EFV 08 - Paris, France

## **Bidding Phase & Entry Acceptance**

For this edition of the contest, it was previously decided on the Council Meeting that the previous champion would host the following season of the contest. Paris was the chosen city to host the contest, being indicated by France's Head of Delegation.

***VIII Council Meeting - Paris, France - October 15, 2016***
HOST COUNTRY
FRANCE

The 34 participating countries had almost a week before the closure of the previous season and the opening of the current season to send their entries and the Management Team could organize the Official Playlist for the voting. Most of the delegations sent their entries with their final votes.

## Participants

### Returning Countries

ARG - AZE - BIH - GIB - GRE - IRN - ITA - NED

### Voting System

SF: Countries must vote only in their semifinals, using a new system of points (15-12-10-7-5-2 points); only the 4 highest scores in each semifinal qualifies to the final.GF: ESC system (12-10-8-1 points)

## Winner

### Winning Artist(s)

Markus Feehily

France has chosen a quote, but not any quote: it was a tribute to the legacy of Édith Piaf (1915-1961), a very well known French singer in the entire World for her romantic songs and her powerful voice. Her motto *"All I've done all my life is disobey!"* was the chosen one to celebrate France's first time hosting EFV.

### *Visual Identity*

Following to the announcement of the motto, the Management Team opted to keep the romantic scheme to compose the visual identity of this season, having the official EFV logo on a surface which includes a night vision of Paris symbolised for the Eiffel Tower in France's national colours. Also, the motto, number of the season and indications of hosting city and country, with the dates of the season, all in the national colours of the country.

## **Artists & Entries**

Here you can find a list with the 34 entries in the competition. The winner is listed in ***bold/italic***.

## **Semifinals Running Order & Voting**

Due to the number of contestants, EFV had the use of Semifinals and Final Rounds. All countries were drawn and allocated in four semifinals, but the voting system had the same changes from the previous season. The Top 4 countries were also allocated to vote in the Semifinals, but they would only perform in the Grand Final. The four highest scores in each semifinal qualified for the Final Round.

## **Grand Final Running Order & Voting**

### *Voting*

    Also failed to vote in the Final: Kyrgyzstan, Albania, Mexico and American Samoa.

## **Winner Acceptance**

EFV didn't have any problems to declare Ireland as winner, receiving 151 points, an overall record at that point.

## **Curiosities & Notes**

1. This was the first season with 4 automatic finalists.
2. It was the first time that the Top 4 was composed only for songs in English.
3. Luxembourg and Australia are the winners with the best results at home: "Winners in a season, Runner Ups in the following one."

## **References**

1. ↑ According to the rules, the host country has the right to nominate three cities to a poll or to indicate a host city, as well as giving directions about the visual identity and also choosing a motto (all optional).
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Failed to vote.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 British Virgin Islands managed to be the Runner Up, receiving 118 points from other contestants but the country failed to vote. **As a result, the country was disqualified and the Runner Up title was given to Luxembourg (which was the next in line with 99 points).**
4. ↑ As their countries didn't qualify, the Heads of Delegation abandonned the game without voting in the Finals. They also didn't alert about this possibility to the Management Team.Their countries were declared **FREE** **for eligibility** right after the Final Round.