It’s starting to become real! Along with the 41 competing acts of Eurovision 2020, the EBU has also confirmed the date of the semi-final allocation draw. On January 28 2020, broadcasters will discover which semi-final — and which half of the semi-final — their act will perform in.

On Wednesday, the EBU confirmed that 41 countries will participate in the next edition of the Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam. Out of that total, 35 countries will compete in two semi-finals to take place on May 12 and 14, in the hopes of qualifying for the grand final on May 16th. Ten countries will qualify from each semi-final, joining the six automatic qualifiers: the Big 5 (France, Spain, Italy, Germany and the UK) and host country the Netherlands.

The draw will take place in Rotterdam on January 28. The event is usually held at an iconic location in the host city and also involves the host city insignia exchange — where the host city adds an insignia to the giant host city keyring. The venue for is expected to be announced at a later date.

In the first part of the draw, the pre-qualifiers will be assigned one to the two semi-finals to vote in, three in semi-final one, three in semi-final two. Typically, the German broadcaster makes a special request to the EBU to vote in the second semi-final.

The pots of fate

Next comes the pots. The semi-finalist countries are preemptively grouped into pots based on historic voting patterns (usually around six pots). This is to help ensure each semi-final is not saturated by countries with high chances of voting for each other. All going well, each pot should be roughly split between the two semis.

Then it’s time to assign the other countries to a semi-final, and then decide which the half of the running order they will sing in.

Choosing the semi-final halves at this stage lets countries start to plan and budget for their travel. Performing in the first half of the first semi-final means arriving three days earlier for rehearsals than someone performing in the second half of the second semi.

Some fans believe that performing in the second half of a semi-final gives the act more of an advantage, but statistics show that on average, equal numbers of acts tend to qualify from each half.

The precise running order will later be determined by the show’s producers and approved by the EBU, once all songs have been submitted in March. All this process will be overseen by the Executive Supervisor of the EBU, Jon Ola Sand, who will step down from the position after the contest.

Since there are 35 semi-finalists, this will mean there will be one semifinal of 17 acts and another of 18. The longer semi-final is decided before the draw.

The event organisers will also reveal if one country has requested to either vote or compete in a specific semi-final; usually done to avoid conflict with previously scheduled programs or respecting any special holidays.

Eurovision 2020 semi-finalists

Countries are listed in alphabetical order.

Albania

Armenia

Australia

Austria

Azerbaijan

Belarus

Belgium

Bulgaria

Croatia

Cyprus

Czech Republic

Denmark

Estonia

Finland

Georgia

Greece

Iceland

Ireland Israel

Latvia

Lithuania

Malta

Moldova

North Macedonia

Norway

Poland

Portugal

Romania

Russia

San Marino

Serbia

Slovenia

Sweden

Switzerland

Ukraine

Finalists (Big 5 and Hosts)

Countries are listed in alphabetical order.

France

Germany

Italy

The Netherlands

Spain

United Kingdom

The semi-final allocation draw will be held on Tuesday 28 January 2020 in Rotterdam. It is expected that the event will be live-streamed.

What do you think? What would your ideal semi-final allocations be? Share your ideas below!