Edition 28

The twenty-eighth edition of the **Global Music Festival**​ took place at the Murrayfield in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was the fourth time the country hosted the contest, and the second time the city hosted the contest, after Scotland's third victory in the twenty-seventh edition with the song "Louder" performed by Neon Jungle - which scored an amazing 297 points. This edition consisted of three semi-finals which were all launched on the 26 February 2018 and a grand final which took place from the 02 March 2018. All four of the shows in this edition were hosted by Scottish actress - Karen Gillan.

Sixty-three countries participated in this edition of the contest - which is the joint highest number of participants to date (alongside edition 26)! We saw the exciting debuts from the Faroe Islands, the Middle Eastern nation of Saudi Arabia and the Asian country of Taiwan. Also, a number of countries returned to participate for this edition: the Åland Islands, Brazil, Norway, Russia, Sweden and Turkey. However, we saw withdrawals by Belarus, Greece, Guyana, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and Vietnam.

The power six for this edition were Scotland, Indonesia, the United States, Mexico, Moldova and Germany - these were the delegations that placed in the top six from the previous edition. 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.

Switzerland won this edition with the song "POWDER" which scored a record-breaking 367 points - it was Switzerland's first win and their best position in the history of the contest. Also, Brazil, Pakistan, Luxembourg and Lithuania all received their best place ever, placing fourth, fifth, tenth and twenty-second respectively. However, a number of countries received their worst placement in the history of the contest: the Åland Islands, Albania, Andorra, Austria, Barbados, China, Egypt, Monaco, Morocco, Russia and Sweden.

 Slogan
 Venue
 Presenter(s)
 Participants
 Winner

## Participants

* Saudi Arabia
* Taiwan
* Brazil
* Norway
* Russia
* Sweden
* Turkey
* Greece
* Guyana
* Haiti
* Puerto Rico
* Venezuela
* Vietnam

## Pots for the Semi-Final Allocation Draw

The draw to determine the allocation of the participating countries into their respective semi-finals took place on the 26 February 2018. The fifty-seven 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.

Malta, Finland and Ireland were not included in the pots because the head of delegations for these countries are on the admin team and are in charge of the first, second and third semi-finals respectively; as a result, the countries were automatically assigned to another semi-final: Ireland were assigned to semi-final one, Malta were assigned to semi-final two, and Finland were assigned to semi-final three.

Also, in the semi-final allocation draw the power six nations (Scotland, Indonesia, the United States, Mexico, Moldova and Germany) were all drawn to vote in one of the respective semi-finals. Scotland and the United States were assigned to vote in the first semi-final, Indonesia and Germany were assigned to vote in the second semi-final, and Mexico and Moldova were assigned to vote in the third semi-final.

## ​Semi Final One

 Scotland and the  United States 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.  Ireland were automatically assigned to this semi-final (as always) because the head of delegation for Ireland is on the admin team and is the organiser for the third semi-final - this is done to allow the admins to have the uncertainty of their countries' result. After the results were announced, there were discussions about selecting one of the non-qualifiers to progress to the final as a wildcard entry -  Canada were chosen as the wildcard entry.

## ​Semi Final Two

File:Indonesian Flag.png Indonesia and  Germany 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.  Malta were automatically assigned to this semi-final (as always) because the head of delegation for Malta is on the admin team and is the organiser for the first semi-final - this is done to allow the admins to have the uncertainty of their countries' result. After the results were announced, there were discussions about selecting one of the non-qualifiers to progress to the final as a wildcard entry -  Jamaica were chosen.

## ​Semi Final Three

 Mexico and  Moldova 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 (as always) 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. After the results were announced, there were discussions about selecting one of the non-qualifiers to progress to the final as a wildcard entry -  Turkey were chosen.

## ​Grand Final

Thirty countries participated in the final of this edition of the **Global Music Festival**​ - the power six, the seven qualifiers from the three semi-finals and the three wildcard entries (one from each semi-final). All sixty-three participating countries were eligible to vote in the final; however, only the thirty finalists were obligated to vote! The running order for the final was announced shortly after the semi final results on the 02 March 2018. The results for the final were released on the 09 March 2018.