The European Broadcasting Union announced on 31 October 2016 that forty-three countries would participate in the contest , equalling the record set in and . and returned after a year 's absence , while withdrew on financial grounds . had originally planned to participate but announced their withdrawal on 13 April 2017 , after their representative , Julia Samoylova , was banned from entering Ukraine by virtue of travelling directly from Russia to Crimea , a region that was annexed by Russia in 2014 , to give a performance , which is illegal under Ukrainian law . This subsequently reduced the number of participating countries to forty-two
a year 's absence
Eurovision Song Contest 2016
Eurovision Song Contest 2017