Edition 31

The thirty-first edition of the **Global Music Festival**​ took place at the Baku Crystal Hall in Baku, Azerbaijan. It was the first time the country hosted the contest, after Azerbaijan's first victory in the thirtieth edition with the song "This Is Who I Am" performed by Georgian singer, Malibu - which scored an impressive 295 points. This edition consisted of three semi-finals which were all launched on the 09 April 2018 and a grand final which took place from the 13 April 2018. All four of the shows in this edition were hosted by previous Eurovision and Global Music Festival contestant - Diana Hajiyeva (Dihaj).

Sixty-two countries participated in this edition of the contest. We saw the exciting return of several countries: Armenia, Iceland, Kosovo, Luxembourg, Nigeria, Slovenia and Trinidad & Tobago. However, we did see a number of countries withdraw for various reasons: Bosnia & Herzegovina, Colombia, Moldova, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, Swaziland, Turkey and Wales.

The power six for this edition were Azerbaijan, Australia, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Poland and the Åland Islands - 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.

Norway won this edition with the song "Who We Are" by Rebecca, giving the country their first win with an impressive 304 points. Also, the Åland Islands and Liechtenstein received their best result to date, placing second and sixth respectively. However, a number of countries received their worst placings to date: Albania, Belgium, the Faroe Islands, Malta, Monaco, Pakistan, Portugal, Saudi Arabia and Serbia.

 Slogan
 Venue
 Presenter(s)
 Participants
 Winner

## Participants

* Iceland
* Kosovo
* Luxembourg
* Nigeria
* Slovenia
* Trinidad & Tobago
* Colombia
* Moldova
* Nicaragua
* Puerto Rico
* Swaziland
* Turkey
* Wales

## 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 09 April 2018. The fifty-three 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: Malta were assigned to semi-final three, and Finland were assigned to semi-final one, and Ireland were assigned to semi-final two.

Also, in the semi-final allocation draw the power six nations (Azerbaijan, Australia, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Poland and Åland Islands) were all drawn to vote in one of the respective semi-finals. Australia and the Åland Islands were assigned to vote in the first semi-final, Azerbaijan and Poland were assigned to vote in the second semi-final, and Czech Republic and Switzerland were assigned to vote in the third semi-final.

## ​Semi Final One

 Australia and the  Åland Islands 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. After the results were announced, there were discussions about selecting one of the non-qualifiers to progress to the final as a wildcard entry -  South Korea were chosen.

## ​Semi Final Two

 Azerbaijan and  Poland 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.  were automatically assigned to this semi-final 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 -  Mexico were chosen.

## ​Semi Final Three

 Czech Republic and  Switzerland 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 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 -  Barbados 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-two 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 15 April 2018. The results for the final were released on the 20 April 2018.