Edition 18

The eighteenth edition of the **Global Music Festival**​ took place at the Foro Sol in Mexico City, Mexico. It was the third time the country hosted the contest; the contest was hosted in Mexico following the country's third victory in the seventeenth edition with the song "Valiente" performed by Paty Cantú - which scored an impressive score of 185 points, the second highest scoring entry to-date.  This edition consisted of three semi-finals which were all launched on the 02 October 2017 and a grand final which took place from the 06 October 2017. All four of the shows in this edition were hosted by Selena Gomez, Paulina Rubio & Aaron Diaz.  Selena Gomez is a returning face in the Global Music Festival, participating twice previously and coming in second for Mexico with her song "Come & Get It"; Paulina Rubio the beautiful Mexican singer joint Selena to host this edition as well as the Mexican actor Aaron Diaz.

Forty-eight countries participated in this edition of the contest.  New Zealand, Norway, Poland and Portugal all returned to the contest which was very exciting!  However, we sadly saw the withdrawal of seven countries: the Åland Islands, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany and Turkey.

The power six for this edition were Mexico, Ireland, Finland, Australia, India and Italy - 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.

Scotland won this edition with Nina Nesbitt and her song "Chewing Gum" - this was the second Scottish win and the highest scoring entry for the country since their debut.  Also, a number of countries achieved their worst placement since their respective debuts: Slovakia came twentieth, and San Marino and Monaco both failed to qualify.

 Slogan
 Venue
 Presenter(s)
 Participants
 Winner

## Participants

* Norway
* Poland
* Portugal
* Algeria
* Azerbaijan
* Czech Republic
* Denmark
* Germany
* Turkey

## ​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 02 October 2017.  The forty-two semi-finalists (excluding Scotland and Norway) 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.

Scotland were not included in the pots because the head of delegation for the country is on the admin team and is in charge of the first semi final.  Therefore, they were automatically placed into one of the other semi-finals - they were randomly assigned to participate in the third semi-final.  And, Norway were excluded from the pots by mathematical error and the admin team apologises for this mistake.

Also, in the semi-final allocation draw the power six nations (Mexico, Ireland, Finland, Australia, India and Italy) were all drawn to vote in one of the respective semi-finals.  Australia and Italy were assigned to the first semi-final; Mexico and India were assigned to the second semi-final; and Ireland and Finland were assigned to the third semi-final.

## ​Odds

The odds for the semi finals were released on the 04 October 2017 by the admins in charge of their respective semi finals, below you can see the odds for the top seven (the predicted qualifiers) in each semi final:

And, below are the odds for the favourites for the final of the eighteenth edition:

  Spain
  Ireland
  Finland
  Philippines
  The Netherlands
  New Zealand
  Greece
  South Africa
  Chile

## Semi Final One

 Australia and  Italy from the power six voted in the semi final, following the allocation draw, as well as the countries participating in this semi final.  After the results were announced the admin team discussed selecting a wildcard entry from this semi final to progress to the final -  Romania got the wildcard.

## Semi Final Two

 Mexico and  India from the power six voted in the semi final, following the allocation draw, as well as the countries participating in this semi final.  After the results were announced the admin team discussed selecting a wildcard entry from this semi final to progress to the final -  Portugal got the wildcard.

## Semi Final Three

 Ireland and  Finland from the power six voted in the semi final, following the allocation draw, as well as the countries participating in this semi final.   Scotland were automatically placed in this semi-final because the head of delegation for Scotland is in charge of the first semi-final - the country was randomly drawn to participate in semi-final three.  After the results were announced the admin team discussed selecting a wildcard entry from this semi final to progress to the final -  Malta got the wildcard.

## Final

Thirty countries participated in the final - the power six, the seven qualifiers from each semi-final and the three wildcards (one from each semi-final).  All forty-eight participating countries were eligible to vote in the final; however, only the thirty countries in the final had to vote.  The running order for the final was announced shortly after the results of the semi-finals on the 06 October 2017.