Edition 32

The thirty-second edition of the **Global Music Festival**​ took place at the Grieghallen in Bergen, Norway. It was the first time the country hosted the contest, after Norway's first victory in the thirty-first edition with the song "Who We Are" performed by Rebecca - which scored an impressive 304 points. This edition consisted of three semi-finals which were all launched on the 23 April 2018 and a grand final which took place from the 28 April 2018. Herman Tømmeraas Josefine, Frida Pettersen and Iman Meskini hosted the main show and Tarjei Sandvik Moe and Henrik Holm hosted the green room in this edition.

Sixty-three countries participated in this edition of the contest. We saw the exciting debut of the Caucasus nation of Georgia. Also, we saw the return of a number of countries: Bosnia & Herzegovina, Dominican Republic, Lebanon, the Netherlands, Puerto Rico and Swaziland. However, several countries sadly withdraw from this edition, including: Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Ghana, Kosovo, Luxembourg and Nigeria.

The power six for this edition were Norway, Åland Islands, Finland, Sweden, Scotland and Liechtenstein - 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

* Dominican Republic
* Lebanon
* Netherlands
* Puerto Rico
* Swaziland
* Austria
* Azerbaijan
* Ghana
* Kosovo
* Luxembourg
* Nigeria

## 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 23 April 2018. The fifty-four semi-finalists were allocated to five pots, based on the previous voting history, as well as, the style and commonality of their past entries. Drawing from each pot helps to create an equal split of countries and song styles in each semi-final to give countries an equal chance of qualification.

Malta 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 three and Ireland were assigned to semi-final two.

Also, in the semi-final allocation draw the power six nations (Norway, Åland Islands, Finland, Sweden, Scotland and Liechtenstein) were all drawn to vote in one of the respective semi-finals. Norway and the Åland Islands were assigned to vote in the first semi-final, Finland and Scotland were assigned to vote in the second semi-final, and Sweden and Liechtenstein were assigned to vote in the third semi-final.

## ​Semi Final One

 Norway and the  Åland Islands 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. After the results were announced, there were discussions about selecting one of the non-qualifiers to progress to the final as a wildcard entry -  Spain were chosen.

## ​Semi Final Two

 Finland and  Scotland 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. After the results were announced, there were discussions about selecting one of the non-qualifiers to progress to the final as a wildcard entry -  Lebanon were chosen.

## ​Semi Final Three

 Sweden and  Liechtenstein 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. Unfortunately,  Dominican Republic had to be disqualified because they failed to vote before the deadline. After the results were announced, there were discussions about selecting one of the non-qualifiers to progress to the final as a wildcard entry -  Georgia 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 [#] 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 28 April 2018. The results for the final were released on the 04 May 2018.