On Tuesday 28 January at 16:10 CET, the Semi-Final Allocation Draw will take place to decide which country will perform in which of the 2 Semi-Finals. During the ceremony, the Host City Insignia will be handed over from the city of Tel Aviv to the Mayor of Rotterdam.
The event will take place at Rotterdam's City Hall.
The Semi-Final Allocation Draw and the Host City Insignia Exchange are key moments in the preparations leading up to the Eurovision Song Contest in May. We will broadcast them live on YouTube from 16:10 CET.
Host City Insignia Exchange
Taking part in the Host City Insignia Exchange will be Zippi Brand Frank, Deputy Mayor of Tel Aviv, representing last year’s Host City and Mayor of Rotterdam Ahmed Aboutaleb. Zippi Brand Frank will pass on the Eurovision Insignia to Ahmed Aboutaleb, marking the official transition from Tel Aviv to Rotterdam of Host City of the Eurovision Song Contest.
2020 Eurovision Song Contest presenters Chantal Janzen, Edsilia Rombley and Jan Smit will take care of hosting duties through the prestigious event.
How does the draw work?
The first part of the draw will determine which Semi-Final each of the 6 pre-qualified countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and host country the Netherlands) will broadcast and be able to vote in.
The second part of the draw will determine in which Semi-Final and in which half of the respective Semi-Final the other 35 participating countries will perform. As in recent years, the exact running order will be determined by the producers of the show.
The first Semi-Final will take place on Tuesday 12 May and the second on Thursday 14 May. From each Semi-Final, 10 countries will proceed to the Grand Final on the 16 May, joining the 6 pre-qualified countries. In total, 26 countries will be represented in the Grand Final.
Semi-Final Allocation Pots revealed!
The 41 Semi-Finalists have been allocated into 5 pots, based on historical voting patterns as calculated by the contest's official televoting partner Digame. Drawing from different pots helps to reduce the chance of so-called neighbourly voting and increases suspense in the Semi-Finals.
Pot 1
Albania
Austria
Croatia
North Macedonia
Serbia
Slovenia
Switzerland
Pot 2
Australia
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
Iceland
Norway
Sweden
Pot 3
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Georgia
Moldova
Russia
Ukraine
Pot 4
Bulgaria
Cyprus
Greece
Malta
Portugal
Romania
San Marino
Pot 5
Belgium
Czech Republic
Ireland
Israel
Latvia
Lithuania
Poland
