Rotterdam is all set to welcome the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest. The Semi-final Allocation Draw and official Host Insignia Handover Ceremony will be held in Rotterdam on Tuesday 28 January at 16:10 CET. The EBU has revealed the semi-final allocation pot distribution.
Host Insignia Handover Ceremony
The Deputy Mayor of Tel Aviv, Ms Zippi Brand, will officially hand over the keys to the Mayor of Rotterdam, Mr. Ahmed Aboutaleb, at the Rotterdam City Hall.
A grand ceremony will be organized for the occasion where Rotterdam will officially take over from Lisbon 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 Edsilia Rombley, Chantal Janzen and Jan Smit.
Semi-final allocation draw: Pot allocation
A total 35 countries have been divided into 5 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.
Pot 1
- Albania
- Austria
- Croatia
- North Macedonia
- Serbia
- Slovenia
- Switzerland
Pot 2
- Australia
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- Iceland
- Norway
- Sweden
Pot 3
- Armenia
- Azerbaijan
- Belarus
- Georgia
- Moldova
- Russia
- Ukraine
Pot 4
- Bulgaria
- Cyprus
- Greece
- Malta
- Portugal
- Romania
- San Marino
Pot 5
- Belgium
- Czech Republic
- Ireland
- Israel
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Poland
18 countries will compete in one of the semi-finals , whilst 17 countries will compete in the other. The draw will be supervised by EBU’s Executive Supervisor Mr. Jon Ola Sand.
First/second half of semi-final allocation draw
During the draw we will also get to know if the participating countries will perform in the first half or second half of their respective semi-final. 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 16 May, joining the six pre-qualified countries.
In total, 26 countries will be represented in the Grand Final.
Big 5 and The Netherlands semi-final voting draw
The Big 5 (Italy, France, UK, Spain and Germany) countries and host country the Netherlands 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 by late March
A total of 41 countries will compete at the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam next May.
The exact running order of the 35 countries competing in the 2 semi-finals on 12 and 14 May will be determined by the producers of the show by late March.
The Big 5 (Spain, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy) and the Netherlands (the host country) are automatically qualified to compete in the Grand Final on 16 May.
The 2020 Eurovision Song Contest is scheduled to be held on 12, 14 and 16 May at the Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
