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Armenia Officially Withdraws from Eurovision 2012

Today Armenian Public Television officially informed the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) of their withdrawal from the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest, reads a statement published on the official Eurovision website.

“We are truly disappointed by the broadcaster’s decision to withdraw from this year’s Eurovision Song Contest,” said the Contest Executive Supervisor Jon Ola Sand on behalf of the EBU. “Despite the efforts of the EBU and the Host Broadcaster to ensure a smooth participation for the Armenian delegation in this year’s contest, circumstances beyond our control lead to this unfortunate decision.”

Consequently, only 42 countries — instead of the 43 announced — will be represented at the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest in Baku, Azerbaijan. In each Semi-Final, 18 countries will be represented, whereas France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and host country Azerbaijan are automatically qualified for the Final.

Recall, following news of the Feb. 23 death of Albert Adibekyan, who was serving in the army, a group of Armenian singers had issued a statement saying they were boycotting the Eurovision Song Contest held in Baku this year and in a country that is “known for massacres and killings of Armenians” and has snipers that kill Armenian soldiers, citing Adibekyan’s death as one of these instances. However, it later became known that Adibekyan died from a shot fired not by an Azerbaijani sniper but by a fellow conscript