Eurovision 2020: Semi-final allocation draw pots revealed

On Tuesday 28 January at 17:00 CET the Semi-final allocation draw takes place live from Rotterdam's City Hall. The allocation draw determines which countries are in which Semi-final at Eurovision Song Contest 2020.

The 35 Semi-finalists have been allocated into 5 pots, based on historical voting patterns. Drawing from different pots helps to reduce the chance of so-called neighbourly voting:

Pot 1

• Albania
• Austria
• Croatia
• North Macedonia
• Serbia
• Slovenia
• Switzerland

Pot 2

• Australia
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland
• Iceland
• Norway
• Sweden

Pot 3

• Armenia
• Azerbaijan
• Belarus
• Georgia
• Moldova
• Russia
• Ukraine

Pot 4

• Bulgaria
• Cyprus
• Greece
• Malta
• Portugal
• Romania
• San Marino

Pot 5

• Belgium
• Czech Republic
• Ireland
• Israel
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Poland

The allocation draw is hosted by the Eurovision 2020 hosts: Chantal Janzen, Edsilia Rombley and Jan Smit.

Facts about the allocation draw

• 41 countries participate in Eurovision Song Contest 2020
• 6 of the countries are pre-qualified for the Grand Final (Big-5 and Netherlands)
• The 35 countries are distributed into 5 allocation draw pots based on the voting pattern between them to avoid too much neighbour voting
• After a country is drawn, a second draw determines 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 Netherlands) are also drawn to decide in which semi-final these countries will vote
• The final running order will be decided later by the Dutch producer and broadcaster, and approved by EBU