Edition 29

The twenty-ninth edition of the **Global Music Festival**​ took place at the Montreux Music & Convention Centre in Montreux, Switzerland. It was the first time the country hosted the contest, after Switzerland's first victory in the twenty-eighth edition with the song "POWDER" performed by Luca Hänni - which scored a record breaking 367 points. This edition consisted of three semi-finals which were all launched on the 12 March 2018 and a grand final which took place from the 16 March 2018. All four of the shows in this edition were hosted by presenter, model and actress Michelle Hunziker, and singers Kat Graham and Rykka.

Sixty-four countries participated in this edition of the contest - which is the highest number of participants to date! We saw the exciting debut from another African nation - Swaziland. Also, a number of countries returned to participate for this edition: Azerbaijan, Ghana, Portugal and Puerto Rico. However, we saw withdrawals by Luxembourg, the Philippines, Taiwan and Zimbabwe.

The power six for this edition were Switzerland, Australia, Mexico, Brazil, Pakistan and Croatia - 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

## Participants

* Ghana
* Portugal
* Puerto Rico
* Philippines
* Taiwan
* Zimbabwe

## 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 the 12 March 2018. The fifty-eight 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.

Malta, Finland and Ireland were not included in the pots because the head of delegations for these countries are on the admin team and are in charge of the first, second and third semi-finals respectively; as a result, the countries were automatically assigned to another semi-final: Ireland were assigned to semi-final one, Malta were assigned to semi-final two, and Finland were assigned to semi-final three.

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

## ​Semi Final One

 Australia and  Croatia 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 (as always) because the head of delegation for Ireland is on the admin team and is the organiser for the third semi-final - this is done to allow the admins to have the uncertainty of their countries' result. After the results were announced, there were discussions about selecting one of the non-qualifiers to progress to the final as a wildcard entry -  Scotland were chosen.

## ​Semi Final Two

 Brazil and  Pakistan 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.  Malta were automatically assigned to this semi-final (as always) because the head of delegation for Malta 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. After the results were announced, there were discussions about selecting one of the non-qualifiers to progress to the final as a wildcard entry -  Malaysia were chosen.

## ​Semi Final Three

 Switzerland and  Mexico 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.  Finland were automatically assigned to this semi-final (as always) because the head of delegation for Finland is on the admin team and is the organiser for the second semi-final - this is done to allow the admins to have the uncertainty of their countries' result. After the results were announced, there were discussions about selecting one of the non-qualifiers to progress to the final as a wildcard entry -  Åland Islands were chosen.

## ​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 sixty-four participating countries were eligible to vote in the final; however, only the thirty finalists were obligated to vote! The running order for the final was announced shortly after the semi final results on the 16 March 2018. The results for the final were released on the 23 March 2018.