On Monday the 28th of January at 17:00 CET, the Semi-Final Allocation Draw will take place, where it will be decided which country will perform in which of the two Semi-Finals of the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. The 36 Semi-Finalists have been allocated into six pots, based on historical voting patterns as calculated by the contest’s official televoting partner Digame.
Australia has been paired with Baltic nations Latvia and Lithuania. Ireland, Poland and Portugal are also seeded into Pot 4. 2019 Eurovision Song Contest presenters Assi Azar and Lucy Ayoub will take on the hosting duties during Monday’s event.
During the ceremony, the Host City Insignia will be handed over from Lisbon to the city of Tel Aviv. The event will take place at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. The Semi Final Allocation Draw and the Host City Insignia Exchange are key moments in the preparations leading up to the Eurovision Song Contest in May. The EBU will broadcast these moments live on YouTube:
How does the draw work?
The first part of the draw will determine which Semi-Final each of the six pre-qualified countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and host country Israel) will broadcast and be able to vote in.
The second part of the draw will determine in which Semi-Final and in which half of the respective Semi-Final the other 36 participating countries will perform. As in recent years, the exact running order will be determined by the producers of the show.
The first Semi-Final will take place on Tuesday, 14th of May, the second on Thursday, 16th of May. From each Semi-Final, ten countries will proceed to the Grand Final on the 18th of May, joining the six pre-qualified countries. In total, 26 countries will be represented in the Grand Final.
Semi Final Allocation Pots revealed
The 36 Semi-Finalists have been allocated into six pots, based on historical voting patterns as calculated by the contest’s official televoting partner Digame. Main reason for the pot drawing is historic voting patterns. Countries with similar tastes go in the same pot to avoid unbalanced semi finals.
Pot 1: Albania, Croatia, F.Y.R. Macedonia, Montenegro,Serbia, Slovenia
Pot 2: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden
Pot 3: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine
Pot 4: AUSTRALIA, Ireland, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Portugal
Pot 5: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Hungary, Netherlands, Switzerland (Due to the request of SRF and approved by the Reference Group Switzerland will participate in the second Semi-Final)
Pot 6: Cyprus, Greece, Malta, Moldova, Romania, San Marino