Of the countries automatically in the final only Azerbaijan, Germany, Spain and United Kingdom have confirmed their entry.

Rumours are that the Czech Republic could be returning to the contest having not returned since 2009. While there is also talk that Morocco could enter the contest again. Morocco only entered in 1980 when they came 18th only beating the Belgian entry of that year.

Rumours also abound that Armenia, Portugal and Slovakia could be withdrawing from the contest.

Of course its all speculation at the moment but we should have confirmation in the New Year of final line up

The five acts will compete on the  The Late Late Show Eurosong 2012 on the 24th of February, 2012.  The winner will again be decided by combination of Public Vote and Regional Jury.

Speaking about the decision RTÉ Eurovision Co-ordinator Julian Vignoles said “As was the case in previous years RTÉ wanted to offer the Irish public a say in deciding who Ireland’s Eurovision entry should be. We felt the last year’s mentoring process was successful in delivering five strong acts which could represent Ireland. This year our five mentors represent all aspects of the Irish music/entertainment industry and have already begun their search for the act which will deliver another strong performance for Ireland at the Eurovision. The mentors are currently sourcing their acts and songs and a number of acts including Jedward have been approached by the mentors to take part in the contest.”

The Acts will be revealed in the new year.

Julian Benson is a show business agent and choreographer. He has a keen interest in the ESC and has served RTÉ’s song selection committee several times in the past.

Greg French is a member of The Brilliant Things and works as a music producer/songwriter and for television.

Bill Hughes has been an independent television professional for 26 years with over 1000 hours of music, entertainment and documentary programmes to his credit. Hughes, alongside Louis Walsh and Linda Martin, was a judge on Irish television sensation Popstars and has also done jury duty on a number of shows including RTÉ’s You’re A Star.

Edele Lynch is a successful singer and songwriter. She made her name as member of Bewitched, their album, which Lynch wrote, sold 6 million copies worldwide. Lynch has also written songs for Girls Aloud, Sugababes and more recently has been in the band Barbarellas and has written their album NightMode.

Linda Martin needs no introduction to ESC matters, having, as a performer, won the contest in 1992 and come 2nd in 1984. Linda also chaired the RTÉ Eurovision Song Selection Committee in 2009 to 2010.