The allocation draw for allocating the countries that will compete in the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest Semi-finals will be held today at 14:00 CET at Copenhagen’s City Hall, in the Danish capital. The draw will be streamed live on the DR’s official website and on eurovision.tv.
At the City Hall Copenhagen the Mayor of Malmo will officially hand over the baton to the Mayor of Copenhagen. A grand ceremony will be organized for the ocassion where Copenhagen will officially take over from Malmo as the Eurovision host city.
How to watch?
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You can watch the Semi-final Allocation Draw live at 14:00 CET
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A total 28 countries will be divided into 6 pots and distributed equally into each of the 2 semi-finals by a draw. The distribution of the countries in the 6 pots has been based on the voting pattern in each country in the past 10 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.
Which country is in which pot?
Pot 1:
- – Albania
- – FYR Macedonia
- – Montenegro
- – Slovenia
- – Switzerland
Pot 2:
- – Estonia
- – Finland
- – Iceland
- – Latvia
- – Litthuania
Pot 3:
- – Azerbaijan
- – Belarus
- – Georgia
- – Russia
- – Ukraine
Pot 4:
- – Armenia
- – Belgium
- – Greece
- – Ireland
- – The Netherlands
Pot 5:
- – Austria
- – Hungary
- – Poland
- – San Marino
Pot 6:
- – Malta
- – Moldova
- – Portugal
- – Romania
Sweden, Norway and Israel pre- allocation.
Sweden, Norway and Israel have been pre- allocated prior to the draw. Sweden will compete in Semi- final 1 whilst Norway and Israel will compete in Semi-final 2.
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). We are yet to know in which half of the semi-final Norway, Sweden and Israel are to compete in.
BIG 5 and Denmark voting in Semi-finals
The BIG 5 ( Italy, France, UK, Spain and Germany) countries and hosts Denmark will vote in the semi-finals too. A draw will also determine which country will vote in which semi-final. As Italy has requested to vote in Semi- final 1 and Germany to vote in Semi-final 2, the 4 remaining countries will be divided into the 2 semi-finals.
Slovenia ? How many countries will compete in each semi- final?
A total of 37 countries will compete at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen next May.
A total of 31 countries will compete in the 2 semi-finals which are scheduled to be held on 6 and 8 May. 15 countries will compete in one semi-final and 16 in the other semi-final.
The BIG 5 (Spain, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy) and Denmark (the host country) are automatically qualified to compete in the grand final on 10 May.
The 2014 Eurovision Song Contest is scheduled to be held on 6,8,10 May at the B&W Hallerne in Copenhagen. Stay tuned to esctoday.com for the latest news on the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest.
