A special draw was held today at  Liverpool’s iconic St. George’s Hall in order to distribute the 31 semi-finalist countries into one of the two 2023 Eurovision Song Contest semi-finals, scheduled to be held on 9 and 11 May in Liverpool.

The 2023 Eurovision Song Contest Semi-final Allocation draw was held today at St. George’s Hall and was conducted by Rylan and AJ Odudu under the supervision of Mr. Martin Osterdahl  (Eurovision Song Contest Executive Supervisor).

Semi-final allocation draw results

Fifteen  countries will compete in the first semi-final on 9 May, whilst another sixteen  countries will compete in the second semi-final on 11 May.

A total 31 countries were distributed into 5  pots and were allocated into one of the two semi-finals by a draw. During the the draw it was also determined in which half of the semi-final the allotted countries are to perform.

Another draw was held to determine which semi-final the Big 5 countries and Ukraine are to vote in.

Semi-final #1

First Half

• Croatia
• Ireland
• Latvia
• Malta
• Norway
• Portugal
• Serbia

Second Half

• Azerbaijan
• Czech Republic
• Finland
• Israel
• Moldova
• Netherlands
• Sweden
• Switzerland

Semi-final #2

First Half

• Armenia
• Belgium
• Cyprus
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Greece
• Iceland
• Romania

Second Half

• Albania
• Australia
• Austria
• Georgia
• Lithuania
• Poland
• San Marino
• Slovenia

Big 5 and Ukraine

A special draw was also held in order to determine the semi-final the BIG 5 countries and Ukraine are to vote  Italy,France and Germany will vote in the first semi-final on 9 May whilst Spain, United Kingdom and Ukraine will vote in the second semi-final on 11 May.

A total of 37 countries will participate at the forthcoming 2023 Eurovision Song Contest. 31 countries will compete in the semi-finals, whilst the Big 5 and Ukraine are automatically qualified to compete in the Grand Final.

The 2023 Eurovision Song Contest will be held on 9, 11 and 13 May at the M&S Arena in Liverpool, UK.Ç

Source: BBC/EBU
Photo credit: BBC/EBU