Today, the draw of the running order for the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest semi final and final took place. Over the years it has been shown that the starting position may well affect the result…

You can find the complete running order here.

Opening / closing

Bulgaria will perform first for the first time while Latvia will close the competition for the first time. Last year, Armenia was the first semi finalist performing who made it to the final. For Latvia, a late starting position might be an advantage: they finished in the top10 three times so far -startingfrom number 21 (2000), 23 (2002)and again 23 (2005).In the semi final, performing last seemsanaveragechoice – although only the Netherlands passed in 2004, the 2005 and 2006 entrants narrowly missed the qualification.

The curse of number 2 (and 3)

The curse of number two is an old legend among Eurovision Song Contest fans -it's one of the most unpopular starting positions. Along with the 3rd place, no entry performed in a semi final has ever made it to the final. This year, Israel (2nd) and Cyprus (3rd) have to take on the burden.

The newcomers

Newcomer Georgia will perform 6th, Montenegro 7th, Serbia 15th andCzech Republic 16th. Czech Republic might be lucky with this number since this was the starting position of Finland in the semi final – the later winners.

It's always the same…

Belarus will again be one of the first countries to perform, at number 4. Previously, the country had been drawn 2nd (2004), 8th (2005) and 5th (2006). Theyhave yet to make it to the final. Austriahas known for being early in the running order since 2002. This year, they were also among the first five countries, but as a 'wildcard' they could choose their position.

Sta tuned for the analysis of the final draw.