Watch now: Eurovision 2017 Semi-final Allocation Draw live from Kyiv

by Sanjay (Sergio) Jiandani 1,362 views

The allocation draw for allocating the countries that will compete in the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest Semi-finals will be held today at 11:00 CET at the Colum Hall at Kyiv City Administration, in the Ukrainian capital. The draw will be streamed live via YouTube.

kyiv city 33
The Column Hall- Kyiv City Administration (venue to the 2017 Eurovision Host Insignia Ceremony and Semi-final Allocation Draw)

The Host Insignia Handover will be held at 11:00 CET whilst the Semi-final Allocation Draw will be held at 11:00 CET at Kyiv City Administration’s Column Hall. The Allocation draw and Host Insignia Ceremony will be conducted by NTU hosts. Former Ukrainian Eurovision winners Ruslana and Jamala will be officially welcoming everyone during the event.

Host Insignia Handover Ceremony

The President of the of Stockholm’s City Council Mrs Eva-Louise Erlandsson Slorach will officially hand over the keys to the Mayor of Kyiv Mr. Vitali Klitschko at the Kyiv City Administration’s Column Hall. A grand ceremony will be organized for the occasion where Kyiv will officially take over from Stockholm 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) who will give a short speech on behalf of the EBU.

How to watch?

You can watch the Semi-final Allocation Draw live at 11:00 CET:

A total 37 countries will be divided into 6 pots and distributed equally into each of the 2 Semi-finals by a draw. The distribution of the countries in the 6 pots has been based on the voting pattern in each country in the past  years. 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.

Which country is in which pot?

Pot 1

  • Albania
  • FYR Macedonia
  • Montenegro
  • Slovenia
  • Croatia
  • Serbia
  • Switzerland

Pot 2

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

Pot 3

  • Armenia
  • Azerbaijan
  • Belarus
  • Georgia
  • Russia
  • Israel

Pot 4

  • Hungary
  • Cyprus
  • Greece
  • Romania
  • Moldova
  • Bulgaria

Pot 5

  • Portugal
  • Australia
  • Czech Republic
  • Malta
  • Austria
  • San Marino

Pot 6

  • Belgium
  • The Netherlands
  • Ireland
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Poland

Semi-finals Allocation Draw

ESC 2017 Celebrate Diversity Theme Kyiv Ukraine
Celebrate Diversity- Eurovision 2017 logo (photo credit: EBU/NTU)

A total 37 countries will be divided into 6 pots and distributed equally into each of the 2 semi-finals by a draw. The first draw will determine which country will compete in which Semi-final. 18 countries will compete in the 1st Semi-final on 9 May whilst 19 countries will compete in the 2nd Semi-final on 11 May. The draw will be supervised by EBU’s Executive Supervisor Mr. Jon Ola Sand and Thomas Niedermeyer.

The EBU’s Reference Group has granted SRF, the Swiss national broadcaster its request to compete in the Second Semi-final; hence Switzerland will participate Semi-final 2 on 11 May.

First/Second Half of Semi-final 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 Ukraine voting in Semi-finals

The BIG 5 (Italy, France, UK, Spain and Germany) countries and host country Ukraine will vote in the semi-finals too. A draw will also determine which country will vote in which semi-final.  The EBU’s Reference Group has granted ARD, the German national broadcaster its request to air the 2nd Semifinal: hence Germany will vote and air Semi-final 2 on 11 May.

How many countries will compete in each semi- final?

A total of  43 countries will compete at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv next May. 37 countries will compete in the 2 Semi-finals which are scheduled to be held on 9 and 11 May. 18 countries will compete in the First Semi-final and 19 countries in the Second Semi-final.

The exact running order of the 37 countries competing in the 2 Semi-finals on 9 and 11 will be determined by the producers of the show by late March.

The BIG 5 (Spain, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy) and Ukraine (the host country) are automatically qualified to compete in the Grand Final on 13 May.

The 2017 Eurovision Song Contest is scheduled to be held on 9, 11 and 13  May at the IEC in Kyiv, Ukraine.