The semi-final allocation draw for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 will take place on January 29, 2018. This event will also feature the traditional insignia exchange between Mayor of Lisbon Fernando Medina and Kyiv City Mayor Vitaliy Klychko.
How it will work:
The first part of the draw will determine which of the six pre-qualified countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and host country Portugal) will broadcast and vote in which Semi-Final. The second draw will decide in which half of the respective Semi-Finals each country will perform, as the exact running order will be determined by the producers of the show at a later date.
From each Semi-Final, ten countries will proceed to the Grand Final on 12 May, joining the six pre-qualified countries (Big 5 + host country Portugal). As a result, a total of 26 countries will compete in the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2018, which will take place on May 8, 10 and 12 May in Lisbon, Portugal.
42 countries will compete in Lisbon:
- Albania (RTSH)
- Armenia (AMPTV)
- Australia (SBS)
- Austria (ORF)
- Azerbaijan (ICTIMAI)
- Belarus (BTRC)
- Belgium (VRT)
- Bulgaria (BNT)
- Croatia (HRT)
- Cyprus (CYBC)
- Czech Republic (CT)
- Denmark (DR)
- Estonia (ERR)
- Finland (YLE)
- France (FT)
- Germany (ARD/NDR)
- Georgia (GPB)
- Greece (ERT)
- Hungary (MTVA)
- Iceland (RUV)
- Ireland (RTE)
- Israel (IPBC/KAN)
- Italy (RAI)
- Latvia (LTV)
- Lithuania (LRT)
- Malta (PBS)
- Moldova (TRM)
- Montenegro (RTCG)
- The Netherlands (AVROTROS)
- Norway (NRK)
- Poland (TVP)
- Portugal (RTP)
- Romania (TVR)
- Russia (C1R)
- San Marino (RTV)
- Serbia (RTS)
- Slovenia (RTVSLO)
- Spain (TVE)
- Sweden (SVT)
- Switzerland (SRG/SSR)
- Ukraine (UA:PBC)
- United Kingdom (BBC)