International Music Festival 38

International Music Festival 38, often referred to as IMF 38, was the thirty-eighth edition of the International Music Festival. The contest is set to be held in Belgium after winning the previous edition.
== Location ==
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels which is the capital of Belgium. The Brussels-Capital Region is located in the central portion of the country and is a part of both the French Community of Belgium and the Flemish Community, but is separate from the region of Flanders (in which it forms an enclave) or Wallonia. The region has a population of 1.2 million and a metropolitan area with a population of over 1.8 million, the largest agglomeration in Belgium. Brussels is also part of a large conurbation which extends between Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Leuven and Walloon Brabant and is home to over 5 million people.
Brussels grew from a small rural settlement on the river Senne to become an important city-region in Europe. Since the end of the Second World War, Brussels has been a major centre for international politics and has become the home of numerous international organizations, politicians, diplomats and civil servants. Brussels is the de facto capital of the European Union as it hosts a number of principal EU institutions (the other administrative centres are Luxembourg and Strasbourg). The secretariat of the Benelux and the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are also located in Brussels. Today, it is considered an Alpha global city.
Historically a Dutch-speaking city, Brussels has seen a language shift to French from the late 19th century onwards. Today, the majority language is French, and the Brussels-Capital Region is an officially bilingual enclave within the Flemish Region. All road signs, street names, and many advertisements and services are shown in both languages. Brussels is increasingly becoming multilingual with increasing numbers of migrants, expatriates and minority groups speaking their own languages.
===Venue===
Palais 12 / Paleis 12 is an indoor arena in Brussels used for concerts and spectacles. With a capacity of roughly 15,000 it is one of the largest indoor venues in Belgium. Located in the Heysel Exhibition Park, it was originally built in 1989 but was redesigned and reopened in its current form in 2013.
Palais 12 forms the foundation stone for the NEO project, which aims to refurbish the Heysel Plateau into a new, modern, multipurpose neighbourhood in northern Brussels.
Situated on the Heysel Plateau, Palais 12 hosts major events, such as big concerts, conferences, shows and major sporting events for a maximum capacity of 15,000 people.
As the many large events organised at Brussels Expo demonstrate and thanks to its central position and accessibility, Palais 12 is the only venue in Belgium capable of welcoming spectators from all across the country, the equivalent of an attractiveness potential of more than 11 million people. This is a huge asset for Palais 12, Belgium's only venue to boast such a high prospect of spectators.
==Format==
===Semi-final allocation draw===
The draw that determined the semi-final allocation was held on 1 May 2017 at the Brussels City Hall in Brussels. The big 6 countries were first drawn to determine in which semi-final each would country vote. The rest of the TBA 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:
Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3
*
*
*
*
*
*
*	
*
*
*
*
*
*
*	
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Pot 4	Pot 5	Pot 6
*
*
*
*
*
*
*	
*
*
*
*
*
*
*	
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
==Participating countries==
48 countries have confirmed to take part in the edition. Andorra, the Faroe Islands, Greece, Luxembourg, Portugal and Slovakia returned to the competition. Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lebanon and Morocco did not take part in the contest.
=== Returning artists ===
Celeste Buckingham previously represented Slovakia in the 22nd, 27th, and 29th editions. Lenny represented the Czech Republic in the 37th edition. Era Istrefi represented Kosovo in the 30th edition. Dara took part for Bulgaria in the 36th edition. Thea previously represented FYR Macedonia in the 28th and 30th editions. Nek represented Italy in the 24th edition.
==Results==
===Semi-final 1===
The first semi-final took place on May 19, 2017. Belgium, the Czech Republic and Sweden also voted in this semi-final. The ten songs highlighted in bold qualified to the final.
Draw	Country	Artist 	Song 	Place	Points
01 	 	Dara 	"Rodena Takava" 	17 	87
02 	 	Eliane 	"Together Forever" 	9 	140
03 	 	Kamshat Zholdybaeva 	"Padisha" 	15 	98
04 	 	The Gift ft. Brian Eno	"Love Without Violins"	10 	125
05 	 	Kongsted 	"Say My Name" 	7 	161
06 	 	Luke Black 	"Walpurgis Night" 	20 	65
07 	 	Anna Känzig 	"Lion's Heart" 	2 	220
08 	 	Leah McFall 	"Wolf Den" 	14 	115
09 	 	Lisa May 	"I Remember" 	13 	116
10 	 	Iveta Mukuchyan 	"Amena" 	1 	247
11 	 	July Jones 	"Running" 	8 	151
12 	 	Aron Hannes & Siris 	"Tonight" 	4 	209
13 	 	K Bleax 	"Bitchunt" 	19 	72
14 	 	Violetta Zironi 	"Dimmi Che Non Passa" 	18 	72
15 	 	David Bisbal 	"Duele Demasiado" 	11 	119
16 	 	Dima Bilan 	"V Tvoei Golove" 	12 	118
17 	 	Jenifer 	"Paradis Secret" 	16 	96
18 	 	Nek ft. J-Ax 	"Freud" 	6 	161
19 	 	Tayanna 	"Osen" 	3 	213
20 	 	Luminize 	"Twilight" 	5 	196
===Semi-final 2===
The first semi-final took place on May 26,2017. Australia, Lithuania and the United Kingdom also voted in this semi-final. Ten ten songs highlighted in bold qualified to the final.
Draw	Country	Artist 	Song 	Place	Points
01 	 	Vegas 	"Pio Dynata" 	7 	146
02 	 	Gaëtan Streel 	"The Meaning" 	20 	66
03 	 	Zaho 	"Tant De Choses" 	9 	138
04 	 	Röyksopp ft. Susanne Sundfør	"Never Ever" 	2 	216
05 	 	Léa Castel 	"Amazone" 	16 	107
06 	 	Konni Kass 	"Surrender" 	18 	101
07 	 	Era Istrefi ft. Felix Snow 	"Redrum" 	14 	124
08 	 	Milena Vučić 	"Zovi Svoje Drugove"	15 	112
09 	 	Cosby ft. Elena Borbel 	"Parte Din Tine" 	19 	100
10 	 	Besa 	"Tatuazh Ne Zemer" 	1 	232
11 	 	Laura Jansen 	"Queen Of Elba" 	3 	178
12 	 	Jia Miles 	"Get Me" 	6 	160
13 	 	Amel Ćurić ft. Emina Jahović	"Kost" 	13 	127
14 	 	Özge Doğru 	"Mutlu Son" 	10 	135
15 	 	Celeste Buckingham 	"My Last Song" 	12 	128
16 	 	Thea ft. Pancho DNK 	"Rushevini" 	11 	134
17 	 	ZOË 	"Dangerous Affair" 	5 	166
18 	 	Iana ft. Alessandra 	"Aja Mara" 	8 	142
19 	 	Lina 	"Dance Sucker" 	17 	103
20 	 	Alice Merton 	"No Roots" 	4 	173
=== Grand Final ===
Draw	Country	Artist 	Song 	Place	Points
01 	 	Kongsted 	"Say My Name" 	20 	141
02 	 	Amy Shark 	"Adore" 	26 	56
03 	 	69 Danguje 	"Gilyn" 	15 	168
04 	 	Röyksopp ft. Susanne Sundfør	"Never Ever" 	8 	257
05 	 	Tayanna 	"Osen" 	11 	206
06 	 	Vegas 	"Pio Dynata" 	25 	65
07 	 	Laura Jansen 	"Queen Of Elba" 	9 	248
08 	 	Anne-Marie 	"Ciao Adios" 	5 	308
09 	 	Jia Miles 	"Get Me" 	21 	132
10 	 	Mustii 	"Feed Me" 	4 	329
11 	 	Özge Doğru 	"Mutlu Son" 	24 	75
12 	 	The Gift ft. Brian Eno 	"Love Without Violins"	16 	156
13 	 	Iveta Mukuchyan 	"Amena" 	1 	389
14 	 	Nek ft. J-ax 	"Freud" 	14 	172
15 	 	Luminize 	"Twilight" 	7 	267
16 	 	Aron Hannes & Siris 	"Tonight" 	19 	153
17 	 	July Jones 	"Running" 	17 	155
18 	 	Besa 	"Tatuazh Ne Zemer" 	6 	300
19 	 	Zaho 	"Tant De Choses" 	23 	117
20 	 	Mariette 	"A Million Years" 	2 	383
21 	 	Lenny 	"Ghosts" 	13 	199
22 	 	Anna Känzig 	"Lion's Heart" 	10 	244
23 	 	ZOË 	"Dangerous Affair" 	12 	200
24 	 	Eliane 	"Together Forever" 	18 	154
25 	 	Alice Merton 	"No Roots" 	3 	337
26 	 	Iana ft. Alessandra 	"Aja Mara" 	22 	125
== Voting grids ==
==Incidents==
===Azerbaijani withdrawal===
Following the submission deadline on May 10, AZRTV was forced to withdraw by the International Broadcasting Union due to no entry submitted in time.
===French entry change===
France 2 originally chose Amir with his song "Au Coeur De Moi" to represent the country in Brussels. However, on April 29, it was announced that the artist decided to withdraw from the competition. Léa Castel was chosen to now represent France with her song "Amazone".
===Latvian withdrawal===
On May 10, 2017, the Latvian broadcaster announced their withdrawal of the edition. A return to the next edition is likely.
===Moldovan entry change===
The initial representer of Moldova who was officially selected on March 2017 was Kaya, with the song "Burn" but, later, the broadcaster TRM decided not to send her as she is involved in many other projects, including a bigger musical competition. Then, on 17th April 2017, Alessandra & Iana were internally chosen by TRM to represent Moldova with the song "Aja Mara". After the announcement, the HoDs of Moldova, Olesea and Elena Croitor overreacted and they are in conflicts with the national television of Moldova, TRM. It is unsure what will happen next.
===Moroccan withdrawal===
Following the submission deadline on May 10, the Moroccan broadcaster was forced to withdraw by the International Broadcasting Union due to no entry submitted in time.
===San Marinese participation===
On April 20, 2017, SMRTV formally announced the nation's withdrawal from the 38th edition. On May 10, 2017, SMRTV was invited back to the competition and joined the first semi-final.
==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 April 26, 2017, ERR announced that Estonia would not be competing at the contest. However, a return for the following edition is likely.
*: On April 20, 2017, SMRTV formally announced the nation's withdrawal from the 38th edition. A future return is possible. On May 10, 2017, SMRTV was invited back to the competition and joined the first semi-final.
==Other awards==
=== OGAI ===
Organisation Générale des Amateurs du féstival de la musique internationale (more commonly known as OGAI) is an international organisation that was founded in 2016. The organisation consists of a network of over 40 IMF fan clubs across Europe and beyond, and is a non-governmental, non-political, and non-profit company. In what has become an annual tradition for the OGAE fan clubs, a voting poll runs prior to the main International Music Festival allowing members from over 40 clubs to vote for their favourite songs of the 2016 contest. The 38 OGAI Poll began on May 10, 2017 and finished on May 14, 2017. The table below shows the top 5 results.
Country	Performer(s) 	Song 	OGAI result
 	Alice Merton 	"No Roots" 	255
 	Mariette 	"A Million Years" 	243
 	Besa 	"Tatuazh Ne Zemer"	173
 	Anne-Marie 	"Ciao Adios" 	172
 	Iveta Mukuchyan	"Amena" 	128
*Table reflects the final voting result from the 46 OGAI member clubs, with 7 clubs (Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Finland, Latvia,
Lebanon, Morocco) abstaining from voting in this 38 poll.
==International broadcasts and voting==
# Loïc Nottet
# Sara Carbonero
# Olesea & Elena Croitoru
# Gabriela Gunčíková
# Magdalena Cvetkoska Ena
# Vava Voom
# Sanja Vucic & Marija Kilibarda
# Galena Bezruk
# Katia Aveiro
# Severina Kojic
# Sharon Osbourne
# Zhanar Dugalova
# Ronela Hajati
# Greta Svabo Bech
# Lee Lin Chin
# Arjen Lubach
 Al Walser
 Vanessa Lorenzo
 Kenza Farah
 Giulia Valentina
 Nina Sublatti
 Maja Keuc
 Sedonia
 T-Killah
 Goga Sekulić
 Eva Green
 Carola
 Marianne James
 Svala
 Francesco Gabbani
 Aistė Pilvelytė
 Radoslav Vanko
 Irem Derici
 Martin Fitch
 Nicky Byrne
 Helena Paparizou
 Imri
 Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg
 Antonia Iacobescu
 Kristian Kostov
 Natalija Havralenko
 Marcus & Martinus
 Dhurata Dora
 Barbara Schöneberger
 Artsvik
 Ulla Essendrop
==External links==
* Forum