Europa Song Contest 4

PQR date
 Final date
 Venue
 Interval act
 Entries
 Debuting
**Participation map**
* Participating countries     Did not qualify from the semi final or the PQR     Countries that participated in the past but not this edition
 System
 Winner

**Europa Song Contest 4**, often referred to as **ESC 4**, was the fourth edition of the Europa Song Contest. It was held in Thessaloniki, Greece as it was the host's country chose Kaftanzoglio Stadium while Tamta was selected as the presenter.

Forty-six countries participated in the edition including Bosnia-Herzegovina, Georgia and Montenegro that made their debut appearance in the edition with Cyprus, France, Latvia, Monaco. Slovakia and Slovenia returning. Andorra, Czech Republic, Faroe Islands, FYR Macedonia, Malta, San Marino and Sweden announced their withdrawal from the fourth edition.

For the first time in the contest, a pre-qualification round was hosted. The pre-qualification round for the edition was hosted by Iceland from where Russia and Turkey qualified.

Iceland was crowned as the winner of the edition with the song "The Lunatics" performed by Gladius ft. Klara Elias. The song gathered a total of 330 points, 7 points ahead the runner-up, Moldova. Portugal finished on third place, while Slovakia, Turkey and Switzerland completed the top 6 of the edition.

## Location

For further information see Thessaloniki**Thessaloniki** (Greek: Θεσσαλονίκη, *Thessaloníki* [θesaloˈnici]), also familiarly known as **Thessalonica** or **Salonica**, is the second-largest city in Greece, with over 1 million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of Macedonia, the administrative region of Central Macedonia and the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace. Its nicknameis η Συμπρωτεύουσα (*Symprotévousa*), literally "the co-capital", a reference to its historical status as the Συμβασιλεύουσα (*Symvasilévousa*) or "co-reigning" city of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, alongside Constantinople.

Thessaloniki is located on the Thermaic Gulf, at the northwest corner of the Aegean Sea. It is bounded on the west by the delta of the Axios/Vardar.

The municipality of Thessaloniki, the historical center, had a population of 325,182 in 2011, while the Thessaloniki Urban Area had a population of 788,952 and the Thessaloniki Metropolitan Area had 1,012,297 inhabitants in 2011.

Thessaloniki is Greece's second major economic, industrial, commercial and political centre; it is a major transportation hub for Greece and southeastern Europe, notably through the Port of Thessaloniki. The city is renowned for its festivals, events and vibrant cultural life in genera, and is considered to be Greece's cultural capital. Events such as the Thessaloniki International Trade Fairand the Thessaloniki International Film Festivalare held annually, while the city also hosts the largest bi-annual meeting of the Greek diaspora. Thessaloniki was the 2014 European Youth Capital.

The city of Thessaloniki was founded in 315 BC by Cassander of Macedon. An important metropolis by the Roman period, Thessaloniki was the second largest and wealthiest city of the Byzantine Empire. It was conquered by the Ottomans in 1430, and passed from the Ottoman Empire to Greece on 8 November 1912.

Thessaloniki is home to numerous notable Byzantine monuments, including the Paleochristian and Byzantine monuments of Thessaloniki, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as several Roman, Ottoman and Sephardic Jewish structures. The city's main university, Aristotle University, is the largest in Greece and the Balkans.

Thessaloniki is a popular tourist destination in Greece. In 2013, *National Geographic Magazine*included Thessaloniki in its top tourist destinations worldwide, while in 2014 *Financial Times* FDI magazine (Foreign Direct Investments) declared Thessaloniki as the best mid-sized European city of the future for human capital and lifestyle. Among street photographers, the center of Thessaloniki is also considered the most popular destination for street photography in Greece.

### Bidding phase

 Kaftanzoglio Stadium  | 27,770
 Athens | O.A.C.A | 17,600
 Tele2 Arena | 69,618

## Logo and theme

The official logo of the fourth edition of the contest.

The fourth edition logo of the Europa Song Contest was previously designed by George Rospier the main producer of Europa Song Contest. The main idea was to transmit something shocking, intense and energetic due to the some issues that the contest was suffering in the last edition. Overcoming those issues between all the producers and participants, led to this magnificient logo and everything is possible if you want to the *Power of Music*, which that's where the A note the Support Banners was made them by the Greek broadcaster ERT.'

## Format

### Semi-final allocation draw

The draw that determined the semi-final allocation was held on 10 March 2018 in Athens. The big 6 countries were then drawn to determine in which semi-final each would country vote. The rest of the thirty-seven 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.

The six pots were the following:

* Bosnia-Herzegovina
* Bulgaria
* Montenegro
* Slovenia
* Switzerland
* Finland
* Iceland
* Latvia
* Lithuania
* Norway
* *~~Sweden~~*
* Belarus
* Cyprus
* Georgia
* Israel
 Pot 4
 * Armenia
* Belgium
* France
* Italy
* Monaco
* Spain
* Moldova
* Portugal
* Romania
* Russia
* United Kingdom
* Liechtenstein
* Luxembourg
* Poland
* Slovakia
* Turkey

### Running order

The running order of the semi-finals and the final of the edition was by producers appointed by both the EBU and the host broadcaster ERT.

### Sneak peeks and betting odds

There were five sneak peeks with one to nine countries in each sneak peek. The countries were divided into the sneak peeks according to the order of the songs announcement with the songs that were announced first being in the first sneak peek. The broadcasters can post their result for each of the sneak peeks ranking the songs from first to last.

The betting odds of the edition are based on the rankings in the sneak peeks. The average rank of each country represented the country's odds to win the contest.

## Participating countries

Forty-six countries confirmed their participation for the edition. Three of them, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and Montenegro made their debut appearance in the contest. Six countries also returned to the contest; Cyprus, France, Latvia, Monaco, Slovakia and Slovenia.

However, six countries withdrew from the edition; Andorra, Czech Republic, Faroe Islands, Malta, San Marino and Sweden.

### Returning artists

July Jones was internally selected to represent Slovenia for the second time; she previously represented the country in the second edition and took the 15th place in the semi-final 1 with 54 points. Saara was internally selected to represent Finland for the second time; she previously representer the country in the first edition and took the 15th place with 76 points.

## Results

### Pre-qualification round

Main article: Pre-Qualification Round 1Six countries participated in the first pre-qualification round. The Russia and Turkey qualifed to the semi-finals, while Austria, Kazakhstan, Lebanon and Morocco were eliminated.

### Semi-final 1

Nineteen countries participate in the first semi-final. Croatia, Germany and Serbia also voted in this semi-final. The highlighted countries qualified for the final.

### Semi-final 2

Eighteen countries participate in the second semi-final. Denmark, Greece and the Netherlands also voted in this semi-final. The highlighted countries qualified for the final.

## Voting grids

### Semi-final 1

#### 12 points

Below is a summary of the maximum 12 points awarded by each country in the first semi-final.

Countries in bold represent those awarded full 24 points (12 points apiece from professional jury and televoting) to a specified entrant.

### Semi-final 2

#### 12 points

Below is a summary of the maximum 12 points awarded by each country in the second semi-final.

Countries in bold represent those awarded full 24 points (12 points apiece from professional jury and televoting) to a specified entrant.

### Final

#### 12 points

Below is a summary of the maximum 12 points awarded by each country in the final.

Countries in bold represent those awarded full 24 points (12 points apiece from professional jury and televoting) to a specified entrant.

## 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

* Andorra: RTVA announce that the country after the bad result from the previous edition will withdraw.
* Czech Republic: ČT announce that the country will withdraw from the fourth edition.
* Faroe Islands: Kringvarp Føroya announce that the country will not participate in the fourth edition.
* FYR Macedonia: MRT announce that if Greece host the contest will withdraw. On 4 March 2018 MRT announce their withdraw.
* Malta: PBS announce that the country will not participate in the fourth edition due to lack of interest and for the average result from the previous edition.
* San Marino: SMRTV announce that the country will not participate in the fourth edition due to lack of interest from the Italian artists to represent San Marino.
* Sweden: SVT announce on the 11 February 2018 that the country will participate in the fourth edition and they will select their entry via their national selection Melodifestivalen but later the Swedish broadcaster didn't send an entry before the deadline for the entries.

## International broadcasts and voting

### Voting and spokespersons

2. Imri Ziv
3. GJan(Lithuanian representative in the first edition)
4. Angelina Agurbash
5. Elina Nechayeva
6. Lilit Karapetyan
7. Amaia(Spanish representative in the **fourth edition**)
8. Robin
9. Knoll Gabi
10. Greta Salóme
11. Vessy Boneva
12. Loïc Nottet
13. Ronela Hajati
14. Alyona Subbotina
15. Jasques Houdek

17. Mel Giedroyc
18. Tina Tuner
19. Laleh(Azerbaijani representative in the second edition)
20. Laetitia Mikail
21. Anouk
22. Irina Rimes
23. Kendji Girac
24. Farid Matar
25. Mørland
26. Murat Dalkılıç
27. Dima Bilan
28. Twiins
29. Oonagh(German representative in the first edition)
30. Bianca Balti

32. Balbina(Liechtensteiner representative in the third edition)
33. Rada Monoljovic
34. Nina Sublatti
35. Zoë
36. Alex Florea
37. Marios Lekkas
38. Ewelina Lisowska
39. Louis Walsh
40. Emmelie De Forest
41. Muff
42. Markus Riva
43. Ella Nor(Portuguese representative in the first edition)
44. Gezza
45. Samira Said
46. Marianta Pieridi

 Notes and references

### Notes

1. **^** Sweden, who had been originally allocated to perform in the second semi-final, later announce that they withdraw from the fourth edition because they missed the entries deadline.
2. **^** Iceland confirm that they will select their entry via a national selection called "Söngvakeppnin". On 28 February 2018 the results was announced and the winner was Karlotta with the song "Óstöðvandi" but two days before the semi-final 1 Icelandic Broadcaster Disqualify their entry and announce their new entry on 22 March 2018 "The Lunatics" a song from the New Zealander DJ Gladius featuring an Icelandic singer Klara Elias.