Portugal bows out of Eurovision due to cost of winning

Portugal has pulled out of next year’s Eurovision Song Contest over fears that, should its national act win, it would not be able to afford to stage the glitzy event.

It is the first time since 1964 that Portugal will not be taking part in the opinion-dividing event, having confirmed its withdrawal on 22 November.
In a statement on its website, national broadcaster RTP confirmed Portugal’s withdrawal and cited financial pressure as the main reason for side-stepping the competition.
RTP said it had informed the relevant entities of its decision, and justified its absence as being due to “current budgetary circumstances, which do not allow for the accumulation of assembled events”, and so
it must “opt for those that bring the greatest dignity” to singers and which are the most “wide-reaching” in terms of
audiences.
However, a return in 2014 has not been ruled out.
Eurovision Song Contest custom has it that the nation of the winning act hosts the next event.
Given Portugal’s current economic circumstances, hosting a Eurovision contest at a cost of many millions of euros is quite probably not a top priority. Yet seeing as a Portuguese act has never finished higher than sixth in the history of the competition, the odds are high as to whether Portugal would actually be footing the bill in 2014.
Next year’s Eurovision Song Contest will be the 58th annual Eurovision Song Contest and will take place in Malmö, Sweden, following Loreen’s win in the 2012 Contest with the song ‘Euphoria’.
So far, forty-two countries have confirmed participation.
At the start of this week it emerged that both Portugal and Poland have opted out of next year’s event.
Poland already gave last year’s contest a miss, and due to financial pressures after its co-hosting of the European football championships this summer, made the same decision this time round.