Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

  It's time. The Vienna's City hall aka Wiener Rathaus will host the ceremony on Monday January 12, 2026 at 7pm CET hosted by You can watch it live right here .  As usual there will be three rounds of voting. First the Big4 (only 4 as Spain withdraw) and host country Austria will be drawn into voting and performing in one of the two semi-final. Then the semi-finalists will be first drawn into the first or the second semi-final pot by pot, and after that also they will be drawn into the first or second half of that previously drawn semi-final. Sounds a bit chaotic but it's very straight forward and simple in the end.  Later once all the entries have been chosen and published and handed over to Ebu and their staging and props and all that is sorted out the producers will determinate the running order for each semi-final to make it smooth and dynamic and interesting, as they say.  As a Finn I am of course hoping for the second semi-final and second half as since introdu...

The individual rehearsals come to an end as The Big 5 + host country Sweden have their second 20 minutes rehearsals. Today also they draw their final slot. Unlike previous years there are three options: first half, second half or an empty ticket meaning the producers are free to place them anywhere they like to. United Kingdom and Germany draw first half, France second half and Spain and Italy an empty ticket. Host country Sweden was drawn to open the final already in the delegations meeting in March. It looks like Italy has changed their outfits. And not only but also the graphics?!  Tomorrow is the Turquoise Carpet day and from Monday we have the three dress rehearsals before the first semi-final on Tuesday evening.  UNITED KINGDOM GERMANY SWEDEN FRANCE SPAIN ITALY All photos as always from eurovision.tv

Today after their second rehearsal the Big5 and Ukraine draw their half for the final, except the hosts United Kingdom and Ukraine of course that were sorted out already in March. United Kingdom will be the very last one out on the grand final as 26th, while Ukraine  got also very good 19th. Germany will join them in the second half, as France, Italy and Spain all got the first half!

Today in Rotterdam the allocation draw took place and now each country knows where they will be; first or second semi-final, and where in it - the first half or the second half. Makes also a huge difference to the stay time in Rotterdam.  For a change Finland is in the second semi-final and even in its second half! Somehow I feel rather positive about that. Finland has been drawn into the second semi-final only twice before (2013, 2014) and both times we qualified and even finished 11th, the best result since Lordi's win in 2014. Finland has been in the second half only four times before, too and has always reached the final (2008, 2009, 2014, 2018) Also, Finland has never been in the second semi-final's second half yet (correction: in 2014, yes but the producers put Finland to perform at number 8....) and under those facts does that mean a guaranteed final then? But on the other hand we already lost the hilarious fact that Italy could vote for Cicciolina should we sen...

The Big5 have drawn their slot in the Euroviison song contest 2019 final running order today after their second rehearsal. Italy's Mahmood draw the 2nd half, as did UK's Michael Rice, France's Bilal Hassani and Spain's Miki. Only Germany's S!sters will be performing in the first half, while host country Israel and their own Kobi Marimi was already drawn in March to number 14, a perfect midway!

It's time again for the next step closer to the Eurovision song contest: the allocation draw. 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. The even will take place in Tel Aviv Museum of Art at 17 CET. There will be also the Host City Insignia ceremony, started in Helsinki 2007. Eurovision hosts Assi and Lucy will take care of the job. This year there has been only one special request: by Switzerland who wants to be in second semi-final.  And here's the outcome. Finland in the first semi-final. Again. And in the first half. Again. And San Marino and Italy separated. Again.   Pot 1 Albania Croatia F.Y.R. Macedonia Montenegro Serbia Slovenia Pot 2 Denmark Estonia Finland Iceland N...

In tonight's qualifiers press conference the artists also draw their half for the final performance and Finland got second half again, as did hot favorites Cyprus and Israel. Below also the Big5 + Portugal as known so far.  First half of the final: Austria, Estonia, Lithuania, Albania Portugal (8th), France, Spain, Germany, United Kingdom Second half of the final: Cyprus, Israel, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Finland, Ireland Italy

Isn't she like brunette Krista Siegfrids?? Finland is back to semifinal one, in the 2nd half for a change Italy was the only one with a request this year,  and their wish to vote in the 2nd semifinal was granted Bye bye Kyiv, welcome Lisbon!

  The allocation draw to determinate in which semifinal the countries will perform took place today in Lisbon City Hall along with the Insignia ceremony wheee Lisbon officially takes over from Kyiv, a tradition started in Helsinki 2007.  You can watch it here at 13 CET. Below are the pots: Pot 1: Albania, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, Switzerland Pot 2: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden Pot 3: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine Pot 4: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Moldova, Romania Pot 5: Australia, Austria, Czech Republic, Israel, Malta, San Marino Pot 6: Belgium, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland

Fans were complaining before about everyhting but NTU has come up with the logo, slogan, stage and allocation draw in January. Just as promised. :-) And even the ticket sales will start in a week or so... The stage (on top) looks very much inspired by Vienna and Helsinki with the Baku backdrop. But then again it's the same designer. Except for Helsinki of course! Looks promising. The semifinal allocation is sorted out as well today with the Host City insignia ceremony, passing the contest officially from Stockholm to Kyiv. A nice tradition started after Helsinki 2007 from the initiative of the Helsinki city people.  Italy, Spain and United Kingdom will vote in the first semifinal which is bad news for San Marino. Germany. Ukraine and France will vote in the second semifinal which is good news for San Marino if they send Serhat again..... And Finland? AGAIN first semifinal and AGAIN first half! This is 8th semifinal one in ten years, and the starting numbers have ...

The allocation draw and official handover from Stockholm to Kyiv  with Host City Insignia - a tradition introduced in Helsinki 2007, btw - will take place next Tuesday in Kyiv, January 31, 2017 (Who said Ukrainians can't make it? They said January and January it is, lol. Some fans.... sigh) As usual, first the Big5 and host Ukraine will be drawn into which semifinal they will broadcast and vote in. Germany has asked and granted the Second semifinal.  Next the countries in semifinals will be drawn into First or Second semifinal. Switzerland has asked and granted the Second semifinal. There will be 19 countries in the Second semi, 18 in the First. The 37 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, FYR Macedon...

Germany had asked to vote in the second semifinal, and thus Sweden was allocated in the first one, Israel had asked to be in the second semifinal.

Next Monday the allocation draw will take place in Stockholm's City Hall at 11.15 CET. Alexandra Pascalidou and Jovan Radomir will host the show. You can watch it live on eurovision.tv First there will be a draw to see in which semifinal the Big5 and Sweden will vote.  In the first semifinal there will 18 countries, in the second 19. There will be also a draw for the first or the second part of the semifinal for each country. Pot 1: Albania, 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, Netherlands, Bulgaria Pot 5: Czech Republic, Lithuania, Ireland,  Malta, Poland, San Marino Pot 6: Austria, Hungary, Moldova, Romania,  Switzerland, Israel (pre-assigned to the 2nd semifinal)

It has been quite awhile now that the host city insignia exchange and the allocation draw, or rather the draw in which semifinal each country will perform in, will happen in Stockholm on January 25, 2016. That's next Monday, folks! Now it's also clear SVT will also reveal the slogan and the logo for the contest at the same occasion. The logo is made by INGO Stockholm . Both SVT and INGO team seem to be rather excited about the project.  From a modern fairytale to Magical rendezvous Under the same sky. Having an Awakening while Feeling the rhythm in True fantasy and the Confluence of sound. Sharing the moment, Feeling your heart beat, lighting your fire, We are one. #JoinUs Building bridges .... what's next? Fredrik 'Benke' Rydman is again the head of choreography. He's familiar with the job as he did it also in 2013, and even in 2000 he choreographed the interval act in the final. Now he's the boss for both semifinal and the final's opening ...

Vienna city hall hosted the allocation draw (you can rewatch it here ) and now we know who's where and which part. The final running order will be decided later on.  Also the Big5 and Austria were drawn into semifinals they will broadcast and vote in. Except Germany that had asked and granted to do so in semifinal two. We also got to know Herr Niedermeyer from Digame, aka The Cheeky Frozen man.....