There are always surprises before, during and after the Eurovision Song Contest. This time Armenia is withdrawing from the competition. This means that there are only 40 countries left this year.

This is the official statement of the Armenian broadcaster AMPTV:

“After careful and detailed discussions, the Public Television Company of Armenia has decided to withdraw from the Eurovision Song Contest 2021, considering the latest events, the shortness of production time as well as other objective reasons that make the proper participation of Armenia at ESC 2021 impossible.”

And from Martin Österdahl, Executive Supervisor of the ESC:

“The EBU (European Broadcasting Union) community is deeply sorry that AMPTV has decided to withdraw from participating in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. Armenia have a great record at the Eurovision Song Contest and always bring excitement and quality performances to the stage. We understand the reasons for their withdrawal and we will miss their hard working and professional delegation in Rotterdam. We very much hope to welcome Armenia back in 2022.“

If this is the full story can be assumed only. Armenia could not produce the song in time before the deadline (March 15, 2021) seems to be a bit uncertain. Everybody knows that the country is still in a quarrel with Azerbaijan. So this is more understandable that a country, who is in trouble cannot participate in a funny song festival at the same time. These discussions don’t come up for the first time. When the 2017 ESC was held in Kiev, Ukraine, there were still battles going on in the eastern part of the country.

Armenia will be terribly missed this year, as the Armenian songs have always been an enrichment to the contest. Let’s all hope that Armenia will be back next year.

Author: Bernd LemmermannEmail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Public relations, Editor, Journalist

About me:
As one of the founders of eurovisionlive.com I am responsible for the interviews with the singers and the editorial content. My passion for the Eurovision Song Contest exists since my early childhood. The exotic music, different cultures and languages have given a lot of inspiration to me. Since my very first ESC in Dublin 1994 I particularly appreciate the get together and friendship of all the nationalities and Riverdance was a thrill!