The number of nations applying to become members of the European Broadcasting Union is increasing all the time. You’re all well aware of Kazakhstan’s ambition. And now the newest applicant is the tiny Faroe Islands, located between Iceland and Norway. Since 1948, the archipelago has been a self-ruling country within the Kingdom of Denmark. The Faroese national tv station — Kringvarp Foroyar — is already holding internal discussions to host their very own Melody Grand Prix, with the ultimate goal of becoming part of the ever-growing Eurovision family.

According to the Danish-language Greenlandic web site Sermitsiaq, Kringvarp Foroyar have applied to become members of the EBU before. They originally applied in 2010, but were denied on the grounds that only independent nations could be members. Today they say it is a whole different story. The broadcaster’s former director did some research and says the Faroe Islands are more than eligible to become a part of the EBU. According to the paper, and the broadcaster, “The Faroe Islands are not excluded by the definition that only independent nations can be a member.”

Look at Welsh broadcaster S4C. It’s a member. And the parliament of Catalonia recently passed a measure giving approval for a regional broadcaster there to push forward with applying for full membership to the EBU.

As part of its ambitions, the Faroe Islands wants to host their own national final for Eurovision. The nation has regularly applied to be a member ever since 2010 and wiwibloggs first reported almost five years ago that the country was more than serious about their membership. Speaking of the matter, their then cultural minister, Bjorn Kalsoy, said: “We want to show the EBU that the Faroe Islands are more than an equal match to other countries when it comes to competing in the Eurovision Song Contest”. Boom!

But there is so much more behind the islands’ application for the EBU.

“It’s not just about Eurovision,” says Johnny í Grótinum, the director of Kringvarp Foroyar.

“Granted, the membership is quite expensive, but the EBU also has so much to offer us in terms of service, news and other things that are useful to us.”

But what if they stage a national final, send their winner all the way to the big stage at Eurovision and, in the end, win the whole contest? What would happen? Would the Faroe Islands be able to host such a huge event?

Johnny is realistic.

“No, unfortunately the Faroe Islands could not welcome all the competing nations, although we definitely want to. We would have to seek help from another country and host the contest there”.

Although not an EBU member just yet, the Faroe Islands are no strangers to Eurovision. Many of the country’s most talented musicians have already tried their luck through other national finals in neighbouring countries, such as Melodifestivalen in Sweden, Söngvakeppni in Iceland and of course DMGP.

Their latest representatives were the Faroese sisters Laila, Barbara and Vanja Carlsen, who were among the ten finalists of DMGP 2018. And due to their close relationship to Iceland, there have been several Faroese singers competing in Söngvakeppni, such as Eivör Pálsdóttir, Jógvan Hansen and most recently Kristina Bærendtsen.

Team Wiwi always dares to dream a dream and there is a slight possibility that we foresee the future, for we even wrote a wish list about possible candidates for Eurovision. When and if the EBU accepts the Faroe Islands as permanent members, we might just have to update that list, for they might be small, but music-wise, the Faroe Islands are huge! We for one can’t wait to welcome them to the party.

What are your thoughts? Do you look forward to seeing the Faroe Islands on the Eurovision scoreboard in the future? Is their application dream only a dream or are they a force to be reckoned with? Please comment your thoughts below.

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