Edition 85

The eighty-fifth edition of the **Global Music Festival**​ took place at the Desire Arena in Charlotte Amalie, United States Virgin Islands. The Desire Arena was built to host the live shows of the Global Music Festival, after United States Virgin Islands' first victory in the eighty-third edition. It was the second time the country hosted the contest, after United States Virgin Islands' second victory in the eighty-fourth edition with the song THAT'S WHAT I WANT performed by Lil Nas X - which scored 267 points. The United States Virgin Islands became the third country in the history of the **Global Music Festival** to win two times consecutively. They joint holder the record with Mexico and Switzerland. This edition consisted of two semi-finals which were all launched on the 09 November 2021 and a grand final which took place from the 18 November 2021. All three of the shows in this edition were hosted by presenter and actress Jameela Jamil, politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and actress Laverne Cox.

The eighty-fifth edition of the Global Music Festival was a thematic edition. The admin team of the Global Music Festival announced the theme on the 18 October 2021 and decided to take inspiration from the current affairs and chose to support the #MeToo and female empowerment movement. The admin team decided to host this edition in support of the #MeToo and female empowerment movement and to show the talents of women and the importance of fair opportunities for all based on their talents and skills, regardless of their gender. Each country was asked to send only female artists to represented their delegated countries.

Fifty-seven countries participated in this edition of the contest. Dominica made there debut in the eighty-fifth edition of the **Global Music Festival**. This edition sadly saw ten countries make their withdrawal and they were; Dominican Republic, France, Gibraltar, Greece, Guatemala, Iraq, the Philippines, Russia and Slovakia. Honduras was the tenth country to make their withdrawal from the contest. This was their first withdrawal since their debut in the eightieth edition, they also happened to win this edition too. However we saw the return of several countries including Brazil and Belgium who both took a one edition break. Kosovo made their return after being for nine editions with their last participation in the seventy-fifth edition. After taking a four edition, Croatia and Lithuania also made their return with hope they can have their first victory. The other countries that returned were; Bosnia & Herzegovina, Eritrea, Indonesia and Nigeria.

The power six for this edition were United States Virgin Islands, Romania, Slovenia, Ireland, Liechtenstein and Belgium - these were the delegations that placed in the top six from the previous edition. Slovakia originally finished in sixth place in the previous edition, however the head of delegation decided they would switch to Belgium. Their placement in the power six means that they received an automatic place to perform in the final of this edition, while also being allowed to vote in one of the semi-finals in this edition.

 Venue
 Presenter(s)
 Participants
 Winner

## Other Participants

* France
* Gibraltar
* Greece
* Guatemala
* Honduras
* Iraq
* The Philippines
* Russia
* Slovakia

## Semi-Final Allocation Draw

The draw to determine the allocation of the participating countries into their respective semi-finals took place on the 06 November 2021. The fifty semi-finalists were allocated to five pots, based on the previous results of each participating country, calculated by the averages of the past results. Drawing from each pot helps to create an equal split of successful and not-so successful countries in each semi-final to give countries an equal chance of qualification.

Finland was not included in the pots because the head of delegation for this country is on the admin team and is in charge of the second semi-finals; as a result, Finland were assigned to semi-final one.

Also, in the semi-final allocation draw the power six nations (United States Virgin Islands, Romania, Slovenia, Ireland, Liechtenstein and Belgium) were all drawn to vote in one of the respective semi-finals. United States Virgin Islands, Slovenia and Liechtenstein were assigned to vote in the first semi-final and Romania, Ireland and Belgium were assigned to vote in the second semi-final.

## Semi Final One

 United States Virgin Islands,  Slovenia and  Liechtenstein from the power six were randomly allocated to vote in this semi-final, as well as, the countries who participated in this semi-final - as always countries not in this semi-final had the choice whether they wanted to vote in this semi-final or not.  Finland were automatically assigned to this semi-final because the head of delegation for Finland is on the admin team and is the organiser for the second semi-final - this is done to allow the admins to have the uncertainty of their countries' result.

## ​Semi Final Two

 Romania,  Ireland and  Belgium from the power six were randomly allocated to vote in this semi-final, as well as, the countries who participated in this semi-final - as always countries not in this semi-final had the choice whether they wanted to vote in this semi-final or not.

## ​Grand Final

Thirty countries participated in the final of this edition of the **Global Music Festival**​ - the power six and the twenty-four qualifiers from the two semi-finals. All 57 participating countries were eligible to vote in the final; however, only the thirty finalists were obligated to vote! The votes of the non-qualifiers and non-participants were all combined in to the televote. However, only thirty non-qualifiers and non-participants could vote. The running order for the final was announced shortly after the semi final results on the 18 November 2021. The results for the final were released on the 01 December 2021.