On Monday the 28th of January at 17:00 CET, the Semi-Final Allocation Draw will take place, where it will be decided which country will perform in which of the two Semi-Finals. During the ceremony, the Host City Insignia will be handed over from Lisbon to the city of Tel Aviv.

The event will take place at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.

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 these moments live on YouTube.

2019 Eurovision Song Contest presenters Assi Azar and Lucy Ayoub will take on the hosting duties during Monday's event.

Assi Azar & Lucy Ayoub © KAN

How does the draw work?

The first part of the draw will determine which Semi-Final each of the six pre-qualified countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and host country Israel) 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 36 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, 14th of May, the second on Thursday, 16th of May. From each Semi-Final, ten countries will proceed to the Grand Final on the 18th of May, joining the six pre-qualified countries. In total, 26 countries will be represented in the Grand Final.

The Allocation Draw for the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest © Stijn Smulders

Semi Final Allocation Pots revealed!

The 36 Semi-Finalists have been allocated into six 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

Croatia

F.Y.R. Macedonia

Montenegro

Serbia

Slovenia

Pot 2

Denmark

Estonia

Finland

Iceland

Norway

Sweden

Pot 3

Armenia

Azerbaijan

Belarus

Georgia

Russia

Ukraine

Pot 4

Australia

Ireland

Lithuania

Latvia

Poland

Portugal

Pot 5

Austria

Belgium

Czech Republic

Hungary

The Netherlands

Switzerland

Due to the request of SRF and approved by the Reference Group Switzerland will participate in the second Semi-Final.

Pot 6

Cyprus

Greece

Malta

Moldova

Romania

San Marino

Tel Aviv Museum of Art © KAN

Tune in this Monday at 17.00 CET, when we broadcast the Allocation Draw and host City Insignia Exchange live from Tel Aviv, Israel!