Lisbon is all set to welcome the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest. The Semi-final Allocation Draw and official Host Insignia Handover Ceremony will be held in Lisbon on Monday 29 January at 13:00 CET. The EBU has revealed the semi-final allocation pot distribution.

Host Insignia Handover Ceremony

The Mayor of Kyiv Mr. Mr. Vitali Klitschko will officially hand over the keys to the Mayor of Lisbon Mr. Fernando Medina at Lisbon’s City Hall-Camara Municipal de Lisboa.

A grand ceremony will be organized for the occasion where Lisbon will officially take over from Kyiv as the Eurovision host city.

The ceremony will be 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.

The Host Insignia Handover Ceremony will be followed by the semi-final allocation draws. Both the draws and Host Insignia Ceremony will be hosted by Filomena Cautela and Silvia Alberto (Eurovision 2018 hostesses).

Semi-final allocation draw: Pot allocation

A total 37 countries have been divided into 6 pots and will be distributed equally into each of the 2 semi-finals by a draw. The draw will determine which country will compete in which semi-final.

Nineteen countries will compete in the first semi-final on 8 May, whilst 18 countries will compete in the second semi-final on 10 May. The draw will be supervised by EBU’s Executive Supervisor Mr. Jon Ola Sand.

First/second half of semi-final allocation draw

A special draw will decide in which semi-final each of the other participating countries will perform. As in previous years, the exact running order will be determined by the producers of the show.

From each semi-final, ten countries will proceed to the Grand Final on 12 May, joining the six pre-qualified countries.

In total, 26 countries will be represented in the Grand Final.

Big 5 and Portugal semi-final voting draw

The Big 5 (Italy, France, UK, Spain and Germany) countries and host country Portugal will vote in the semi-finals too.

A draw will also determine which country will vote in which semi-final.

Running order to be determined in coming weeks

A total of 43 countries will compete at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv next May.

The exact running order of the 37 countries competing in the 2 semi-finals on 8 and 12 will be determined by the producers of the show by late March.

The Big 5 (Spain, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy) and Portugal (the host country) are automatically qualified to compete in the Grand Final on 12 May.

The 2018 Eurovision Song Contest is scheduled to be held on 8, 10 and 12  May at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, Portugal.