The Lebanese branch of OGAE has held its own preview poll, and the results are in: in a close vote, Bulgaria notches up a first douze points, with Ukraine hot on its heels in second place and Cyprus not far behind in third.

Lebanon are a welcome part of the Eurovision family as the national broadcaster is a member of the EBU, and the country very nearly had its first entry in the song contest back in 2005 with Aline Lahoud. However, this was not to be, and Lebanon withdrew amidst controversy surrounding the broadcasting of the Israeli entry. However, a core of fans still tunes in each year, and now they add their vote to the pot in the pre-contest OGAE preview rounds!

The results of the final vote are as follows:

1. Bulgaria 83
2. Ukraine 81
3. Cyprus 80
4. Lithuania 79
5. Georgia 79
6. Russia 78
7. Greece 76
8. Armenia 74
9. Iceland 73
10. Slovenia 72
11. Finland 62
12. Serbia 61
13. Bosnia 61
14. Germany 60
15. Turkey 60
16. Spain 57
17. Belarus 54
18. Switzerland 53
19. UK 41
20. Belgium 36
21. Sweden 28
22. Ireland 24
23. France 21
24. Romania 19

The full results for the semifinal are as follows:

1. Slovenia 79
2. Georgia 76
3. Cyprus 74
4. Belarus 67
5. Bulgaria 62
6. Switzerland 59
7. Turkey 58
8. Serbia 58
9. Iceland 56
10. Belgium 53
11. Macedonia 50
12. Norway 50
13. Moldova 47
14. Poland 42
15. Hungary 42
16. Latvia 40
17. Malta 36
18. Netherlands 37
19. Portugal 35
20. Croatia 35
21. Andorra 32
22. Denmark 30
23. Estonia 17
24. Austria 15
25. Czech Republic 15
26. Montenegro 14
27. Israel 12
28. Albania 11

Following the Lebanese vote, the OGAE scoretable looks like this:

1. Switzerland 108
2. Serbia 106
3. Belarus 94
4. Slovenia 87
5. Cyprus 85
6. Greece 70
7. Bulgaria 66
8. Ukraine 63
9. Georgia 43
10. Russia 36
11. France 35
12. Bosnia & Herzegovina 32
13. Iceland 31
14. Germany 26
15. Denmark 22
16. Romania 21
17. Spain 21
18. Sweden 16
19. Turkey 15
20. Latvia 12
21. Armenia 11
22. FYR Macedonia 9
23. Moldova 8
24. Israel 7
25. Lithuania 7
26. Netherlands 6
27. Finland 4
28. Hungary 2
29. Poland 1

Interestingly, no points go from Lebanon to any of the current top three, while fourth-placed Slovenia only musters up a single vote from the Beirut jury. Cyprus surges forwards with a helpful huit points, bringing the island within catching distance of the three front-runners. Lithuania joins the board for the first time.

If you are interested in joining your local branch of OGAE, write for more information at [email protected] , stating the country you live in.

Stay tuned for more results soon!