Vienna is all set to welcome the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest. The Semi-final Allocation Draw and official Host City Handover Ceremony will be held in Vienna on Monday 12 January at 19:00 CET. The EBU has revealed the semi-final allocation pot distribution.
Host City Handover Ceremony
The Mayor of Basel will officially handover the baton to the Mayor of Vienna. A grand ceremony will be organized for the occasion where Vienna will officially take over from Basel as the Eurovision host city.
The ceremony will be carried out in the presence of ORF and EBU officials.
The Host City Handover Ceremony will be followed by the semi-final allocation draws.
Semi-final allocation draw: Pot allocation
A total 30 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.
15 countries will compete in one semi-final whilst 15 countries will compete in the other. The draw will be carried out under the supervision of the EBU.
The 30 Semi-Finalists have been divided into five different pots from which the allocation will start. Drawing countries from different pots helps to reduce the chance of so-called neighbourly voting and increases suspense in the Semi-Finals.
- Pot 1: Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, Switzerland
- Pot 2: Australia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Norway, Sweden
- Pot 3: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Israel, Poland, Ukraine
- Pot 4: Belgium, Czechia, Luxembourg, Moldova, Portugal, Romania
- Pot 5: Cyprus, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, San Marino
Semi-final Allocation Draw
The 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 semi-finals are scheduled to be held on 12 and 14 May.
First/Second Half of Semifinal 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 4 and Austria voting in Semi-finals
The BIG 4 countries and hosts Austria will vote in the semi-finals too. A draw will also determine which country will vote in which semi-final.
The draw will also determine in which of the 2 semi-finals the BIG 4 and host country will showcase their respective Eurovision entries.
How many countries will compete in each semi- final?
A total of 35 countries will compete at the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna next May. 30 of countries will compete in the 2 semi-finals which are scheduled to be held on 10 and 12 May (15 countries in each semi-final).
The exact running order of the countries competing in the 2 Semi-finals on 12 and 14 May, will be determined by late March.
The BIG 4 and Austria (the host country) are automatically qualified to compete in the grand final on Saturday 16 May.
