The date for the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest Semi- Final Allocation Draw and Host City Insignia Handover Ceremony has been set.

Save the date: Tuesday 31 2023! 31 countries will be distributed in different pots and  allocated in one of the two semi-finals during the 2023 Eurovision Semi-final Allocation Draw.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijk0m0QZcWE

Semi-final Allocation Draw

The 2023 Eurovision Semi-final Allocation Draw is scheduled to take place on Tuesday 31 January at St. George’s Hall in Liverpool and will be hosted by AJ Odudu and Rylan. The event will be broadcast live at 20:00 CET on BBC Two and the official Youtube channel of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Rylan says:

From being part of the UK delegation since 2018, Eurovision has become such a big part of my life. I’m so excited to be presenting the handover and allocation draw which symbolises the start of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023; the year in which the United Kingdom hosts Ukraine’s party. It’s going to be an amazing year for Eurovision. I genuinely can’t wait.

AJ Odudu says:

It’s so exciting to have the Eurovision Song Contest in the United Kingdom in 2023. New and existing fans are in for an event like no other come May with spectacular live shows on the BBC and a city take over in Liverpool, all with British creativity and Ukrainian culture at its core . I can’t wait to kick things off with the draw later this month.

The Eurovision 2023 slogan and theme art will be unveiled on the same day too.

A total of 37 countries will partake at the forthcoming 2023 Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. 31 countries will compete in the semi-finals whilst a total of 26 countries will compete in the Grand Final on 13 May.

How many countries will compete in each semi-final?

A total of 31 countries will fight for the golden ticket to the Grand Final in one of the two semi-finals on 9 and 11 May. Thus 15 countries will compete in one semifinal whilst 16 countries will compete in the other semifinal, whist the Big 5 ( Spain, Italy, France,  Germany, United Kingdom) and the 2022 Eurovision winner Ukraine have a direct ticket to the Grand Final on 13 May.

The 31 semi-finalist 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 past years.

This mechanism is used in order to avoid neighborly 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.

The exact running order of the 31 countries competing in the 2 semi-finals on 9 and 11 May will be determined by the producers of the show by late March. The draw will be supervised by EBU’s Executive Supervisor Mr. Martin Osterdahl.

Semi-finalist countries

1. Albania
2. Armenia
3. Australia
4. Austria
5. Azerbaijan
6. Belgium
7. Croatia
8. Cyprus
9. Czech Republic
10. Denmark
11. Estonia
12. Finland
13. Georgia
14. Greece
15. Iceland
16. Ireland
17. Israel
18. Latvia
19. Lithuania
20. Malta
21. Moldova
    
22. Netherlands
23. Norway
24. Poland
25. Portugal
26. Romania
27. San Marino
28. Serbia
29. Slovenia
30. Sweden
31. Switzerland
    

Big 5+ Ukraine (prequalified for the Grand Final)

1. France
2. Germany
3. Italy
4. Spain
   
5. United Kingdom
6. Ukraine

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 & Ukraine voting in semi-finals

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

The 2023 Eurovision Song Contest will be a co-production by the British national broadcaster BBC and the EBU.

The 2023 Eurovision Song Contest is scheduled to be held on 9, 11 and 13 May at Liverpool’s M&S Arena.

Source: BBC/EBU/ ESCToday
Photo credit: BBC/EBU