Since the introduction of the semi final system in 2004 the contest has changed hugely with the numbers of participants increasing from 26 countries in 2003 a peak of 43 countries in 2008. Before 2004 the contest was mainly made up of western nations and a small number of ex-Yugoslav and ex-Soviet states, but due to mounting interest from countries across Europe the EBU decided to introduce a new semi final system which would see the countries who had come below 10th place in 2003 (except the Big 4 nations), the 5 countries who had not been able to take part in the 2003 contest due to size restrictions of the contest, the returning nation of Monaco who had been absent since 1979 and 4 debuting nations of Albania, Andorra, Belarus and Serbia and Montenegro.
The semi final saw a total of 22 countries take part and all participating countries in the contest voting except France, Russia and Poland. The new semi final system was seen as a success for the EBU and has been kept ever since 2004. 2005 saw the return of Hungary to the contest who had last taken part in 1998, Bulgaria and Moldova also joined the contest for the first time in Kiev. 2006 saw the contest go to Kiev and a total of 37 countries take part in the contest with Armenia debuting in the contest but Austria, Hungary and Serbia and Montenegro withdrawing.
The 2007 contest saw a record-breaking 42 countries take part in the contest, Austria and Hungary had returned after a year break from the contest, whilst Monaco had withdrawn from the contest. The 4 debuting nations that year were the Czech Republic, Georgia, Montenegro and Serbia. The 2007 contest would be the last time that only 1 semi final would be held, a total of 28 countries took part in the semi final making it the largest Eurovision show ever.
The 2008 contest in Belgrade saw the semi finals split into two contests of 19 each with Azerbaijan and San Marino debuting and Austria withdrawing. 20 nations would now qualify to join the host nation and the big 4 in the final. 18 of the qualifiers would be chosen by televoters with 2 countries being selected by the jury’s. The Two Semi Finals would see the countries in each semi final plus 2 of the big 4 voting in one semi final and 2 of the big 4 plus the host nation in the other semi final. The 2010 contest saw the end of the jury saving 1 country in each semi final. The jury and the public televote combined would now choose the 10 nations that would make it to the final on Saturday night. Since the return of Italy in 2011 3 of the Big 5 vote in one semi final and 2 of the Big 5 plus the Host Nation vote in the other.
Things that may confuse you:
There is no reading out of the votes in the semi finals, this means that suspense is kept up during the reveal of the qualifying nations. The points are no longer revealed straight after the qualifiers have been announced, this has not happened for a long time. The most memorable of these vote reveals happened in 2004 when Switzerland were shown to have received 0 points.
There does not need to be the same number of countries in each semi final. In 2009 18 countries took part in the 1st Semi Final and 19 in the 2nd Semi Final.
In 2012 we saw the magic golden envelope for the final qualifier. There is nothing of any significance to the envelope, it is just a way to add tension to the situation and increase the atmosphere in the arena.
The countries are revealed in no specific order this is so that the viewer does not know where the qualifying country came in the semi final adding to suspense during the final on the Saturday night
