Evovision Song Contest 03

Final date
 Venue
 Presenter(s)
 Opening act
**SF2:** Empara Mi - Saving All My Love
 Interval act
**SF2:** Róisín Murphy - Jealousy
 Entries
 Debuting
 Bulgaria
 Canada
 China
 Croatia
 Ethiopia
 Haiti
 Hong Kong
 Kenya
 North Korea
 South Korea
 New Zealand
 San Marino
 Thailand
 Netherlands
 Returning
 Israel
 Withdrawing
 France
 Iceland
 Moldova
 Monaco
 Poland
 Portugal
 Spain
 System
 Winner

The **Evovision Song Contest 03**, also known as Evovision 03 or EVOSC 03, was the 3rd edition of the Evovision Song Contest. It took place in Dublin, Ireland. Organised by the Evo Broadcasting Union (EVOBU) and host broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), the contest was held in the 3Arena, and consisted of two Semi-Finals and a Grand Final.

This was the first edition to allow countries from across the globe, not just the primarily European countries that were allowed in the first two editions.

## Location

### Ireland

*For further information see Ireland***Ireland** is an island in the North Atlantic. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest on Earth.

Geopolitically, Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially named Ireland), which covers five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. In 2011, the population of Ireland was about 6.6 million, ranking it the second-most populous island in Europe after Great Britain. As of 2016, 4.8 million live in the Republic of Ireland, and 1.8 million live in Northern Ireland.

The geography of Ireland comprises relatively low-lying mountains surrounding a central plain, with several navigable rivers extending inland. Its lush vegetation is a product of its mild but changeable climate which is free of extremes in temperature. Much of Ireland was woodland until the end of the Middle Ages. Today, woodland makes up about 10% of the island, compared with a European average of over 33%, and most of it is non-native conifer plantations. There are twenty-six extant land mammal species native to Ireland. The Irish climate is influenced by the Atlantic Ocean and thus very moderate, and winters are milder than expected for such a northerly area, although summers are cooler than those in continental Europe. Rainfall and cloud cover are abundant.

### Dublin

*For further information see Dublin***Dublin** is the capital and largest city of Ireland. Situated on a bay on the east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey, it lies within the province of Leinster. It is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. It has an urban area population of 1,173,179, while the population of the Dublin Region (formerly County Dublin) as of 2016 was 1,347,359. The population of the Greater Dublin Area was 1,904,806 per the 2016 census.

There is archaeological debate regarding precisely where Dublin was established by the Gaels in or before the 7th century AD. Later expanded as a Viking settlement, the Kingdom of Dublin, the city became Ireland's principal settlement following the Norman invasion. The city expanded rapidly from the 17th century and was briefly the second largest city in the British Empire after the Acts of Union in 1800. Following the partition of Ireland in 1922, Dublin became the capital of the Irish Free State, later renamed Ireland.

Dublin is an historical and contemporary centre for education, the arts, administration and industry. As of 2018 the city was listed by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) as a global city, with a ranking of "Alpha minus", which places it amongst the top thirty cities in the world.

### 3Arena

*For further information see 3Arena* The **3Arena** is an indoor amphitheatre located at North Wall Quay in the Dublin Docklands in Dublin, Ireland. The venue opened as The O2 on 16 December 2008. It was built on the site of the former Point Theatre, a smaller music venue which operated from 1988 to 2007, retaining only some of the outer facade. The Point Theatre was branded as "The Point Depot", in recognition of its original role as a railway goods handling station. The venue was re-branded on 4 September 2014 due to the takeover of O2 Ireland by Three Ireland.

The venue is owned by a Live Nation subsidiary, Apollo Leisure Group Ltd. The venue is among the top ten busiest music arenas in the world.

# Participating Countries

The third edition had 35 countries participating. 16 countries made their debut, 3 countries returned and 9 countries withdrew.

## Format

03 was the first edition to allow countries from across the globe, not just mainly European countries. As a result of this, many countries made their debut.

Wildcard, which was present in 02, was removed due to a different number of countries participating in the Semi-Finals.

This edition saw the introduction of the "***Big 6***", which is composed of the 6th highest placing countries from the previous edition, automatically qualifyed to the final.

8 countries qualify from each Semi-Final, meaning that, when joined by the Big 6, the Grand Final has 22 participating countries.

## Semi-Final Allocation Draw

### Pots

* Germany
* Israel
* Romania
* San Marino
* Thailand
* Ethiopia
* Kazakhstan
* Kenya
* New Zealand
* North Korea
* Croatia
* Gibraltar
* Hong Kong
* Netherlands
* Bulgaria
* Finland
* Italy
* South Korea
* United States
* Greece
* Haiti
* Russia
* Turkey

The Running Orders were decided by the **EVOBU**.

## First Semi-Final

 Åland Islands,  Belgium and  Ireland also vote in this Semi-Final.

## Second Semi-Final

 Armenia,  Faroe Islands,  Ukraine also vote in this Semi-Final.