Eurovision 2016: Who's in which Semi-final?

SEMI-FINAL 1
10 May 2016

FIRST HALF

Armenia

Croatia

Finland

Greece

Hungary

Moldova

Netherlands

Russia

San Marino

SECOND HALF

Austria

Azerbaijan

Bosnia & Herzegovina

Cyprus

Czechia

Estonia

Iceland

Malta

Montenegro

VOTE IN SEMI-FINAL 1:

Spain

France

Sweden

SEMI-FINAL 2
12 May 2016

FIRST HALF

Australia

Belarus

Ireland

Israel

Latvia

Lithuania

North Macedonia

Poland

Serbia

Switzerland

SECOND HALF

Albania

Belgium

Bulgaria

Denmark

Georgia

Norway

Slovenia

Ukraine

VOTE IN SEMI-FINAL 2:

Germany

United KingdomUK

Italy

The allocation draw took place on 25 January 2016 at the City Hall in Stockholm.

Facts about the allocation draw

• 43 countries participate in Eurovision Song Contest 2016
• 6 of the countries were pre-qualified for the Grand Final (Big-5 and host)
• The first Semi-final will have 18 participants and the second will have 19
• Israel will be performing in the second semi final on 12 May to avoid clash with Memorial Day on 10 May
• The 37 countries were distributed into 6 allocation draw pots based on the voting pattern between them to avoid neighbor voting
• After a country was drawn, a second draw determined whether that country will participate in the first or second part of the semi-final
• The six countries pre-qualified for the Grand Final (Big-5 and Sweden) were also drawn to decide in which semi-final these countries will vote
• The final running order will be decided later by the producer and broadcaster, SVT, and approved by EBU

Allocation Draw Pots

To ensure a fair voting and competition, the 37 countries were distributed into 5 Draw Pots, based on the voting pattern to avoid too much neighbour voting.

1. Albania, FYR Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina
2. Denmark, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia
3. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine
4. Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, Australia, The Netherlands, Bulgaria
5. Czech Republic, Lithuania, Ireland, Malta, Poland, San Marino
6. Austria, Hungary, Israel (pre-assigned to Semi-final 2), Moldova, Romania, Switzerland

How was the draw made?

There draw was divided into two parts:

1. Which pre-qualified countries vote in which Semi-final?
   • The first part determined which of the six pre-qualified countries (Big 5: France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK, and host: Sweden) will broadcast and vote in which of the two Semi-finals
   • Germany has been pre-assigned to broadcast and vote in Semi-final 2
   • Sweden has been pre-assigned to broadcast and vote in Semi-final 1
2. Who's in which Semi-final?
• The second part determined in which of the two Semi-finals (and in which half) each country will participate in
• Israel has been pre-assigned to Semi-final 2, so a draw was made to determine if Israel shall perform in the first or second half of Semi-final 2. So there were now 36 countries left in the draw
• The first six countries for Semi-final 1 were drawn: From each of the six allocation draw pots, a country was drawn, and after each country, a second draw determined if the country will perform in the first half or in the second half of Semi-final 1.
• The first six countries for Semi-final 2 were then drawn (same recipe as the six for Semi-final 1)
• This continued six times, until each of the 36 countries had been allocated in one of the two Semi-finals

Host Insignia Exchange

Before the allocation draw the Host Insignia Exchange took place. Here the Executive City Councillor for Cultural Affairs of Vienna, Dr. Andreas Mailath-Pokorny, handed over the "Eurovision Keys" to the mayor of Stockholm, Ms. Karin Wanngård.