It’s that day again: Tonight, we will know the first definite entry of the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest. Sure, we have had shows from Belarus and Lithuania already, but the latter were just heats and – as usual – there is no guarantee that the former will have given us the actual entry. Tonight, then, it’s the Swiss who once again have the honour of kicking off the circus – unfortunately without Lys Assia.

The off season can finally be called “over”, and December will be more busy than ever, with Switzerland, Belgium, Albania, Lithuania and Ukraine deciding their entries.

But this is not the only reason why this season is a remarkable one. After Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Bosnia, now Turkey have announced their withdrawal from the upcoming contest. Their claimed reason should be less relevant than the fact that a notable amount of countries are leaving Eurovision, and that they are doing it now.

The withdrawing countries will have different reasons for doing so. Nevertheless, we are sure there is some common root for all the different reasons. And as external observers and fans of the show, we can only speculate and assume that the recent changes to the show don’t exactly play a small role. However, for now, it’s not a reason to panic, but to follow this season with high interest, and to be curious about how this story will continue as 2013 arrives.

Speaking of which (assuming the world doesn’t end next week):
Without you noticing, we at esc-chat.com are working heavily on some changes to our website, so it will be a season of change for us, too. And we can assure you that our changes will definitely mean “more” rather than “less”!

So whether you are über-happy with SVT’s approach to the contest or you’d prefer to boycott it all, we hope that you find something good somewhere in this season, and we are quite sure there still will be a lot of things to be delighted by as always.

And with that, there’s nothing left to say than to wish you a very happy new season!

Felix and Martin

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