Eurovision 2019: Who's in which Semi-final?

SEMI-FINAL 1
14 May 2019

FIRST HALF

Belarus

Cyprus

Czechia

Finland

Hungary

Montenegro

Poland

Serbia

Slovenia

SECOND HALF

Australia

Belgium

Estonia

Georgia

Greece

Iceland

Portugal

San Marino

VOTE IN SEMI-FINAL 1:

Spain

France

Israel

SEMI-FINAL 2
16 May 2019

FIRST HALF

Armenia

Austria

Denmark

Ireland

Latvia

Moldova

Romania

Sweden

Switzerland

SECOND HALF

Albania

Azerbaijan

Croatia

Lithuania

Malta

Netherlands

North Macedonia

Norway

Russia

VOTE IN SEMI-FINAL 2:

Germany

United KingdomUK

Italy

The allocation draw took place on 28 January 2019 at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. Hosts were Assi Azar and Lucy Ayoub (two of the hosts for Eurovision 2019).

Facts about the allocation draw

• 42 countries participate in Eurovision Song Contest 2019
• 6 of the countries are pre-qualified for the Grand Final (Big-5 and Israel)
• Both Semi-finals will have 18 participants
• Switzerland has been pre-assigned to Semi-final 2, after a request from Swiss broadcaster SRF
• The 36 countries were distributed into 6 allocation draw pots based on the voting pattern between them to avoid too much neighbour 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 Israel) were also drawn to decide in which semi-final these countries will vote
• The final running order will be decided later by the Israeli producer and broadcaster, KAN, and approved by EBU

Allocation Draw Pots

To ensure a fair voting and competition, the 36 countries were distributed into 6 Draw Pots, based on the voting pattern to avoid too much neighbour voting.

1. Albania, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia
2. Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden
3. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine
4. Australia, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal
5. Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Hungary, Netherlands, Switzerland
6. Cyprus, Greece, Malta, Moldova, Romania, San Marino

How was the draw made?

The 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: Israel) will broadcast and vote in which of the two Semi-finals.

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
• 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
• Switzerland has been pre-assigned to Semi-final 2
• The first six countries for Semi-final 2 were then drawn (same recipe as the six for Semi-final 1)
• This continued until each of the 36 countries had been allocated to one of the two Semi-finals

Host Insignia Exchange

Before the allocation draw the Host Insignia Exchange took place. Here the Deputy Mayor of Lisbon, Duare Cordeiro, handed over the Host City Insignia to Ron Huldai, Mayor of Tel Aviv.