Country Contest 18

The Country Contest 18 will be the eighteenth edition of the contest. Once again, the CCU invited no guest countries, due to the announcement of the World Country Contest. 
This edition marked the first time Georgia, Kosovo, Moldova and Ukraine qualified to the grand final, and also the first time Portugal failed to qualify for the grand final. However, Belarus did not manage to qualify for the final for the first time.
== Format ==
=== Semi-final allocation draw ===
=== Future editions hiatus ===
On 26 May 2018, the CCU announced that after hosting many editions in the past months (the highest?), that the Country Contest would be on hiatus for an undefinite amount of time. Reasons cited for this hiatus included were to focus on other projects and keep the interest of the contest alive, which the CCU stated "would not be the case" if so many editions took place in a short amount of time.
On 14 June 2018, the CCU stated, "The Country Contest has been a great journey, for 18 editions spanning 3 years. However, the contest could not continue at it's current format, due to financial issues. A new format will be announced in coming weeks, thereof."
== Semi-final 1 ==
France, Germany and Iceland also voted here. The top ten overall countries qualified to the Grand Final.
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 	 	129 	 	152
2 	 	124 	 	145
3 	 	123 	 	127
4 	 	93 	 	108
5 	 	85 	 	107
6 	 	77 	 	82
7 	 	68 	 	76
8 	 	64 	 	61
9 	 	63 	 	59
10 	 	63 	 	53
11 	 	52 	 	52
12 	 	52 	 	47
13 	 	51 	 	46
14 	 	50 	 	46
15 	 	46 	 	44
16 	 	46 	 	34
17 	 	39 	 	29
18 	 	37 	 	27
19 	 	37 	 	22
20 	 	35 	 	17
Draw	Country	Place	Points
01 	 	1 	275
02 	 	16 	92
03 	 	7 	170
04 	 	5 	179
05 	 	4 	200
06 	 	18 	77
07 	 	9 	119
08 	 	2 	237
09 	 	10 	110
10 	 	20 	59
11 	 	11 	105
12 	 	6 	175
13 	 	19 	68
14 	 	13 	97
15 	 	8 	124
16 	 	3 	208
17 	 	12 	98
18 	 	15 	92
19 	 	14 	96
20 	 	17 	87
== Semi-final 2 ==
Greece, Macedonia and Morocco also voted here. The top ten overall countries qualified to the Grand Final.
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 	 	131 	 	171
2 	 	107 	 	116
3 	 	96 	 	104
4 	 	92 	 	92
5 	 	82 	 	76
6 	 	75 	 	71
7 	 	71 	 	69
8 	 	65 	 	65
9 	 	62 	 	64
10 	 	60 	 	61
11 	 	60 	 	61
12 	 	54 	 	60
13 	 	54 	 	59
14 	 	53 	 	58
15 	 	52 	 	53
16 	 	51 	 	37
17 	 	50 	 	33
18 	 	49 	 	31
19 	 	37 	 	27
20 	 	33 	 	26
Draw	Country	Place	Points
01 	 	9 	146
02 	 	16 	86
03 	 	6 	165
04 	 	20 	63
05 	 	11 	123
06 	 	14 	111
07 	 	18 	83
08 	 	1 	225
09 	 	2 	198
10 	 	15 	102
11 	 	19 	76
12 	 	12 	113
13 	 	3 	190
14 	 	4 	172
15 	 	8 	152
16 	 	17 	84
17 	 	10 	135
18 	 	5 	168
19 	 	7 	164
20 	 	13 	112
== 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, including the international jury and televote.
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 	 	269 	 	258
2 	 	229 	 	232
3 	 	211 	 	195
4 	 	190 	 	170
5 	 	159 	 	158
6 	 	155 	 	149
7 	 	144 	 	139
8 	 	133 	 	118
9 	 	119 	 	112
10 	 	114 	 	105
11 	 	114 	 	105
12 	 	96 	 	104
13 	 	90 	 	103
14 	 	85 	 	102
15 	 	74 	 	91
16 	 	72 	 	88
17 	 	69 	 	80
18 	 	60 	 	68
19 	 	57 	 	67
20 	 	53 	 	66
21 	 	53 	 	54
22 	 	50 	 	45
23 	 	37 	 	36
24 	 	35 	 	28
25 	 	30 	 	27
26 	 	28 	 	26
Draw	Country	Place	Points
01 	 	2 	372
02 	 	25 	64
03 	 	17 	160
04 	 	11 	220
05 	 	8 	249
06 	 	19 	141
07 	 	7 	292
08 	 	4 	368
09 	 	16 	181
10 	 	3 	369
11 	 	10 	223
12 	 	13 	192
13 	 	18 	157
14 	 	24 	73
15 	 	6 	354
16 	 	14 	187
17 	 	21 	98
18 	 	26 	58
19 	 	12 	219
20 	 	22 	96
21 	 	1 	373
22 	 	23 	89
23 	 	9 	234
24 	 	15 	185
25 	 	20 	133
26 	 	5 	365
== Incidents ==
=== Kosovo participation ===
On 10 May 2018, RÚV sent an invitation to all active CCU broadcasters, which included Kosovo's public broadcaster, RTK. The CCU later stated that, "RTK has wanted to participate for a long time, but was not given a chance regardless of whether the host country recognized Kosovo, and we thought Iceland would be a perfect opportunity to invite them." Kosovar media reported that "RTK would shortly confirm and announce a national selection." Within hours, RTK confirmed that Kosovo would make its debut, and would announce its internally selected city in coming days.
RTS stated on 11 May 2018 that "The CCU should not allow such a non-recognized country like Kosovo to enter the competition." BHRT joined this protest, announcing its withdrawal on 10 May 2018. Other countries that didn't recognize Kosovo did not publicly state anything regarding its participation.
The CCU explained on 2 July 2018 that prior to RÚV's invitation, the CCU unanimously voted with several delegations on Kosovo participating in the Country Contest 18. The CCU stated that "Kosovo's participation was a success, which not only gave the country a great result but also was watched by many in the country." The CCU stated that they would vote regarding full membership with Delegations in due course.
== Other countries ==
=== Active CCU members ===
* : BHRT announced on 10 May 2018 that "Bosnia and Herzegovina would withdraw in protest of Kosovo's participation."
* : LTV announced that "Latvia would withdraw due to the non-apparent ratings for the contest," but declined it was caused by bad results. 
* : RTS announced on 10 May 2018 that Serbia would withdraw due to the lack of interest in the country, with the 17th edition having been the least watched contest since its debut in the 5th edition. The withdrawal was unrelated to Kosovo's debut, as RTK had confirmed its debut later that day.
=== Eligible non-participants ===
* : RTK was included in the list of broadcasters sent an invitation by RÚV, contrary to previous editions. The CCU resp