Europa Song Contest 1

Final date
 Venue
 Interval act
 Entries
 Debuting
 Returning
 Withdrawing

**Participation map**
* Participating countries     Did not qualify from the semi final or the PQR
 System
 Winner

**Europa Song Contest 1**, often referred to as **ESC 1**, was the debut edition of the Europa Song Contest. It was held in Sofia, Bulgaria as it was the host's country chose Arena Armeec while Poli Genova was selected as the presenter.

Thirty-Three countries participated in the first edition, all of them being debutants as it was the first edition. In order to participate, the countries had to be firstly approved to be members of the European Broadcasting Union.

Germany was crowned as the winner of the edition with the song "Aulë und Yavanna" performed by Oonagh. The song gathered a total of 156 points, 33 points ahead the runner-up, Greece. France finished on third place, while Lithuania, United Kingdom and Sweden completed the top 6 of the edition.

## Location

*For further information see Sofia*

**Sofia** is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. The city has a population of 1.26 million, while over 1.5 million people live in its functional urban area. The city is located at the foot of Vitosha Mountain in the western part of the country, within less than 50 kilometres (31 mi) drive from the Serbian border. Its location in the centre of the Balkan peninsula means that it is the midway between the Black Sea and the Adriatic Sea, whereas the Aegean Sea is the closest to it.

Sofia has been an area of human habitation since at least 7000 BC.Being Bulgaria's primate city, Sofia is a hometown of many of the major local universities, cultural institutions and commercial companies.Sofia is one of the top 10 best places for start-up business in the world, especially in IT technologies.Sofia is Europe's most affordable capital to visit as of 2013.

For the longest time the city possessed a Thracian name, derived from the tribe *Serdi*, who were either of Thracian, Celtic, or mixed Thracian-Celtic origin.The Serdi and the name of emperor Marcus Ulpius Traianus (53 – 117 AD) prompted the Romans to give the city the combinative name of *Ulpia Serdica*;Ulpia is derived from an Umbrian cognate of the Latin word *lupus*, meaning "wolf."It seems that the first written mention of *Serdica* was made during his reign and the last mention was in the 19th century in a Bulgarian text . During the Romans *civitas Serdenisium* was mentioned the "brightest city of the Serdi" in official inscriptions. The city was major throughout the past ever since Antiquity, when Roman emperor Constantine the Great referred to it as "my Rome", and it nearly became his capital.

## Format

### Semi-final allocation draw

The draw that determined the semi-final allocation was held on 1 April 2017 at the Arena Armeec. The thirty-three countries were divided into six pots, based on their geographical place. Each time a country was drawn from the pot, its semi-final and half of the semi-final was determined. Switzerland at first decide to debut in the first edition but later decide to withdraw.

The six pots were the following:

* Croatia
* Czech Republic
* Italy
* Romania
* Serbia
* Estonia
* Faroe Islands
* Finland
* Norway
* Sweden
* Germany
* Netherlands
* *Switzerland*
 Pot 4
 * Armenia
* Belarus
* Kazakhstan
* Russia
* Turkey
* Ukraine
* Ireland
* Monaco
* Portugal
* Spain
* Greece
* Lithuania
* Israel
* Moldova

## Participating countries

Thirty-Three countries participated in the first edition of the contest. The submissions for the first edition opened on 28 March 2017. Every country should choose their broadcaster for the contest. Kosovo wasn't allowed to enter the first edition. The contest started in April. 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. Switzerland was announce that will take part in the first edition of the Europa Song Contest, but later Switzerland announce that they wont compete in the first edition. Also Switzerland announce that a debut in the second edition is very likely.

## Results

### Semi-final 1

Sixteen countries participated in the first semi-final. Bulgaria also voted in this semi-final. The highlighted countries qualified for the final.

### Semi-final 2

Sixteen countries participated in the second semi-final. The highlighted countries qualified for the final.

### Final

Twenty-one countries participated in the final, with all thirty-two participating countries eligible to vote.

## Voting grids

### Semi-final 1

#### 12 points

Below is a summary of the maximum 12 points each country awarded to another in the first semi-final:

### Semi-final 2

#### 12 points

Below is a summary of the maximum 12 points each country awarded to another in the second semi-final:

### Final

#### 12 points

Below is a summary of the maximum 12 points each country awarded to another in the final:

 Other countries

*Further information: List of countries in the Europa Song Contest*
Countries that are active members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) are also eligible to participate in the Europa 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 EBU members

* Iceland: (RÚV), had looked into debuting in the first edition, RÚV however declined before later debuting in second edition.
* Switzerland: (SRG SSR) on 27 April 2017 the Swiss broadcaster announce that the country will debut in the first edition. However, Switzerland was decide to withdraw from the first edition, a debut in the upcoming editions is very likely.

## International broadcasts and voting

### Voting and spokespersons

2. Scott Mills
3. Wiktoria
4. Boban Rajović
5. Francesco Gabbani
6. Natalie Horler
7. Kendji Girac
8. Ronela Hajati
9. Rita Dakota
10. Mircea Eremia
11. Vincent Niclo

13. David Carreira
14. Zhanar Dugalova
15. Lidia Isac
16. Greta Zazza
17. Hadise
18. Fruela
19. Guðrið Hansdóttir
20. Blanche
21. Volodymyr Ostapchuk
22. Jüri Pootsmann

24. Nicky Byrne
25. Iveta Mukuchyan
26. Egor Kreed
27. Imri Ziv
28. Jacques Houdek
29. Saara Aalto
30. Milan Peroutka
31. Giorgos Kapoutzidis
32. O'G3NE
33. Gery-Nikol

## Notes and references

### Notes

1. **^** Switzerland, who had been originally allocated to perform in the second semi-final, later announce that they withdraw from the first edition.