All 43 participating countries in the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest have now been allocated into one of the 2 semi-finals to take place in May.
This afternoon, the official semi-final allocation draw took place in Lisbon. Each of the 37 countries who will be taking part in the semi-finals were allocated into either the first or second show, and then drawn into the first or second half of that show. The big 5 and host country Portugal, who will not participate in the semi-finals, were all allocated a show in which they can vote. In a draw prior to this afternoon’s ceremony, it was determined that, due to an odd number of participating countries, semi-final 1 would feature 19 countries, whilst semi-final 2 would have 18.
The results of the draw are as follows.
Semi-Final 1
First half
- Albania
- Azerbaijan
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Czech Republic
- Estonia
- Iceland
- Israel
- Lithuania
Second half
- Armenia
- Austria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- F.Y.R Macedonia
- Finland
- Greece
- Ireland
- Switzerland
Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom will also air and vote in this semi-final.
Semi-Final 2
First half
- Australia
- Denmark
- Moldova
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Romania
- Russia
- San Marino
- Serbia
Second half
- Georgia
- Hungary
- Latvia
- Malta
- Montenegro
- Poland
- Slovenia
- Sweden
- Ukraine
It was determined that France, Germany and Italy would air and vote in this semi-final. Italy were given prior permission from the EBU to air this semi-final, and so were not drawn today.
You can catch up on today’s draw below:
Today’s ceremony was hosted byย Sรญlvia Alberto and Filomena Cautela, two of the four presenters who will host the contest in Lisbon in May. Also present at the event was the mayor of last year’s host city Kyiv,ย Vitali Klitschko, who handed over the official Eurovision keys to Mayor of Lisbon,ย Fernando Medina. This symbolic gesture marks the official beginning of Lisbon’s tenure as a Eurovision host city.
Following today’s allocation draw, the next step in semi-final planning will be the running order announcement, which will take place in the weeks following the official submission of all 43 entries in March.
The 2018 Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Lisbon on May 8th, 10th and 12th.
Source: EBU