THE Eurovision Song Contest is finally back THIS WEEK and this year it's heading to Tel-Aviv, Israel.
Contestants from over 35 countries are gearing up to compete to be crowned the winner of the biggest live music event on television – but which countries are taking part this year? Let's take a look…
Which countries are taking part in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest, who are the singers and what songs will they be performing?
The show returns kicks off on May 14, 2019 in Tel Aviv.
The big final will then take place on May 14, 2019.
Here's all of the singers and what they will be performing.
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- Albania: Jonida Maliqi – “Ktheju tokës”
- Armenia: Srbuk – “Walking Out”
- Australia: Kate Miller-Heidke – “Zero Gravity”
- Austria: Paenda – “Limits”
- Azerbaijan: Chingiz – “Truth”
- Belarus: Zena – “Like It”
- Belgium: Eliot – “Wake Up”
- Croatia: Roko – “The Dream”
- Cyprus: Tamta – “Replay”
- Czech Republic: Lake Malawi – “Friend of a Friend”
- Denmark: Leonora – “Love Is Forever”
- Estonia: Victor Crone – “Storm”
- Finland: Darude feat. Sebastian Rejman – “Look Away”
- France: Bilal Hassani – “Roi”
- Georgia: Oto Nemsadze – “Sul tsin iare”
- Germany: S!sters – “Sister”
- Greece: Katerine Duska – “Better Love”
- Hungary: Joci Pápai – “Az én apám”
- Iceland: Hatari – “Hatrið mun sigra”
- Ireland: Sarah McTernan – “22”
- Israel: Kobi Marimi – “Home”
- Italy: Mahmood – “Soldi”
- Latvia: Carousel – “That Night”
- Lithuania: Jurijus – “Run with the Lions”
- Malta: Michela Pace – “Chameleon”
- Moldova: Anna Odobescu – “Stay”
- Montenegro: D-mol – “Heaven”
- Netherlands: Duncan Laurence – “Arcade”
- North Macedonia: Tamara Todevska – “Proud”
- Norway: KEiiNO – “Spirit in the Sky”
- Poland: Tulia – “Fire of Love (Pali się)”
- Portugal: Conan Osíris – “Telemóveis”
- Romania: Ester Peony – “On a Sunday”
- Russia: Sergey Lazarev – “Scream”
- San Marino: Serhat – “Say Na Na Na”
- Serbia: Nevena Božović – “Kruna”
- Slovenia: Zala Kralj & Gašper Šantl – “Sebi”
- Spain: Miki – “La venda”
- Sweden – John Lundvik – “Too Late For Love”
- Switzerland: Luca Hänni – “She Got Me”
- United Kingdom: Michael Rice – “Bigger Than Us”
Why isn't Bulgaria competing at Eurovision?
Bulgaria blamed "financial reasons" for their decision not to compete.
In a tweet made by BNT Eurovision Bulgaria made on October 15, 2018, they said:
"We are sad to announce that Bulgaria withdraws from #Eurovision.
"The decision is based on financial reasons because the costs of the project far exceed the financial capacity of BNT according to the Management of the broadcaster
An EBU spokesperson said:"We regret that Bulgarian National Television (BNT) has taken the decision not to enter the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv.
"BNT has been an enthusiastic participant and enjoyed great success in the contest in recent years."
Before adding: "We look forward to welcoming them back in the future."
The country made their Eurovision debut back in 2005 and continued to participate until 2013.
However they withdrew in 2014 and 2015, only to return in 2016 where they landed in fourth place.
Bulgaria competed in 2017 and went on to finish second in the Grand Final – their personal best.
This year's entry was EQUINOX qualified for the 2018 Grand Final and reached 14th position.
Who is representing the UK in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest?
This year’s UK Eurovision entry is 21-year-old Michael Rice from Hartlepool, which is a town in County Durham on the North Sea coast.
Rice has previously entered himself as a contestant on The X Factor in 2014 and has also appeared on the British music competition show All Together Now.
He will be performing the song “Bigger Than Us” in the hopes to take own the winning title for his home country.
Rice tells BBC that he’s super determined to make his nation proud regardless of people’s opinions regarding the seriousness concerning those who enter the competition.
“I think you have to be positive when it comes to stuff like this,” he shared.
“Some people do take the mickey out of it and these other countries really do take it seriously.”
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