Edition 73

The seventy-third edition of the **Global Music Festival** took place in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, following KEiiNO's and Electric Fields' victory at the seventy-second edition in Malmö, Sweden with the song "Would I Lie". It was the first win for Svalbard and the first time that the country hosted the competition. Organised and funded by the head of delegation and host broadcaster, the contest was held in a brand new venue called the Frossen Krystalhall, and consisted of two semi-finals which were both launched on the 13 October 2020 and a grand final which took place from the 23 October 2020. The three shows were hosted by Ulrikke Brandstorp, KEiiNO and Kjetil Mørland - all previous participants in the Global Music Festival for both Norway and Svalbard.

Fifty-six countries participated in this edition of the contest. Unfortunately, we saw the withdrawal of eight countries in edition seventy-three: Argentina, Belgium, Chile, Italy, Jamaica, Malta, Serbia and Thailand. However, four countries returned to the competition after varying absences from the competition: Singapore returned to the competition after having a four edition break; Canada returned to the competition after a three edition absence; then, Monaco and Trinidad & Tobago returned following a two edition break.

The power six for this edition were Svalbard, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, Northern Ireland and Scotland - 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.

 Slogan
 Venue
 Presenter(s)
 Participants
 Winner

## Other Participants

* Belgium
* Chile
* Italy
* Jamaica
* Malta
* Serbia
* Thailand

## Semi-Final Allocation Draw

The draw to determine the allocation of the participating countries into their respective semi-finals took place on the 9 October 2020. 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 were not included in the pots because the head of delegation for Finland is on the admin team and is in charge of the second semi-final, so Finland were automatically assigned to semi-final one.

Also, in the semi-final allocation draw the power six nations (Svalbard, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, Northern Ireland and Scotland) were all drawn to vote in one of the respective semi-finals. Svalbard, Australia and Scotland were assigned to vote in the first semi-final and Ireland, South Africa and Northern Ireland were assigned to vote in the second semi-final.

## Semi Final One

 Svalbard,  Australia and  Scotland 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

 Ireland,  South Africa and  Northern Ireland 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 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.