Do you think we will get any more participation confirmations before the official list is released?
With the official participation list still nowhere to be seen, do you think any of the currently not confirmed countries will confirm participation before the list is revealed? Here's my assessment on what countries might want to confirm participation on their own:
đ˛đ° North Macedonia: Apparently the MRT planning project chairman, Smilka Janeska Sarkanjac, suggested confirming their participation back in late October. Assuming that their participation was still not 100% certain back then due to unfinished negotiations with the government or other reasons, I think a confirmation on their side seems definitely possible.
đ§đŦ Bulgaria: For whatever it's worth, BNT's infamous Eurovision Twitter account has sent out quite a few signals suggesting a Bulgarian return, also teasing an official statement to be released "soon". This might of course just be a massive troll, as the account has been more than a little bit...suspicious, to say the least, but if this is legit, an announcement prior to the official list might be a possibility.
đĻđē Australia: I would consider an Australian confirmation prior to the official list as somewhat unlikely. Australia hasn't made such an announcement in prior years, and seems to still be in discussion as to their continued participation anyway. I assume these discussions are what keeps the EBU from releasing the list in the first place (although there might be other reasons for this), so my assumption is that the official list will be released shortly after they are completed.
đĻđ˛ Armenia: Also a country I doubt would reveal anything prior to the official list, as they haven't done so in recent years. If anything, I think they would only say something if they surprisingly didn't participate, which seems unlikely given their JESC participation this year.
đˇđ´ Romania: I think Romania might make a confirmation if their participation is indeed certain, but might as well just wait for the official list. To my knowledge, they haven't teased anything in either direction yet, all news we got for Romania has been through unofficial reports. Basically, it's a big maybe.
As for other countries, the only one I could potentially see make a statement on participation is đ˛đĒ Montenegro, which may or may not participate next year. The only information we got on them was from a local newspaper claiming they weren't coming back, while at the same time basically saying "Yeah, we asked the broadcaster and they didn't repond, so it could be complete BS."
Other than them, I don't think any other country would say anything even if they were coming back. Assuming the rumors of 41 participants are indeed true and the 41st participant somehow wasn't Montenegro, I think whoever it is wants to basically pull a JESC Estonia and be a suprise entry on the final list. This is of course pure speculation on my side.
So that's my assessment on the situation. What to you think?