And Australia makes it 17! That’s rights, Australia will participate in the 2015 Junior Eurovision Song Contest!

The first ever Australian representative will be announce on Friday 9th of October, when SBS the Australian national broadcaster, who brought us Guy Sebastian in Vienna, in May, will announce the name of the young singer and their song.

Last year we saw the return of Cyprus and Croatia, who have opted out of the 2015 contest, Sweden have also decided to withdraw from the Sofia contest. Albania and Macedonia have returned to the contest, whilst the biggest news comes from the land down under, with Australia debuting in JESC, alongside newcomers, Ireland. Thirteen countries who participated in the 2014 contest will be present in Bulgaria. Belarus and The Netherlands are the only countries who have participated in all Junior Eurovision Song Contests since it began back in 2003.

The final list of participating countries for the 2015 Junior Eurovision Song Contest has been announced and the final number is one more than the contest in Marsa, Malta last year:

Albania

Armenia

Australia

Belarus

Bulgaria

Georgia

Ireland

Italy

Macedonia

Malta

Montenegro

Russia

San Marino

Serbia

Slovenia

The Netherlands

Ukraine

The 2015 Junior Eurovision Song Contest will be broadcast live on the 21st of November from Sofia, Bulgaria