GreatVision Song Contest 3

Final date
 Venue
 Broadcaster
 Entries
 Debuting
**Participation map**
* Confirmed participant that have their artist or song     Countries that did not qualify for the final     Past participant that will not participate
 Voting system
 Winning song

**GreatVision Song Contest 3** will be the third edition of the GreatVision Song Contest. The contest will be hosted in Greece, after Playmen feat. Vassy won the the second edition with "I Should Have Said". ERT chose the OAKA Olympic Indoor Hall to serve as the host venue for the edition, while Eleni Foureira were selected as the presenter.

**Winner** after a big and exciting show was Lorena Gómez from  Spain with their the song "Indomable", she reached 326 Points. At the 2nd Place was  Ukraine represent by The Hardkiss with their song "Rain" , they reached 323 Points and on 3rd Place was  Russia represent by i-La with her song "Hungry", she reached 306 Points, while  Bulgaria,  Finland and  Belgium completed the top six of the edition.

## Location

*For further information see Greece*
**Greece**, officially the Hellenic Republic, historically also known as Hellas is a country in southeastern Europe, with a population of approximately 11 million as of 2015. Athens is the nation's capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki.

Greece is strategically located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Situated on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. Greece consists of nine geographic regions: Macedonia, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands (including the Dodecanese and Cyclades), Thrace, Crete, and the Ionian Islands. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, the Cretan Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin and the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km (8,498 mi) in length, featuring a large number of islands, of which 227 are inhabited. Eighty percent of Greece is mountainous, with Mount Olympus being the highest peak at 2,918 metres (9,573 ft).

Greece is considered the cradle of Western civilization, being the birthplace of democracy, Western philosophy, the Olympic Games, Western literature, historiography, political science, major scientific and mathematical principles, and Western drama. From the eighth century BC, the Greeks were organised into various independent city-states, known as polis, which spanned the entire Mediterranean region and the Black Sea. Philip of Macedon united most of the Greek mainland in the fourth century BC, with his son Alexander the Great rapidly conquering much of the ancient world, spreading Greek culture and science from the eastern Mediterranean to the Indus River. Greece was annexed by Rome in the second century BC, becoming an integral part of the Roman Empire and its successor, the Byzantine Empire, wherein the Greek language and culture were dominant. The Greek Orthodox Church also shaped modern Greek identity and transmitted Greek traditions to the wider Orthodox World. Falling under Ottoman dominion in the mid-15th century, the modern nation state of Greece emerged in 1830 following a war of independence. Greece's rich historical legacy is reflected by its 18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, among the most in Europe and the world.

Greece is a democratic and developed country with an advanced high-income economy, a high quality of life, and a very high standard of living. A founding member of the United Nations, Greece was the tenth member to join the European Communities (precursor to the European Union) and has been part of the Eurozone since 2001. It is also a member of numerous other international institutions, including the Council of Europe, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF). Greece's unique cultural heritage, large tourism industry, prominent shipping sector and geostrategic importance[a] classify it as a middle power. It is the largest economy in the Balkans, where it is an important regional investor.

### Host City

*For further information see Athens*
**Athens** is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, with its recorded history spanning over 3,400 years, and its earliest human presence starting somewhere between the 11th and 7th millennium BC.

Classical Athens was a powerful city-state that emerged in conjunction with the seagoing development of the port of Piraeus, which had been a distinct city prior to its 5th century BC incorporation with Athens. A centre for the arts, learning and philosophy, home of Plato's Academy and Aristotle's Lyceum, it is widely referred to as the cradle of Western civilization and the birthplace of democracy, largely because of its cultural and political impact on the European continent, and in particular the Romans. In modern times, Athens is a large cosmopolitan metropolis and central to economic, financial, industrial, maritime, political and cultural life in Greece. In 2012, Athens was ranked the world's 39th richest city by purchasing power and the 67th most expensive in a UBS study.

Athens is a global city and one of the biggest economic centres in southeastern Europe. It has a large financial sector, and its port Piraeus is both the largest passenger port in Europe, and the second largest in the world. The municipality (city) of Athens had a population of 664,046 (in 2011) within its administrative limits, and a land area of 38.96 km2 (15.04 sq mi). The urban area of Athens (Greater Athens and Greater Piraeus) extends beyond its administrative municipal city limits, with a population of 3,090,508 (in 2011) over an area of 412 km2 (159 sq mi). According to Eurostat in 2011, the functional urban area (FUA) of Athens was the 9th most populous FUA in the European Union (the 6th most populous capital city of the EU), with a population of 3,828,000. Athens is also the southernmost capital on the European mainland.

The heritage of the classical era is still evident in the city, represented by ancient monuments and works of art, the most famous of all being the Parthenon, considered a key landmark of early Western civilization. The city also retains Roman and Byzantine monuments, as well as a smaller number of Ottoman monuments.

Athens is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Acropolis of Athens and the medieval Daphni Monastery. Landmarks of the modern era, dating back to the establishment of Athens as the capital of the independent Greek state in 1834, include the Hellenic Parliament and the so-called "architectural trilogy of Athens", consisting of the National Library of Greece, the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and the Academy of Athens. Athens is also home to several museums and cultural institutions, such as the National Archeological Museum, featuring the world's largest collection of ancient Greek antiquities, the Acropolis Museum, the Museum of Cycladic Art, the Benaki Museum and the Byzantine and Christian Museum. Athens was the host city of the first modern-day Olympic Games in 1896, and 108 years later it welcomed home the 2004 Summer Olympics.

### Venue

*For further information see O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall*
The **O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall** (honorarily named Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall since 2016), which is a part of the Olympic Athletic Center of Athens (O.A.C.A.) "Spiros Louis" (Greek: O.A.K.A.), was completed in 1995, and was the largest indoor venue in use for sporting events at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. It is located in the Athens suburb of Marousi. It is considered to be one of the biggest and most modern indoor sports arenas in all of Europe.

The arena also contains a training facility. Since 2016, it is named after the well-known Greek basketball player Nikos Galis.

### Bidding phase

Two days after their announcement of hosting the contest, ERT announced that there will be no Bidding phase in this edition. But the GBU has set some Rules for the Venue. Those were the following:

* The Green Room should be located in the arena or as near it as possible, with a capacity of 300.
* An additional room at least 6,000 square metres (65,000 sq ft) in area, to house 2 catering stands, a viewing room, make-up rooms, wardrobe, and booths for approximately 50 commentators.
* Separate offices to house the press centre, open between end of August 2016 and mid/end September 2016, at least (43,000 sq ft) in area, with a capacity of at least 1,500 journalists.

**Key**
     Host venue

## Format

The GBU has decided that in the upcoming edition there will be 2 Semi-finals. In each semi-final 10 countries will qualify for the Grand Final to make a line-up of 26 competing countries (20 Semi-Final qualifers + Big 5 or 6) without a second chance round.

### Voting

The GBU has announced that the voting system would be each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. The new voting system is also used to determine the qualifiers from each semi-final, but as before the qualifiers are announced in a random order.

### Semi Final allocation draw

The draw that determined the semi-final allocation will be held in late August 2017 at the headquarters of the Athens. The pre-qualified countries:

* Japan
* Poland
* Sweden
* United States

will first drawn to determine in which semi-Final each country would vote. After that the remaning fourty-three countries were divided into six pots, based on their geographical place. Each time a country will be drawn from the pot, it´s half of the semi-final was determined.

The six pots were the following:

* Andorra
* Malta
* Monaco
* San Marino
* Spain
* Vatican City
* Faroe Islands
* Finland
* Iceland
* Ireland
* Norway
* United Kingdom
* Belgium
* Czech Republic
* France
* Germany
* Luxembourg
 Pot 4
 * Brazil
* Canada
* Estonia
* Lithuania
* New Zealand
* Russia
* Ukraine
* Bulgaria
* Cyprus
* Hungary
* Romania
* Serbia
* Turkey
* China
* Hong Kong
* Indonesia
* Malaysia
* North Korea
* Singapore
* Vietnam

### Running order

The Running order of both Semi-finals was official announced by ERT on the 19th August 2017, shortly before the semi-finals start. The Running order for Grand Final will official announced in September 2017, on day before the Grand Final will start.

## Participating countries

**Fourty-nine** countries have confirmed their participation in the third edition. This includes Malta, Russia, San Marino and Spain who will all return after being absent last edition. Also Austria, Brazil, the Faroe Islands, Hong Kong, Hungary and Ireland will make their debut appearance in this edition.

Eight countries, however, announced their withdrawal from the contest. Algeria, Argentina, Kazakhstan and Moldova announced their withdrawal citing their Head of Delegation change as the reason, while Italy's and The Netherlands's Head of Delegation had no longer interest to participate in the contest. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia were both forced to withdraw as the first failed to submit their votes last edition while the second failed to confirm within the deadline.

The submissions for the third edition opened on 25 July 2017. The contest started in July. As the rules say, if the country will select internally their entry, they should announced the artist at least one week before they reveal the song.

### Returning artists

Natalia, who previously competed in the first edition for Spain, returned to represent Andorra. The Sam Willows was internally selected to represent Singapore for the second time; they previously represented the country in the first edition. Also Alessio Bernabei, who previously competed in the first edition for Italy, returned to represent Vatican City.

## Results

### Semi Final 1

Twenty-two countries will participate in the first semi-final.  Japan,  Poland and  United States will also vote in this semi-final. The highlighted countries qualified for the final.

### Semi Final 2

Twenty-one countries will participate in the first semi-final.  Greece,  South Korea and  Sweden will also vote in this semi-final. The highlighted countries qualified for the final.

### Final

The following countries either finished in the top 6 of the previous edition and therefore automatically qualify to the final of this edition or qualified from the semi-finals.

## Other countries

*Further information: List of able countries in GreatVision Song Contest*
Countries that are active members of the GreatVision Broadcasting Union (GBU) are also eligible to participate in the GreatVision Song Contest. As in every edition, an invitation to all the members have been sent in order to confirm whether they will participate or not. The following list of countries declined stating their reasons as shown below.

### Active GBU members

* Argentina: TVP announced that they would withdraw. However, no reason was announced of the countries withdrawal. The Hod quit his position and will change his country to Lithuania. A return with new HoD is possible.
* Algeria: ENTV announced that they would withdraw, due to a lack of support from the Algerian government and poor viewing figures, it was given as reason of the countries withdrawal. The Hod quit his position and will change his country to Malta. A return with new HoD is possible.
* Bosnia and Herzegovina: BHRT did not reveal any statements about a participation so far. After the non-voting in the Semi-finals of last edition, it seems likely that Bosnia and Herzegovina would not participate again. However, after missing out the confirmation deadline, the country was forced to withdraw. On the 17th August 2017 the HoD official quit his position and announced the withdrawl of the country. A return with new HoD is possible.
* Croatia: HRT id not reveal any statements about a participation so far. After the non-voting in the Semi-finals of last edition, it seems likely that Croatia would not participate again. However, after missing out the confirmation deadline, the country was forced to withdraw.
* Italy: RAI first confirm for the upcoming edition and annouced already their entry. But on the 13th August 2017 the HoD announced the withdrawl of the country, because the broadcaster lost the interrest in a new participation and the Hod quit his position. A return with new HoD is possible.
* Kazakhstan: NTK announced that they would withdraw. However, no reason was announced of the countries withdrawal. The Hod quit his position and will change his country to Australia. A return with new HoD is possible.
* Moldova: TRM announced that they would withdraw. However, no reason was announced of the countries withdrawal. The Hod quit his position and will change his country to San Marino. A return with new HoD is possible.
* Netherlands: AVROTROS first confirm for the upcoming edition and annouced already their entry. But on the 13th August 2017 the HoD announced the withdrawl of the country. A return with new HoD is possible.