Eurovision 2018: Semi Finals allocation draw result and Big 5-host country voting.
The traditional draw was held today at Lisbon’s City Hall in order to distribute a total of 37 countries into one of the two 2018 Eurovision Song Contest semi-finals, scheduled to be held on the 8th and 10th of May at the Altice Arena in Lisbon. The draw and the Host Insignia Handover Ceremony was held in Camara Municipal de Lisboa’s Salão Nobre (Noble Hall) and was hosted by Sílvia Alberto and Filomena Cautela.
A total 0f 43 countries will participate at the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest. 37 countries will compete in the semi-finals, whilst the BIG 5 and the host country Portugal are automatically qualified to compete in the Grand Final. Apart from which semi final, today’s draw determined in which half of each semi final will the countries perform. After the draw was held the final allocation has as following:
Semi-final 1
First half
- Bulgaria
- Lithuania
- Albania
- Azerbaijan
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Czech republic
- Iceland
- Israel
- Estonia
Second half
- Greece
- Cyprus
- Finland
- Switzerland
- Austria
- Armenia
- Ireland
- Croatia
- FYROM
Semi-final 2
First half
- Russia
- Serbia
- Denmark
- Romania
- AUstralia
- Norway
- Moldova
- San Marino
- TheNetherlands
Second half
- Montenegro
- Sweden
- Hungary
- Malta
- Latvia
- Georgia
- Poland
- Slovenia
- Ukraine
As we can see a total of 19 countries will compete in the First Semi-final on the 8th of May, whilst 18 countries will compete in the Second Semi-final on the 10th of May.
Big 5 + host country voting
The so-called Big 5 countries, United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, France and Italy together along with the hosting country Portugal are automatically qualified for the Grand Final. However today’s draw appointed in which semi final those 6 countries will have the right to vote:
The countries voting in semi-final 1 will be:
- Spain
- UK
- Portugal
The ones voting in semi-final 2 will be:
- France
- Italy
- Germany
The 2018 Eurovision Song Contest will will be held on the 8th, 10th and 12th of May at Altice Arena in Lisbon.