Edition 45

The forty-fifth edition of the **Global Music Festival** took place at the Pallati i Kongresit (Congress Palace) in Tirana, Albania. It was the second time the country hosted the contest, after Albania's second victory in the forty-fourth edition with the song Love for Days performed by Mimoza - which scored 251 points. The last time Albania won was in the first edition with Bebe Rexha and her song I Got You. This edition consisted of three semi-finals which were all launched on the 02 December 2018 and a grand final which took place from the 10 Decmber 2018. All four of the shows in this edition were hosted by Ledion Liço and Bes Kallaku.

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 theme selected was "Redemption" where participants could re-enter a previous entry from their chosen country. However participants weren't allowed to send any previous winning songs. The aim of this theme was to give previously underrated songs a chance to do better. It also allowed for songs which just missed out on winning to try again. The theme was well received by the participated with some asking to possibly do it again in the future.

Sixty countries participated in this edition of the contest. Seven countries made their return to the contest in the forty-fifth edition. Swaziland made their long awaited return after last participating in the thirty-third edition. Bulgaria, China, Indonesia, Jamaica, Poland and Slovenia also all returned. However, we did say goodbye to Canada, who had been participated in the contest since the twenty-third edition. There were an additional five countries who left in the forty-fifth edition; Ghana, Haiti, Monaco, Portugal and Thailand.

The power six for this edition were Albania, Kosovo, Kazakhstan, South Africa, China and Mexico - 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
 Dami Im - Fighting for Love

## Participants

* China
* File:Indonesian Flag.png Indonesia
* Jamaica
* Poland
* Slovenia
* Swaziland
* Ghana
* Haiti
* Monaco
* Portugal
* Thailand

## 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 01 December. The fifty-three 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: Malta were assigned to semi-final one, and Finland were assigned to semi-final one, and Ireland were assigned to semi-final three.

Also, in the semi-final allocation draw the power six nations Albania, Kosovo, Kazakhstan, South Africa, China and Mexico were all drawn to vote in one of the respective semi-finals. Kosovo and South Africa were assigned to vote in the first semi-final, Albania and Kazakhstan were assigned to vote in the second semi-final, and China and Mexico were assigned to vote in the third semi-final.

## Semi Final One

 Kosovo and  South Africa 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 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.

## Semi Final Two

 Albania and  Kazakhstan 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 third semi-final - this is done to allow the admins to have the uncertainty of their countries' result.

## Semi Final Three

 China 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.  Malta were automatically assigned to this semi-final 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.

## 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 fifty-nine 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 09 December 2018. The results for the final were released on the 18 December 2018.