200 days to go until Eurovision 2018!

24 October 2017 at 07:00 CEST

Lisbon will host the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest RTP

There are just 200 days to go until the Grand Final of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest! The competition will be held Portugal's capital, Lisbon, in May. Next week the Reference Group, the governing body of the Eurovision Song Contest, will meet in Portugal to discuss the next steps in the organisation of the 63rd edition of the competition.

Portugal is hosting the Eurovision Song Contest following Salvador Sobral’s victory in Kyiv. The singer scored a record high 758 points performing Amar Pelos Dois, a song written by his sister Luísa.

2018 will mark first time ever that competition will be held in Portugal, as Salvador’s win was the country’s first in their 53 years of competing. 2018 will also be Portugal’s 50th appearance in the Contest.

So far, so good in Portugal

Next week the Reference Group, the governing body of the Eurovision Song Contest, will meet in Lisbon to discuss the organisation of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest. Key topics will include the theme artwork for Eurovision 2018, delegation transportation, ticket sales as well as plans for the Semi-Final Allocation Draw which will take place in January.

Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in Europe, located on Portugal’s Atlantic Coast with a population of over 2.7 million people. The city fought off strong competition from 4 others to host the world’s most exciting musical event, which reaches over 180 million viewers. Braga, Gondomar, Guimarães and Santa Maria da Feira were in contention, before the decision was made to bring Eurovision to Lisbon.