The first Heads of Delegation meeting for the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 has taken place in Vienna today.

In the first day of meetings, each of the 40 delegations competing at the Eurovision Song Contest this year have officially submitted their entries for this years contest. They have also visited the venue for the Eurovision Song Contest 2015, the Vienna Stadthalle, and the Euroclub.

As well as the submissions of songs, the meeting produced various bits of news for this year’s contest. It was revealed that in the opening of the grand final on May 23, the competing artists will enter the arena via a ‘magic bridge’ of light, to compliment this year’s Building bridges slogan.

The official opening reception and ceremony will take place on the Sunday before the contest, as per tradition, on May 17. This will take place at the Rathausplatz, where the Eurovision village will open next to it on May 18. It has also been announced that the host country, Austria, drew their starting position in the grand final. Their act, The Makemakes, will perform in 14^th during the final.

Looking further ahead, the EBU has also stated that the preliminary dates for the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 will be May 10, 12 and 14. There was also a vote to elect the members of the Eurovision Song Contest reference group, which is the group that looks to keep the contest developing & oversees the preparation of each contest.

Aleksander Radic (RTVSLO, Slovenia), Emilie Sickinghe (AVROTROS, the Netherlands) and Nicola Callgiore (RAI, Italy) have all been elected for the next two-year term.

Stay tuned to ESCToday for all the latest news from the Eurovision Song Contest 2015!