Edition 40

The fortieth edition of the **Global Music Festival**​ took place at the SSE Arena Belfast in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was the second time the country hosted the contest, only the first time participating as an independent nation, after Northern Ireland's first victory in the thirty-ninth edition with the song Wild performed by Catherine McGrath - which scored 229 points. This edition consisted of three semi-finals which were all launched on the 21 August 2018 and a grand final which took place from the 28 August 2018. All four of the shows in this edition were hosted by TV presenter Eamonn Holmes and singer/TV presenter Linda Martin

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 "Random Three" and was an extension on the, previously used, Random Countries theme.This was how it would entail for the fortieth edition. Each player was given three random countries and they would need to pick one of the three countries to participate with. The three random countries was be selected through a draw on the 9 August 2018. Three separate pots were used to divide up the countries. one pot contained all the currently participating countries (from the thirty-ninth edition); the second pot contained all the countries which have participated previously in the contest; and the third pot contained all the countries which have never participated before. The idea came about to encourage new and returning countries to participate in the contest, and hopefully bring a wider range of music styles and languages with the hope of making the contest more interesting. An excel document was set up so everyone could see which three countries they could choose from.

Fifty-six countries participated in this edition of the contest. Due to the theme of the contest, there were many debuting, returning and withdrawing countries. There were ten countries that were making their debut in the fortieth edition and they were; Cambodia, Ivory Coast, Mali, Mongolia, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Syria, Thailand and Uganda. Eleven countries made their return in this edition. Algeria had been away from the contest since the nineteenth edition with hopes they can make this their most successful edition. The other countries that made their return were as follows; Cuba, Egypt, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Pakistan, Russia, Taiwan and Turkey. However, we did see twenty-one countries withdraw; Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Iceland, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Kosovo, Lebanon, Malaysia, Malta, Northern Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Wales and Barbados, the latter of whom who has participated in every edition since the inception of the contest.

The power six for this edition were Colombia, Pakistan, United States, Mali, Kazakhstan and Serbia - these were the delegations that placed in the top six from the previous edition. The top six in the thirty-ninth edition were originally Northern Ireland, England, Sweden, Malaysia, Iceland and Norway - but due to the theme they were changed to whatever country they selected. 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
 Andra - Love Can Save It All

## Participants

* Ivory Coast
* Mali
* Mongolia
* Palestine
* Papua New Guinea
* Peru
* Syria
* Thailand
* Uganda
* Cuba
* Egypt
* Hungary
* Kazakhstan
* Luxembourg
* New Zealand
* Pakistan
* Russia
* Taiwan
* Turkey
* Barbados
* Bosnia & Herzegovina
* Iceland
* Israel
* Jamaica
* Japan
* Kosovo
* Lebanon
* Malaysia
* Malta
* Northern Ireland
* Poland
* Portugal
* Slovakia
* Slovenia
* Spain
* Switzerland
* Uruguay
* Uzbekistan
* Wales

## 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 20 August 2018. The fifty 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.

The Netherlands, Ivory Coast and Syria 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: The Netherlands were assigned to semi-final two, and Ivory Coast were assigned to semi-final three, and Syria were assigned to semi-final one.

Also, in the semi-final allocation draw the power six nations (Colombia, Pakistan, United States, Mali, Kazakhstan and Serbia) were all drawn to vote in one of the respective semi-finals. Pakistan were assigned to vote in the first semi-final, Colombia and Kazakhstan were assigned to vote in the second semi-final, and Mali and Serbia were assigned to vote in the third semi-final.

## ​Semi Final One

 Pakistan and  United States 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.  Syria were automatically assigned to this semi-final because the head of delegation for Syria 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 Two

 Colombia 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.  The Netherlands were automatically assigned to this semi-final because the head of delegation for The Netherlands 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.

## ​Semi Final Three

 Mali and  Serbia 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.  Ivory Coast were automatically assigned to this semi-final because the head of delegation for Ivory Coast 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.

## ​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-six 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 27 August 2018. The results for the final were released on the 3 September 2018.