Maltese Finals. The final of "Opportunity 2" is on January 7th.
Position
Song
Singer
1
You too
J. Anvil
2
Amazing
Anabel Debono
3
Only till the morning
Ali & Lis
4
It just comes natural
Josef Tabone & Amanda Farrugia
5
Echoes of Gaia
Charlene & Natasha
6
I promise you
Manuel Xuereb
7
I do
Fabrizio Faniello
8
Tell me
Eleanor Cassar
9
This heart of mine
Trilogy
10
So good
Andreana
11
Time
Paul Giordimaina & Morena
12
Reachin' out
Pamela
13
Stronger
Christian Arding
14
Waves
Nadine Axisa
15
Stay with me
Lara Azzopardi
16
You're my dream
Kevin Borg
17
High alert
Claudia Faniello
18
Spare a moment
Olivia Lewis
Moldova
Moldova will once again have a national final to select its second Eurovision entry. At the beginning of February there will have an internal selection at TRM, where a jury will decide on the 15 finalists that will perform in a final at the end of February. Songs in any language are currently being accepted.
Monaco
Behind closed doors Monaco has chosen its Eurovision entry for 2006. Although the title has not been made public, it is believe to be an up-tempo song, and over the next couple of months, TMC will hold an internal selection to choose the performer.
The Netherlands
The Dutch Final will be held on March 12th at the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam. Each performer will sing three songs and the winner will be chosen in two rounds of voting. In the first round an expert jury will select the best song by each performer before the eventual winner is chosen by televoting. The three performers are foursome Behave, 2004 Dutch "Pop Idol" runner-up Maud and the female trio Treble.
Norway
The Norwegian final Melodi Grand Prix 2006 will be held on February 4th at the Spektrum in Oslo, hosted by Synnøve Svabø & Stian Barsnes Simonsen. Before the final, there will be 4 semi-finals. The top 2 songs in the first 3 semi-finals will qualify for the final, while the 3rd and 4th placed songs will have a second chance to qualify for the final in the 4th semi-final.
Semi-Final 4 - Oslo - February 3rd
-Second Chance Round-
Poland
The Polish Final will be held on January 28th. 15 songs will take part and the winner will be chosen by a combination of televoting and an expert jury. Ich Troje (Poland 2003) and Danzel (who scored a massive European hit with "Pump It Up" in 2004) are among the finalists, while Ivan & Delfin (Poland 2004) and Anabel Conde (Spain 1995) missed out on selection.
Position
Song
Singer
1
Goodbye
Agata Torzewska
2
Undercover
Danzel
3
I wanna know
Katarzyna Mos
4
Za kare
Maciej Silski
5
Love is what we all need
Leonie Kuizenga
6
Follow my heart
Ich Troje featuring Real McCoy
7
Good girl
Dezire
8
Popatrz na mnie
Ha-Dwa-O
9
Zamilcz
Katarzyna Cerekwicka
10
Kocham cie
Slawomir Uniatowski
11
Jezeli jestes - wolam cie
Mosqitoo
12
W nas cieplo wiosen
Brathanki
13
How many people
The Jet Set
14
Zero do stracenia
Kto To
15
I feel in love
Queens
Portugal
RTP will once again have an internal selection by sending invitations to songwriters and performers, among these may be well known singers in the Portuguese music scene.
Romania
While nothing has been officially announced, it is believed that Romania will once again use a national final to select its entry. TVR will anounce the date of Romanian National Selection soon. Loredana Groza who was the runner-up in the 2005 Romanian selections might be submitting a song for this year.
Russia
From 2006 two Russian broadcasters, Channel One and Channel Russia, are going to join forces to the select future Eurovision participants. Channel One will make the 2006 selection through a national final, while Channel Russia (RTR) will select the 2007 representative.
Despite the fact that Russian Channel One has yet to announce officially the entry submission period for Open National Preselection for Eurovision contest 2006, several Russian artist have already revealed that they have submitted or are going to submit their applications. Among them are Dima Bilan, who is believed to be preparing his second song with new team of producers, titled "Ya umirayu ot lyubvi" (I'm dying of love) for preselection, Varvara whose Eurovision ambitions are highlight of the season in Russia so far, new girls band The D@isies with military image (known also as R@mashki, produced by Elena Kiper, ex co-producer of Tatu, participants of 5 stars contest, who prepared to enter ESC with the song written by Steve Winwood), well-known female singer Jasmin and others.
It is interesting that previously it was clamed that lead singer of Ramashki Sasha is just 14 years old. If it is really what her passport record is, then she will not be allowed to enter Eurovision 2006, but that can be only promotional info by the producers which is not rare thing in Russian show biz.
Singers Jam and Elena Terleeva also announced that they are eager to return to national selection, and have already prepared billingual Russian/English song for the contest. It is possible though Elena will perform as solo singer.
Serbia and Montenegro
Serbia and Montenegro will once again have two separate semi-finals with the best songs progressing to a final to be staged in Serbia. Montenegro's Montevizija will be staged on February 24th in Pogdorica. Serbia's Beovizija on March 10th. With the final Europesma in Belgrade featuring the best ten songs from each territory on March 11th.
Slovenia
The Slovene final (the EMA) will be staged on January 29th at the RTVSLO TV studios in Ljubljana. 14 songs will take part and the public and an expert jury will choose the winner. The list of performers includes many former Slovenian finalists, but none that have gone to Eurovision.
Position
Song
Singer
1
Nora sem, da te ljubim
Nuška Drašcek
2
SOS
Natalija Verboten
3
Noro se ujameva
Rebeka Dremelj & Domen Kumer
4
Tu da du
Sergeja
5
Mandoline
Saša Lendero
6
Rapad tepe ipi mapam
Andraž Hribar
7
V mojih dlaneh
Marijan Novina
8
Polkaholik
Atomik Harmonik
9
Vihar
Maja Slatinšek
10
Hokus pokus
Ylenia
11
Plan B
Anžej Dežan
12
Najdi me
Katrinas
13
Ostani z mano
Monika Pucelj
14
Hocem stran
Alenka Godec
Spain
Spanish broadcaster TVE is currently accepting potential Eurovision entries with a submission deadline of January 31st. It is now believed that Spanish broadcaster TVE favours a national final to select their entry. Artist that have confirmed an entry in the Spanish selection are Triunviratum, Arkaitz, Las Supremas de Mostoles, Jhona, Key Echavaria, Anabel Conde, Julia, Kike & Kyke, Silvia Fedriani, and Mikel Herzog.
Sweden
The Swedish Final will be held at the Globe Theatre in Stockholm on March 18th, hosted by Lena Philipsson who represented Sweden in ESC 2004. Before the final there will be 5 semi-finals. The top 2 songs in each semi-final will qualify for the final, while the 3rd and 4th placed songs will go forward to the 5th semi-final. Three more 'wildcard' entries have still to be announced - they are rumoured to include Magnus Carlsson (from Barbados & Alcazar) and Charlotte Perelli (winner of ESC 1999).
Semi-Final 1 - Ejendahls Arena, Leksand -18th February
File:SWISS06.jpgsix4one is the group that will represent Switzerland in Athens. This image has been created from the 6 smaller images and has not been stolen from a Eurovision website.Following their best Eurovision result in years, Switzerland will be represented in the final with a song by Eurovision stalwarts Ralph Siegel and Bernd Meinunger and it will be performed by a group call six4one formed especially for the contest. The group consists of Andreas Lundstedt, Tinka Milinovic, Claudia D'Addio, Marco Matias, Liel Colette, and Keith Camilleri.
Turkey
File:Sibeltuzin.jpgSibel will represent Turkey in AthensExperienced artist Sibel Tüzün will represent Turkey in Athens. She started her singing career already in 1971 when she joined broadcaster TRT's child choir. She went on studying classical music and opera. Though lately she is most famous for being a pop and rock artist. Sibel Tüzün will represent Turkey not only as a singer but also as a song writer and a composer. "I will prepare 3 songs according to TRT's demands. And the comitee will indicate the song to join to Eurovision. The song will be Turkish according to TRT's decision. In my CD, there will also be the English and Greek versions. Now my aim is to be in first 3 by presenting a super song, a wonderful performance and a great show." said Sibel Tüzün about the song she will sing in Athens.
Ukraine
Ukraine has adopted the "You're A Star" model to select its 2006 entry. Regional auditions will take place in six regions. From each audition, a panel of judges will select two to go forward as finalists. The 12 selected will then go to an academy where they will work with composers, stylists and choreographers. In early 2006 at eight televised shows will eliminate the finalists and select the singer and song and the Eurovision entry will be chosen on March 11th by a mixture of televoting and expert jury.
United Kingdom
Five songs compete in the third edition of "Making Your Mind Up" which selects the U.K. entry. Four will be commissioned by the BBC and a fifth through the song writing initiative "Sold on Song".
Denmark
France
Germany
Greece
Israel
Latvia
Malta
Member of the Order of Liberty
Norway
Romania
Serbia and Montenegro
Spain
Switzerland
United Kingdom
Albania
Andorra
Armenia
Belgium
Belarus
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Croatia
Cyprus
Estonia
Finland
Iceland
Ireland
Lithuania
North Macedonia
Monaco
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Russia
Slovenia
Sweden
Turkey
Ukraine
Algeria
Egypt
Italy (last participated in 1997)
Jordan
Libya
Luxembourg (last participated in 1993)
Morocco (last participated in 1980)
San Marino
Slovakia (last participated in 1998)
Tunisia (would have participated in 1977, but withdrew)
Liechtenstein has no television or radio station and so cannot join the EBU. It therefore cannot enter the Eurovision Song Contest, although many Liechtensteiners would like to. The 
Vatican City is an active EBU member but has no television station and so cannot enter the Contest (and has shown no desire to).
