The Eurovision Song Contest 2016 Semi Final Allocation Draw will take place on Monday 25th January at 11:15 am CET. The draw will be hosted by Alexandra Pascalidou, who presented the contest for Greece in 2005, and Jovan Radomir, who wrote the English lyrics for Serbia’s winning entry in 2007.

The first part of the draw will determine which of the six pre-qualified countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK and Sweden) will vote in which Semi Final. The first Semi-Final will feature 18 countries and the second will have 19. Another draw will then decide in which half of the respective Semi Finals each country will perform. The exact running order will be determined by the show producers.

Note that Germany has requested to vote in the second Semi Final, and Israel will compete in the second Semi-Final because the first clashes with the country’s Memorial Day.

From each Semi-Final, ten countries will proceed to the Grand Final on 14th May, joining the six pre-qualified countries. In total, 26 countries will compete in the Grand Final.

Pot 1
Albania, F.Y.R. Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Pot 2
Denmark, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia.

Pot 3
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine.

Pot 4
Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, Australia, The Netherlands, Bulgaria.

Pot 5
Czech Republic, Lithuania, Ireland, Malta, Poland, San Marino.

Pot 6
Austria, Hungary, Israel, Moldova, Romania, Switzerland.