 For a country to be eligible for potential participation in the Eurovision Song Contest , it needs to be an active member of the European Broadcasting Union ( EBU ) . The EBU issued an invitation of participation for the 2014 Contest to all 56 active members . Thirty @-@ seven countries confirmed their participation . Lebanon , Tunisia , and five other EBU members , however , did not publish their reasons for declining , whilst the following list of countries declined stating their reasons as shown below . 
