Edition 50

The fiftieth edition of the **Global Music Festival** took place at the Hartwell Areena in Helsinki, Finland. It was the third time the country hosted the contest, after Finland's third victory in the forty-ninth edition with the song Dancing Like Nobody's Watching performed by Saara Aalto - which scored 264 points, Finland's best result to date. This edition consisted of three semi-finals which were all launched on 26 March 2019 and a grand final which took place from 17 April 2019. All four of the shows in this edition were hosted by singers Benjamin and Vesala. Benjamin has participated in four editions - three times with Finland and once with Åland Islands. and won the contest in the fourth edition (it was also the first win for Finland in the Global Music Festival). Vesala has also participated before, for the Åland Islands, where she failed to qualify for the Grand Final.

This edition was one of the special thematic editions of the competition and this meant that the admin team chose a theme to compete with in this edition. The admin team asked the participants for some ideas to inspire them to think of the next theme. The theme that was selected was called "Below One Million". The rules for this theme were very simple. The entry must come from the participants chosen countries as per usual. But the twist was that the views on YouTube must be below one million. This theme was chosen to bring in new talent and originality to the contest.

Forty-six countries participated in this edition of the contest. After being away from the contest since their last participation in the twenty fourth edition, Iran made the decision to return to the contest. Another two countries also rejoined the competition and they were Hungary and Puerto Rico. However a total of fourteen countries all withdrew from the fiftieth edition. They were; Armenia, Bulgaria, China, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Greece, Israel, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey and Venezuela. Due to the theme of this edition, majority of the withdrawing countries struggled to find a suitable entry. Due to low participating countries, there was only two semi finals instead of the usual three. This is the first time since the thirteenth edition where there was only two semi finals.

The power six for this edition were Finland, Ecuador, Brazil, Switzerland, Spain and Australia - 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.

 Slogan
 Venue
 Presenter(s)
 Participants
 Winner
 Uku Suviste - Pretty Little Liar

## Other Participants

* Bulgaria
* China
* Cyprus
* Czech Republic
* Greece
* Israel
* Lithuania
* Norway
* Poland
* Sweden
* Thailand
* Turkey
* Venezuela

## 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 26 March 2019. The thirty-nine 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.

Ireland were not included in the pots because the head of delegation for this country is on the admin team and are in charge of the first semi-final; as a result, Ireland was automatically assigned to semi-final two.

Also, in the semi-final allocation draw the power six nations (Finland, Ecuador, Brazil, Switzerland, Spain and Australia) were all drawn to vote in one of the respective semi-finals. Finland, Ecuador and Brazil were assigned to vote in the first semi-final, and Switzerland, Spain and Australia were assigned to vote in the second semi-final.

## Semi Final One

 Finland,  Ecuador and  Brazil 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.

## Semi Final Two

 Switzerland,  Spain and  Australia 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.  Ireland 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 first semi-final - this is done to allow the admins to have the uncertainty of their countries' result.

## 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 forty-five participating countries were eligible to vote in the final; however, only the thirty finalists were obligated to vote! The votes of the non-qualifiers and non-participants were all combined in to the televote. However, only thirty non-qualifiers and non-participants could vote. The running order for the final was announced shortly after the semi final results on the 17 April 2019. The results for the final were released on 24 April 2019.