The heads of delegation from all 43 participating countries gathered in Dusseldorf today, stuck their hands in fishbowls, and learned where they’d perform during the semi-finals. Presumably 41 of those delegates had their fingers crossed they wouldn’t have to perform after front-runners Amaury Vassili from France or Stella Mwangi from Norway.
Poland and Greece (semi-final 1), and Slovakia and Latvia (semi-final 2), drew wildcards and were free to choose their position.
Here’s the running order for the first semi-final:
- Poland (wildcard)
- Norway
- Albania
- Armenia
- Turkey
- Serbia
- Russia
- Switzerland
- Georgia
- Finland
- Malta
- San Marino
- Croatia
- Iceland
- Hungary
- Portugal
- Lithuania
- Azerbaijan
- Greece (wildcard)
The commercial breaks are scheduled to take plase after the 5th and 14th song. This will give Hungary’s Kati Wolf time to set up her wind machine. (Wiwi loves your blond locks, Kat).
And here’s the running order for the second semi-final:
- Bosnia & Herzegovina
- Austria
- The Netherlands
- Belgium
- Slovakia (wildcard)
- Ukraine
- Moldova
- Sweden
- Cyprus
- Bulgaria
- FYR Macedonia
- Israel
- Slovenia
- Romania
- Estonia
- Belarus
- Latvia (wildcard)
- Denmark
- Ireland
The commercial breaks will once again take place after the 5th and 14th acts. This will give Estonia’s Getter Jaanai time to construct her on-stage replica of the Empire State Building.
The Big 5 countries (Italy, France, Germany, Spain, and The United Kingdom) — the ones who finance this whole shebang — also drew for their start position in the final. Here’s how it went down.
11. France
12. Italy
14. United Kingdom
16. Germany
22. Spain (wildcard)
