Eurovision News 
A special draw was held today at Stockholm’s City Hall in order to distribute a total of 37 countries into one of the two 2016 Eurovision Song Contest semi-finals, scheduled to be held on 10 and 12 May in Vienna.
During the draw it was also determined in which half of the semi-final the alloted countries are to perform. A total 0f 43 countries will participate at the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest. 37 countries will compete in the semi-finals, whilst the BIG 5 and the host country Sweden are automatically qualified to compete in the grand final.
Semifinal 1 | Semifinal 2 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
1st half | 2nd half | 1st half | 2nd half |
| Croatia | Azerbaijan | Latvia | Albania |
| Finland | Cyprus | Belarus | Bulgaria |
| Moldova | Malta | Ireland | Denmark |
| Armenia | Bosnia & Herzegovina | Switzerland | Georgia |
| Greece | Estonia | FYR Macedonia | Romania |
| Hungary | Czech Republic | Australia | Slovenia |
| Russia | Montenegro | Lithuania | Norway |
| The Netherlands | Iceland | Poland | Ukraine |
| San Marino | Austria | Israel | Belgium |
| Serbia | |||
A total of 37 countries will compete in the 2 semi-finals which are scheduled to be held on 19 and 21 May. A total of 18 countries will compete in Semi-final 1 on 10 May,whilst 19 countries will compete in Semi-final 2 on 12 May.
The BIG 5 (Spain, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy) and Sweden (the host country) are automatically qualified to compete in the grand final on 14 May and were drawn to vote during the following semifinals
The 2015 Eurovision Song Contest will will be held on 10, 12 and 14 May at the Globen Arena in Stockholm.
