International Music Festival 39

International Music Festival 39, often referred to as IMF 39, was the thirty-ninth edition of the International Music Festival. The contest took place in Armenia after winning the previous edition. The contest comprised two semi-finals and a final that was originally scheduled to be held in August 2017. However, the edition was ultimately cancelled in February 2018
Belarus, Estonia, Finland and Malta were returning to the contest following a one-edition absence. Andorra, the Faroe Islands, Georgia and Portugal are withdrawing from the contest. On July 20, Switzerland has been disqualified. Fourty-seven countries have confirmed participation in the contest.
== Location ==
The contest took place in Yerevan, Armenia after winning the previous edition.
Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia as well as one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country. It has been the capital since 1918, the thirteenth in the history of Armenia, and the seventh located in or around the Ararat plain.
The history of Yerevan dates back to the 8th century BC, with the founding of the fortress of Erebuni in 782 BC by king Argishti I at the western extreme of the Ararat plain. Erebuni was "designed as a great administrative and religious centre, a fully royal capital." By the late ancient Armenian Kingdom, new capital cities were established and Yerevan declined in importance. Under Iranian and Russian rule, it was the center of the Erivan Khanate from 1736 to 1828 and the Erivan Governorate from 1850 to 1917, respectively. After World War I, Yerevan became the capital of the First Republic of Armenia as thousands of survivors of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire arrived in the area. The city expanded rapidly during the 20th century as Armenia became part of the Soviet Union. In a few decades, Yerevan was transformed from a provincial town within the Russian Empire, to Armenia's principal cultural, artistic, and industrial center, as well as becoming the seat of national government.
With the growth of the economy of the country, Yerevan has been undergoing major transformation as many parts of the city have been the recipient of new construction since the early 2000s, and retail outlets as much as restaurants, shops, and street cafés, which were rare during Soviet times, have multiplied. As of 2011, the population of Yerevan was 1,060,138, just over 35% of the Republic of Armenia's total population. According to the official estimate of 2016, the current population of the city is 1,073,700. Yerevan was named the 2012 World Book Capital by UNESCO. Yerevan is an associate member of Eurocities.
Of the notable landmarks of Yerevan, Erebuni Fortress is considered to be the birthplace of the city, the Katoghike Tsiranavor church is the oldest surviving church of Yerevan and Saint Gregory Cathedral is the largest Armenian cathedral in the world, Tsitsernakaberd is the official memorial to the victims of the Armenian Genocide, and several opera houses, theatres, museums, libraries, and other cultural institutions. Yerevan Opera Theatre is the main spectacle hall of the Armenian capital, the National Gallery of Armenia is the largest art museum in the Republic of Armenia and shares a building with the History Museum of Armenia, and the Matenadaran repository contains one of the largest depositories of ancient books and manuscripts in the world. The neoclassical Republic Square is the center of the city and the monumental Cascade steps lead from the city center to Victory Park, home of a Luna Park and the statue Mother Armenia overlooking Yerevan.
===Venue===
Officially Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concerts Complex (Armenian: Կարեն Դեմիրճյանի անվան մարզահամերգային համալիր), also known as Demirchyan Arena, Sports & Music Complex, or simply Hamalir (for complex in Armenian), is a large sports and concert complex with 184 stairs leading up Tsitsernakaberd hill which dominates over the western parts of Yerevan, near the Hrazdan River gorge. The complex consists of two main halls; the Concerts hall and the Sports hall, in addition to the large foyer, Hayastan conference hall and Argishti hall designated for diplomatic meetings, exhibitions and other events.
In August 2015 the government of the Republic of Armenia decided to sell the complex to a private firm with plans to renovate the complex and turn it into a "family-oriented center".
==Format==
Semi-final allocation draw
The draw that determined the semi-final allocation was held on 2 July 2017 at the Yerevan City Hall in Yerevan. The big 6 countries were first drawn to determine in which semi-final each would country vote. The rest of the 33 countries were divided into six pots, based on their geographical place. Each time a country was drawn from the pot, its semi-final and half of the semi-final was determined.
The six pots were the following:
==Participating countries==
48 countries have confirmed to take part in the edition. Belarus, Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Malta returned to the competition. Andorra, the Faroe Islands, Georgia, Portugal and Switzerland did not take part in the contest.
===Returning artists===
==Results==
===Quarter-final===
Draw	Country	Artist 	Song 	Place	Points
01 	 	Lea Paci 	"Adolescente Pirate" 	 	
02 	 	Poli Genova 	"Oshte" 	 	
03 	 	Giulia Luzi 	"Paracadute" 	 	
04 	 	Caitlyn 	"Arrive" 	 	
05 	 	Henri PFR 	"Flames" 	 	
06 	 	Elena 	"Zlato" 	 	
07 	 	Nazim 	"Pourquoi Veux-Tu Que Je Danse?"	 	
08 	 	Avior Malasa ft. Noa Kirel	"Makom Leshinuy" 	 	
09 	 	Isabell Otrebus 	"Voiceless" 	 	
===Semi-final 1===
Armenia, Belgium and Sweden have also voted in this semi-final. The highlighted countries qualified for the final.
Draw	Country	Artist 	Song 	Place	Points
01 	 	Henri PFR 	"Flames" 	 	
02 	 	Moniqué 	"Palauk Dar" 	 	
03 	 	Adelina Berisha 	"Love It" 	 	
04 	 	July Jones 	"Jump In The Water" 	 	
05 	 	Heart FX ft. Joe Jury	"King Without a Throne" 	 	
06 	 	Nicole Saba 	"Mesh Waat El Kalam" 	 	
07 	 	Ivan 	"Krest I Ladon" 	 	
08 	 	Ira Losco 	"We Are The Soldiers" 	 	
09 	 	Maya Berović 	"Izvini Tata" 	 	
10 	 	Laura Närhi 	"Supersankari" 	 	
11 	 	Emma Drobná 	"Words" 	 	
12 	 	Tamta 	"Ilious Ke Thalasses" 	 	
13 	 	Giulia Luzi 	"Paracadute" 	 	
14 	 	Ludvig Moon 	"Cult Baby" 	 	
15 	 	Caitlyn 	"Arrive" 	 	
16 	 	Marco Carta 	"Il Meglio Sta Arrivando"	 	
17 	 	The Veronicas 	"The Only High" 	 	
18 	 	Elena 	"Zlato" 	 	
19 	 	Natalia Gordienko 	"Pyanaya" 	 	
20 	 	Valeria 	"Mikroinfarkty" 	 	
===Semi-final 2===
Albania, Germany and the United Kingdom were also scheduled to vote in this semi-final. Ten countries would have qualified for the final. 
Draw	Country	Artist 	Song 	Place	Points
01 	 	Pink Angels 	"Slay Mama" 	 	
02 	 	Loboda 	"Sluchaynaya" 	 	
03 	 	The5 	"Heya Kida El Haya" 	 	
04 	 	Isabell Otrebus 	"Voiceless" 	 	
05 	 	Hadise 	"Şampiyon" 	 	
06 	 	Arta Memedi 	"2 Her" 	 	
07 	 	Fie Laursen 	"Broken Soul" 	 	
08 	 	Kodaline 	"Brother" 	 	
09 	 	Poli Genova 	"Oshte" 	 	
10 	 	Sandra van Nieuwland 	"Indian Summer" 	 	
11 	 	Avior Malasa ft. Noa Kirel	"Makom Leshinuy" 	 	
12 	 	Beatrice Egli 	"Federleicht" 	 	
13 	 	Mark Dayle 	"Lollipop" 	 	
14 	 	Daniel Levi 	"All I Need" 	 	
15 	 	Nazim 	"Pourquoi Veux-Tu Que Je Danse?"	 	
16 	 	Emre 	"Ayshty Zhauabyn" 	 	
17 	 	Severina 	"Mrtav Bez Mene" 	 	
18 	 	Lea Paci 	"Adolescente Pirate" 	 	
19 	 	Milkywhale 	"Rhubarb Girl" 	 	
20 	 	Goga Sekulić ft. Sha 	"Po Život Opasni" 	 	
21 	 	Adriana Miglāne 	"Forget" 	 	
===Final===
The grand final would have taken place on March 9, 2018. Twenty-six countries would have participated in the final, composed of the host country, the top six best-ranked countries of the previous edition as well as the ten best-ranked countries of the two semi-finals. All fourty-seven countries participating in the contest would have voted in the final. 
Draw 	Country 	Artist 	Song 	Place 	Points
First half 	First half 	First half 	First half 	First half 	First half
 	 	Elvana Gjata 	"Forever Is Over" 	 	
 	 	Heart FX ft. Joe Jury	"King Without a Throne" 	 	
 	 	Laura Tesoro 	"Higher" 	 	
 	 	Laura Närhi 	"Supersankari" 	 	
 	 	Tamta 	"Ilious Ke Thalasses" 	 	
 	 	Marco Carta 	"Il Meglio Sta Arrivando"	 	
 	 	Natalia Gordienko 	"Pyanaya" 	 	
 	 	Zara Larsson 	"Only You" 	 	
Second half	Second half	Second half 	Second half 	Second half	Second half
 	 	Iveta Mukuchyan 	"Hayastan Jan" 	 	
 	 	The Veronicas 	"The Only High" 	 	
 	 	Elif 	"Anlauf nehmen" 	 	
 	 	Ira Losco 	"We Are The Soldiers" 	 	
 	 	Valeria 	"Mikroinfarkty" 	 	
 	 	Giulia Luzi 	"Paracadute" 	 	
 	 	July Jones 	"Jump In The Water" 	 	
 	 	Tanya Lacey 	"Now That You're Gone" 	 	
==Other countries==
: Further information: List of countries in the International Music Festival
Countries that are active members of the International Broadcasting Union (IBU) are also eligible to participate in the International Music Festival. As in every edition, an invitation to all the members have been sent in order to confirm whether they will participate or not. The following list of countries declined stating their reasons as shown below.
===Active IBU members===
*: On June 2, 2017, RTVA announced their withdrawal from the 39th edition due to lack of financial budget. A return to the contest is unlikely.
*: On May 26, 2017, the IBU revealed that AzTV is currently looking for a new delegation to organize future participations. It is yet to be determined if the country will return to the contest. On June 4, 2017, AzTV confirmed their participation at the forthcoming edition. On June 26, AzTV announced that a participation is now unlikely in order to save money for the jubilee edition.
* : Following changes in the Belarussian delegation revealed on June 4, 2017, it is yet to be determined if the country will take part.
*: On May 26, 2017, the IBU revealed that ERR is currently looking for a new delegation to organize future participations. It is yet to be determined if the country will return to the contest. On June 2, ERR confirmed their return to the 39th contest.
*: On June 13, 2017, the IBU announced that a future Faroe participation at the contest is unlikely.
*: On May 26, 2017, the IBU revealed that YLE is currently looking for a new delegation to organize future participations. It is yet to be determined if the country will return to the contest. Following an official statement by the broadcaster published on June 5, the country will return to the contest after a one-edition absence. 
*: On June 18, 2017, the current Georgian head of delegation has been withdrawn and therefore the country is unable to participate in the contest. A future return is yet to be determined.
*: On May 26, 2017, the IBU revealed that PBS is currently looking for a new delegation to organize future participations. It is yet to be determined if the country will return to the contest. On June 2, PBS confirmed the nation's return to the contest following a one-edition absence.
==International broadcasts and voting==
===Voting and spokespersons===
# TBA
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==Notes==
# TBA presented the votes for the Rest of the World jury.
==External links==
* Forum