The date for the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest Semi- Final Allocation Draw and Host City Insignia Handover Ceremony has been set.

Save the date: Tuesday 30 January 2024! 31 countries will be distributed in different pots and  allocated in one of the two semi-finals during the 2024 Eurovision Semi-final Allocation Draw.

Semi-final Allocation Draw

The 2024 Eurovision Semi-final Allocation Draw is scheduled to take place on Tuesday 30 January in Malmo. SVT and the EBU are yet to confirm both the hosts and venue of the event.

A total of 37 countries will partake at the forthcoming 2024 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo. 31 countries will compete in the semi-finals whilst a total of 26 countries will compete in the Grand Final on 11 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 07 and 09 May. Thus 16 countries will compete in one semi-final and 15 countries in the other, whist the Big 5 ( Spain, United Kingdom, Italy, France and Germany) and host country Sweden have a direct ticket to the Grand Final on 11 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 neighbourly 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 07 and 09 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. Czechia
10. Denmark
11. Estonia
12. Finland
13. Georgia
14. Greece
15. Iceland
16. Ireland
17. Israel
18. Latvia
19. Lithuania
20. Luxembourg
21. Malta
22. Moldova
    
23. Netherlands
24. Norway
25. Poland
26. Portugal
27. San Marino
28. Serbia
29. Slovenia
30. Switzerland
31. Ukraine
    

Big 5 + Host Country Sweden

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

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+ Sweden (Host Country) voting in semi-finals

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

The 2024 Eurovision Song Contest will be a co-production by Italian national broadcaster SVT and the EBU.

The 2024  Eurovision Song Contest is scheduled to be held on 07, 09 and 11 May at the Malmo Arena in Malmo, Sweden.

Source: EBU/ESCToday
Photo credit: City of Malmo