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Monaco turn away again
San Marino not quitting after poor start
esctoday.com can confirm that San Marino national broadcaster, SMRTV have applied to enter the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest. a few days ago, a rumour was curculated that the country would withdraw from the competition after a poor result in their debut year. The rumour was portrayed as news in some quarters, although never checked with the braodcaster. It has been denied without foundation and San Marino is set to appear on the list of provisional countries.
Whilst the 'will they won't they' saga continues about which countries will participate at the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest, it now seems clear that Monaco have not applied to participate at the competition. About one month ago, the Monagasque broadcaster was investigating the possibility of a return to the competition, but it will not occur in 2009.
So, with Georgia withdrawing for political reasons, Slovakia returning and Austria, Italy and Monaco remaining outside the competition, there are no countries set to participate for the first time, 43 countries are left to battle it out to win the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest.
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This year the process of signing up for the ESC is quite confusing. And it seems EBU wants to break its own rules negotiating with more broadcasters after the deadline...simply for breaking last year record?
I agree with Milan S. too!!!
I agree with Milan S.
I am happy that San Marino is in the next ESC !! I liked the song " Complice" and the group MIODIO very much !! We had a nice time with them in Belgrade !! I look forward to hear the 2th song from San Marino, I hope for another great song. I wish them Good Luck !!
@Pau, I think the voting system is just an excuse... As the lack of viewers is for Italy... :-(
GREAT!!! I hope the news about San Marino will be confirmed!!!
I don't understand why Monaco and Austria are still against joining again if the voting system has been changed...
Is it official that Monaco wont participate in Moscow.. Because I've heard they are considering of coming back !!
I really hope they will say a definitive "yes" since now they're on the provisional list....
What a pity Monaco is not coming back to the ESC! French is not going to be much used in this case... On the other hand, I hope San Marino will really participate next year. Their song this year was for me the third best one after Portugal and Turkey. Don't be discouraged, San Marino, and go on sending good songs, even if you've got no hope to win.
YEEEEEEEEEY
I love San Marino, I was hoping they wont quit. This is great news !!!
Yeah yeah, right... everybody loved it but im sure few voted for it.
Don't quit San Marino, Complice still is one of my favorites.
Good luck to 2009 ESC!
The band was OK but the song s***ed BIG TIME.
YAY!
i really liked their song, but i wasnt supprised they didn't qualify - like everyone else, it really has to grown on you to realise how good it is.
hopefully they will do better this year 
YES!!!!!!!!!!! I am so happy they are in. their song was ok. they shouldn't have picked a slow rock song. that rarely does well. and they shouldn't have had a ballerina. that was just weird. but they do know how to vote. they had the fairest votes out of all of the countries. i agreed 100%
I loved the San Marino song this year, one of the mysteries for me.
Good to see that they try again.
san marino had a very classy song this year , obviously too subtle to catch the televoters
I agree that the song took a while to grow, but it was one of my favourites this year. Let's see what they offer in 2009. As regards Monaco, they seem to want to have a competition where Monaco is guaranteed a place in the final. Sadly, although there were a couple of good songs, they send, like Andorra, performers who cant deliver on the night.
Great news! I actually liked "Complice" the first time I heard it 
I'm surprised it didn't qualify.
GREAT NEWS
I think San Marino deserve a second chance after the bad bad bad song they sent in 2008.
I think great news too that this year there are only 43 participants. I don't want more countries to join. I prefer the old ESC with only 1 semifinal. I don't like this format, and I don't like the presence of so much eastern countries.
Next year, more western countries to withdraw, i think. The jury voting will change nothing!!!
Great Hopefully they'll send a song as good as their last one, but make it alot more "instant" this year Eg more people want to vote for it just after one hearing This year I didnt really like the song until after hearing it alot, and if it was the same for every semi viewer, I can see why they did so badly 
I'll be very happy to see San Marino again, I loved their song this year..I couldn't understand why it didn't get more votes
Surely if Georgia has withdrawn and no new countries enter then that would be 42 participants? You should have stated that Slovakia is returning after an 11 year break. (I heard it was, can anyone confirm that?)
Sad news that Monaco will not join us in Moscow, but I will wait for the final list of countries confirmed by the EBU.
What about the statements on other websites about the EBU remaining in negotiations with one other country? Could a country be allowed to compete even if they had missed the deadline? It seems Svante's keen on breaking the 43-country record...
It seems we are going to have the same number of participants 2 years in a row for the first time in a long time.
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