Country Contest 14

The Country Contest 13 will be the thirteenth edition of the contest. Once again, the CCU invited no guest countries, due to the announcement of the World Country Contest. 
== Format ==
=== 26-country final lock ===
On 26 March 2018, the CCU announced that the contest would only feature 10 qualifiers per semi-final from then on, with no possibility of a wildcard nor quarter-final qualifier. This comes after wildcard qualifiers Netherlands' 26th place in the 13th edition, Hungary's 27th place and Lebanon's 25th place in the 12th edition.
=== Revert of 50/50 jury/televote in final ===
Due to "complaints from a number of Member Broadcasters", the CCU announced that the final would revert to using the traditional 50/50 televote/jury system. They added, "1% extra of votes was not going to change the outcome of the results, nevertheless. Tiebreakers have always been broken by the preference of the public vote, which is good enough of an advantage for the televoting."
=== Semi-final allocation draw ===
Once again, countries were allocated to semi-finals based on geographical distance. The pots were announced as the following:
Eastern (9)	Northern (8)	Southern (12)	Western (7)
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== Semi-final 1 ==
Greece, Luxembourg and Andorra also voted here. The top eight overall countries qualified to the Grand Final. The ninth and tenth qualifiers were respectively determined by the highest placed televote and jury qualifier which did not place in the top 8 overall.
Split jury/televote results	Split jury/televote results	Split jury/televote results	Split jury/televote results	Split jury/televote results
Place 	Televoting 	Points 	Jury 	Points
1 	 	106 	 	99
2 	 	95 	 	85
3 	 	89 	 	84
4 	 	88 	 	80
5 	 	83 	 	78
6 	 	76 	 	78
7 	 	69 	 	77
8 	 	67 	 	73
9 	 	66 	 	69
10 	 	65 	 	66
11 	 	62 	 	62
12 	 	62 	 	60
13 	 	57 	 	55
14 	 	54 	 	54
15 	 	52 	 	52
16 	 	49 	 	50
17 	 	48 	 	50
18 	 	32 	 	45
Draw	Country	Place	Points
01 	 	7 	140
02 	 	3 	179
03 	 	18 	92
04 	 	15 	112
05 	 	17 	102
06 	 	4 	152
07 	 	13 	118
08 	 	11 	131
09 	 	5 	143
10 	 	1 	188
11 	 	9 	134
12 	 	16 	110
13 	 	14 	117
14 	 	6 	142
15 	 	8 	138
16 	 	2 	184
17 	 	12 	121
18 	 	10 	134
== Semi-final 2 ==
Macedonia, Spain and Ireland also voted here. The top eight overall countries qualified to the Grand Final. The ninth and tenth qualifiers were respectively determined by the highest placed televote and jury qualifier which did not place in the top 8 overall.
Split jury/televote results	Split jury/televote results	Split jury/televote results	Split jury/televote results	Split jury/televote results
Place 	Televoting 	Points 	Jury 	Points
1 	 	106 	 	99
2 	 	96 	 	89
3 	 	93 	 	83
4 	 	90 	 	80
5 	 	89 	 	79
6 	 	83 	 	74
7 	 	77 	 	71
8 	 	77 	 	69
9 	 	73 	 	67
10 	 	65 	 	67
11 	 	62 	 	67
12 	 	60 	 	62
13 	 	57 	 	61
14 	 	54 	 	57
15 	 	49 	 	56
16 	 	37 	 	51
17 	 	28 	 	43
18 	 	23 	 	41
Draw	Country	Place	Points
01 	 	4 	172
02 	 	14 	118
03 	 	17 	79
04 	 	10 	134
05 	 	16 	88
06 	 	18 	71
07 	 	8 	151
08 	 	11 	127
09 	 	2 	176
10 	 	7 	156
11 	 	5 	160
12 	 	12 	119
13 	 	13 	119
14 	 	6 	157
15 	 	15 	106
16 	 	9 	134
17 	 	3 	173
18 	 	1 	195
== Final ==
The 20 qualifiers from the semi-finals, as well as the top 6 of previous edition took part; all participating countries in the edition voted. Additionally, the highest scoring non-qualifier country qualified to the final as a wildcard act, which was revealed during the semi-final 2 results.
Split jury/televote results	Split jury/televote results	Split jury/televote results	Split jury/televote results	Split jury/televote results
Place 	Televoting 	Points 	Jury 	Points
1 	 	161 	 	158
2 	 	145 	 	143
3 	 	135 	 	135
4 	 	128 	 	125
5 	 	122 	 	125
6 	 	120 	 	120
7 	 	117 	 	115
8 	 	112 	 	112
9 	 	110 	 	107
10 	 	110 	 	105
11 	 	105 	 	102
12 	 	105 	 	100
13 	 	100 	 	100
14 	 	97 	 	92
15 	 	97 	 	92
16 	 	97 	 	92
17 	 	94 	 	87
18 	 	92 	 	84
19 	 	87 	 	82
20 	 	84 	 	79
21 	 	74 	 	74
22 	 	66 	 	71
23 	 	59 	 	69
24 	 	56 	 	64
25 	 	46 	 	61
26 	 	33 	 	56
Draw	Country	Place	Points
01 	 	13 	199
02 	 	26 	104
03 	 	23 	143
04 	 	1 	280
05 	 	21 	158
06 	 	10 	217
07 	 	4 	263
08 	 	12 	199
09 	 	16 	176
10 	 	6 	234
11 	 	11 	212
12 	 	24 	128
13 	 	18 	168
14 	 	15 	179
15 	 	5 	260
16 	 	20 	166
17 	 	19 	168
18 	 	17 	174
19 	 	22 	158
20 	 	9 	220
21 	 	8 	220
22 	 	25 	128
23 	 	14 	179
24 	 	3 	271
25 	 	7 	222
26 	 	2 	276
== Reactions ==
=== San Marino ===
Following the revelation of the semi-final results, SMRTV stated that they were "deeply disappointed to be a victim of the televote/jury save system." They went on to say "We've tried many different things, which gives us a great performance with the juries. But the public voting, they are a different story. Constantly we have been liked by the juries, but the televoters rank us in the bottom. In the ninth edition, we were really saved by the juries and that gave us a fifth place position. It goes without saying that the only time the public really noticed us was the fourth edition, which actually was the smallest edition. But of course, we were beaten by our wonderful neighbors - by only 12 points. This isn't a one-time thing either, to be ranked low, as we've been border-line for the past 5 editions. As such, we've decided to go full on next edition, and use all of our resources possible for something, we hope. On the other hand, we are delighted the contest will return to our neighbors, Italy, after such a long time."
== Controversies ==
=== "Big 6" Liechtenstein replacement ===
Liechtenstein placed 4th in the previous edition, participating and qualifying via the now-abandoned non-participation quarter-final, which allowed 1FLTV to participate by paying a "substantially lower-priced participation fee." With Liechtenstein being given an auto-qualification spot, it was presumed by fans and such that the country would participate. However, on 26 March 2018, 1FLTV announced that Liechtenstein would withdraw due to being unable to pay the participation fee, and the Government not prioritizing public television, let alone/save the Country Contest. 
As a result, the CCU announced on 30 March 2018 that Andorra would replace Liechtenstein in the Big 6 and therefore automatically qualify to the Grand Final. However, the CCU stated, "It is unfortunate for the second time ever to have a country which could not fulfill its reward for placing in the Top 6, but we hope 1FLTV and Liechtenstein can make a greater comeback in the near future."
== Other countries ==
=== Active CCU members ===
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* : Returned.
* : BHTV withdrew due to unpaid debts, stating that "it's focus was to be indebted, in order to consider a return to the Contest."
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* : UA:PBC announced on 22 February 2018 that Ukraine would withdraw from the contest due to failing to qualify for the past 6 editions as well as the loss of interest in the country. 
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* : On 26 March 2018, 1FLTV announced that Liechtenstein would withdraw from the contest "due to being unable to pay the participation fee, and the Government not prioritizing public television, let alone the Country Contest."
=== Eligible non-participants ===
* : Due to the fact that Greece did not recognize Kosovo, RTK was once again unable to confirm its participation.