The highly-anticipated list of Eurovision 2012 participants was finally released by the EBU today, and to the pleasant surprise of many, there will be 43 nations competing for ESC glory in Baku, Azerbaijan this May.  An unfortunate withdrawal by Poland was offset by the welcome return of Montenegro, and all other countries have decided to remain in the competition.  The participating broadcasters are:

• Albania (RTVSH)
• Armenia (AMPTV)
• Austria (ORF)
• Azerbaijan (Ictimai TV)
• Belarus (BTRC)
• Belgium (VRT)
• Bosnia & Herzegovina (BHRT)
• Bulgaria (BNT)
• Croatia (HRT)
• Cyprus (CyBC)
• Denmark (DR)
• Estonia (ERR)
• Finland (YLE)
• France (France TV)
• FYR Macedonia (MKRTV)
• Georgia (GTVR)
• Germany (NDR/ARD)
• Greece (ERT)
• Hungary (MTV)
• Iceland (RÚV)
• Ireland (RTÉ)
• Israel (IBA)
• Italy (RAI)
• Latvia (LTV)
• Lithuania (LRT)
• Malta (PBS)
• Moldova (TRM)
• Montenegro (RTCG)
• The Netherlands (TROS)
• Norway (NRK)
• Portugal (RTP)
• Romania (TVR)
• Russia (RTR)
• San Marino (SMRTV)
• Serbia (RTS)
• Slovakia (STV)
• Slovenia (RTVSLO)
• Spain (RTVE)
• Sweden (SVT)
• Switzerland (SRG/SSR)
• Turkey (TRT)
• Ukraine (NTU)
• United Kingdom (BBC)

The Final, to be held on May 26, will have six automatic qualifiers: Azerbaijan, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom.  Because of this, one of the Semifinals will contain 19 songs, the other will have 18, and the Final will have 26 total entries for the first time since 2003.  The Allocation Draw (which will divide the 37 countries into Semifinals, but not determine a running order) will be held on January 25.  For more information on each nation’s National Final or Internal Selection process, check out my “Baku 2012” page, which will be updated with more details as they roll in.