SVT, the Swedish national broadcaster has announced today that it will hold the 2016 will hold the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest Host Insignia Ceremony and the Semi-finals Allocation Draw on Monday 25 January at the City Hall in Stockholm.

Host Insignia Handover Ceremony

The Mayor of Vienna will officially hand over the keys to the Mayor of  Stockholm. A grand ceremony will be organized for the ocassion where Stockholm will officially take over from Vienna as the Eurovision host city. The ceremony will carried out in the presence of Mr. Jon Ola Sand (EBU’s Executive Supervisor for the Eurovision Song Contest).

Semi-final Allocation Draw

A total 37 countries will be divided into several pots and distributed equally into each of the 2 semi-finals by a draw. The distribution of the countries in the pots will be based on the voting pattern in each country in the pastyears. This mechanism is used in order to avoid neighbourly voting and countries that tend to vote for each another ending up competing in the same semi-final.

The first draw will determine which country will compete in which semi-final. 18 countries will compete in one of the 2 semi-finals whilst 19 countries will compete in the other semi-final. The semi-finals are scheduled to be held on 10 and 12 May.

First/Second Half of Semifinal Allocation Draw

Another draw will determine the appearance of the country in its respective semi- final (1st half or 2nd half of the semi-final).

BIG 5 and Sweden voting in Semi-finals

The BIG 5 ( Italy, France, UK, Spain and Germany) countries and hosts Sweden will vote in the semi-finals too. A draw will also determine which country will vote in which semi-final.

It is more than likely that this draw will also determine in which of the 2 semi-finals the BIG 5 and host country will showcase their respective Eurovision entries. They will be more prominent during the semi-finals during the 2016 ESC.

How many countries will compete in each semi- final?

A total of 43 countries will compete at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna next May. A total of 37 countries will compete in the 2 semi-finals which are scheduled to be held on 10 and 12 May. 18 countries will compete in one semi-final whilst 19 will compete in the other one.

The exact running order of the 37 countries competing in the 2 Semi-finals on 10 and 12 May, will be determined by mid March.

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.

The 2015 Eurovision Song Contest is scheduled to be held on 10, 12 and 14 May at the Ericsson Globen Arena in Stockholm, Sweden.

Stay tuned to ESCToday.com for the latest news on the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest.