Eurovision Song Festival 9

The Eurovision Song Festival 9 will be the 9th edition of the Eurovision Song Festival. It will take place in the Ergo Arena in Gdańsk, Poland. This will be the second time the contest will take place in Poland. The contest is expected to consist of two semi-finals on 24 August and the final on 24 August 2018.

On the 26th of July, the EBO confirmed that a total of 44 countries will be present in the ninth edition of the Eurovision Song Festival.

## Location

### **Bidding phase**

On 11 August 2018, the EBO confirmed that eight cities were in the race to host the ninth edition of the Eurovision Song Festival. The host city will be announced on the 11th of August 2018. The head of the contest, Adéla Bronislava, announced that the host city announcement will take place on 19:00 CET.

All cities were allowed to submit a venue for hosting the contest. The cities had to announce the venue and the capacity for the show. In the end, eight cities were submitted to host the contest. The following cities are in the race to host the contest:
  †   Host venue
  ‡   Shortlisted

### **Venue**

Ergo Arena (Hala Gdańsk-Sopot) is a multi-purpose indoor arena, that was opened in 2010. The boundary between two cities – Sopot and Gdańsk – runs through the very middle of the hall. The arena has a capacity of 11,409 people, for sports events and up to 15,000, with standing places, for concerts.

On November 26, 2010, Lady Gaga performed during The Monster Ball Tour, with Semi Precious Weapons as her opening act, to more than 12,000 people. It was the first big event to take place in the hall.

Sport events, including the 2013 Men's European Volleyball Championship, 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships and the 2014 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship, as well as a part of the 2016 European Men's Handball Championship were held at the arena.

For Athletics competition a six-lane, banked 200-meter oval is installed on the arena floor. According to an IAAF press release, the athletics track at the ERGO Arena, the venue for the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships, was officially opened for the 2014 season on Sunday 16 February and almost 6,000 people came to get a glimpse of the new track. Italian company Mondo made the indoor portable banked track with a Mondo Super X rubberized surface (13.5mm thick). Mondo's portable tracks can be assembled and disassembled in a matter of days. The company's claw locking mechanism locks the modular track frame in place without the use of screws or bolts, guaranteeing constant clamping force and perfect accuracy from panel to panel, and from installation to installation. Mondo's world-renowned Super X surface has been the world's top track for more than 30 years and was used at both the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics.

## Format

On the 11th of August, the EBO confirmed that 2 Semi-Finals and the final were scheduled to take place in August. There is a jury and a televote. They both decide 50% of the score. There was also a big 6 pre-qualified to the final. Those countries were the host Poland, Albania, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary.

## Participating countries

Participating countries had until 10 August 2018 to submit their applications for participation in the contest. The EBO announced on 11 August that 44 countries would participate in the contest.

## Results

### **Semi-Final 1**

Nineteen countries participated in the first semi-final. The highlighted countries qualified for the final.

### **Semi-Final 2**

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

## Other countries

 Andorra - RTVA stated that Andorra would not be able to debut in the near future, due to high, and still rising, costs and no government support.

 Estonia - Estonian media reported that Estonia would withdraw from the contest. EER however stated that these reports were not true, but that Estonia would participate in the ninth edition of the song contest. EER later reported a record low submissions for Hääl Eetist.

 France - France Télévisions confirmed that France wanted to return this edition, but that there was no place for France in the contest this edition. France Télévisions confirmed that France will return next edition.

 Germany - German broadcaster NDR confirmed that Germany was not interested in a return this edition, but that they will look at a possible return next edition.

 Kosovo - RTK stated that Kosovo would make their debut this edition, however, the EBO confirmed that this is not true and that Kosovo is no full member of the EBO. RTK later stated that they could begin their own contest, for countries that are not accepted into the Eurovision Song Festival. No other country was interested however, except for Andorra.

 Liechtenstein - 1FLTV stated that Liechtenstein is not interested in a debut upcoming editions.

 Luxembourg - The broadcaster from Luxembourg stated that there was not enough interest in Luxembourg for the contest to debut. RTL confirmed that they would still broadcast the ninth edition live, online.

 Malta - Local Maltese media reported that PBS would withdraw from the contest, because the broadcaster could not find a suitable act in time. PBS denied those statements.

 Norway - NRK from Norway confirmed that Norway would debut this edition.

 Sweden - SVT from Sweden confirmed that Sweden would withdraw this edition, stating that the results were not statisfying.