Eurovision 2019: Which country takes part in which Semi-Final?

The Semi Final Allocation Draw, along with the Host City Insignia Exchange, are key milestones in the preparations for the Eurovision Song Contest. During the ceremony, the Deputy Mayor of Lisbon, Duare Cordeiro, passed on the Host City Insignia to Ron Huldai, Mayor of Tel Aviv. The Israeli city is now officially the Host City of the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest!

Jon Ola Sand: "The insignia ceremony is an important moment for the Eurovision Song Contest and an exciting celebration of the host city handover. It is also a key milestone for our participating broadcasters as they find out which Semi-Final they will perform in, and as the countdown continues to May, we look forward to welcoming them to Tel Aviv for the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest."

How does it work?

The first part of the draw determined in which Semi-Final each of the six pre-qualified 'Big Five' countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom) and host country Israel will vote.

The second draw then decided in which Semi-Final each of the other participating countries will perform. The 36 Semi-Finalists were allocated into six pots, based on historical voting patterns as calculated by the contest's official televoting partner Digame. Read more about that here.

At the request of Swiss broadcaster SRF, and following approval from the Reference Group, the governing body of the Eurovision Song Contest, Switzerland will participate in the Second Semi-Final on Thursday the 16th of May.

The results

Big Five + Host Country

• Spain, France and Israel will vote in the first Semi-Final.
• Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom will vote in the second Semi-Final.

First Semi-Final (14 May)

First half

• Slovenia
• Belarus
• Czech Republic
• Montenegro
• Cyprus
• Serbia
• Finland
• Poland
• Hungary

Second half

• Estonia
• Portugal
• San Marino
• Iceland
• Georgia
• Australia
• Belgium
• Ukraine
• Greece

Second Semi-Final (16 May)

First half

• Switzerland
• Sweden
• Ireland
• Austria
• Moldova
• Latvia
• Romania
• Denmark
• Armenia

Second half  

• Albania
• Azerbaijan
• F.Y.R. Macedonia
• Norway
• Russia
• The Netherlands
• Croatia
• Lithuania
• Malta

Tickets

The first wave of tickets will go on sale later in February, through this year's official ticketing company Leaan. Further details will be announced in due course.