In one week from today, live from Palazzo Madama e Casaforte degli Acaja, the EBU will host the Semi-Final Allocation Draw. This is a very important event. It will determine whether the countries that do not qualify directly to the final will perform in the 1st Semi-Final or the 2nd Semi-Final. For a refresher on what to expect, we have you covered!

So, what’s new?

• We can now add that the hosts for this event will be Italian TV presenters Carolina di Domenico (who presented Italy’s jury points at Eurovision 2021) and Gabriele Corsi. The attendance of the Mayors of Rotterdam and Turin – Ahmed Aboutaleb and Stefano Lo Russo – has also been confirmed for the ceremony that will see the host city insignia pass from last year’s host to this year’s.
• The “Big 5” countries (United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, and Spain) that do not compete in the Semis will still get to vote, so a small draw will take place first to determine which Semi these 5 countries will vote in.
• Next, the remaining 36 competing countries will be drawn from 6 pots, one at a time, to place them in one of the two Semi Finals. The pots are decided based on historical voting patterns, to try and make each Semi Final as fair as possible. This year’s pots are:

• Pot 1: Albania, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia
• Pot 2: Denmark, Australia, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden
• Pot 3: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Israel, Russia, Ukraine
• Pot 4: Cyprus, Greece, Malta, Bulgaria, Portugal, San Marino
• Pot 5: Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Moldova, Poland, Romania
• Pot 6: Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Ireland, The Netherlands
• Fans will be able to watch the draw on the official Eurovision YouTube channel or on RAI Play, the host broadcaster’s streaming service.

In the meantime, if you would like to see how it all works, you can watch the 2020 Allocation Draw in our previous article, or have a look back at the 2016 Allocation Draw here:

What are your thoughts on Allocation Draws? Do they work to keep the neighbourly voting down? Will you be watching this year? Comment below or on our social media!