In an announcement today, we now know the Semi Final Allocation Draw for Eurovision 2022 will take place in Turin on Tuesday, 25th January! The presenters of this event are still unknown, however Italian media have indicated that the beautiful Palazzo Madama will host the event with an audience of 100 foreign guests.
What can we expect?
Early on at the event, there is a ceremonial handing over ceremony. It would be expected that the mayor of Rotterdam (Ahmed Aboutaleb) would “hand over” the event to the mayor of Turin (Stefano Lo Russo). Starting in 2007, a special commemorative insignia has been added to a giant keyring fob by the previous host city. This item is getting quite large and heavy, so we’ll wait and see if this tradition continues this year!
In the first part of the draw, the pre-qualifying countries are typically be assigned one of the two semi-finals to vote in. The Big 5 countries (France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and Spain) are not drawn from the pots as they will perform in the Grand Final and do not compete in the Semis. With 41 competing nations for the 2022 Contest, that leaves 36 countries to fight it out in the Semis.
These 36 semi-final countries are grouped into pots (usually five or six) based on historic voting patterns. This is to help ensure each semi-final is not populated by countries with higher chances of voting for each other. Each pot should be roughly split between the two semis to leave us with 18 countries to compete in each Semi Final.
It’s then time to assign the countries to a Semi Final, and then decide which half of the running order they will sing in by drawing lots.
The precise running order will later be determined by the show’s producers and the EBU once all songs have been submitted by mid-March. This entire process will be overseen by the Executive Supervisor of the EBU, Martin Österdahl.
Furthermore, the Semi Final Allocation Draw is usually the first glimpse of the theme art and slogan for the upcoming Eurovision. It’s always something fans keep a keen eye out for.
Finally, some national broadcasters make special requests to be placed in a specific semi final. This is usually due to scheduling conflicts. If the EBU Reference Group has approved any of these requests, it will be made known at the Draw.
If you’ve never seen one before, you can see the video from the last Semi Final Allocation Draw below. This event did not happen in 2021 as the results from the 2020 Allocation Draw were used for Eurovision 2021.
