Eurovision Dance Festival 1

Semi-finals dates
 Final date
 Venue
 Presenter(s)
 Conductor
 Director
 Executive supervisor
 Host broadcaster
 Number of entries
 Debuting countries
 Returning countries
 Withdrawing countries
 Voting system
 Null points
 Winning song

The Eurovision Dance Festival 1 will be the first edition of the Eurovision Dance Festival. It will take place in the Laugardalshöll in Reykjavík, Iceland. This will be the first time the contest will take place in Iceland. The contest is expected to consist of one semi-final on 7 September and the final on 7 September 2018.

On the 31st of August, the EBO confirmed that a total of 16 countries will be present in the first edition of the Eurovision Dance Festival.

## Location

On 31 August 2018, the EBO confirmed that two countries were interested in hosting the first edition of the Eurovision Dance Festival. The host city will be announced on the 1st of September 2018. The head of the contest, Ania Kovalenko, announced that the host city announcement will take place on 18:00 CET.

All countries were allowed to submit as many cities as they wanted for hosting the contest. The broadcasters had to announce the city, the venue and the capacity for the show. In the end, two cities were submitted to host the contest from two different countries. The following cities are in the race to host the contest:
  †   Host venue
  ‡   Shortlisted

### **Venue**

Laugardalshöll is an indoor sporting arena located in Reykjavík, Iceland. The capacity of the arena is 5,500 people. It hosts various sporting events, such as handball, basketball, volleyball and athletics, as well as for other events. Aside from sporting events, it is the largest concert venue in Iceland, with a maximum capacity of 11,000. Aside from sports and music events, it serves as a general purpose hall for all manner of events.

#### Events

Perhaps the most prominent event to be held at Laugardalshöll was the World Chess Championship 1972, often dubbed the "Match of the Century", in which American challenger Bobby Fischer defeated the Russia champion Boris Spassky. The movie Bobby Fischer Against the World (2011) features scenes from Laugardalshöll. The arena which hosted the 1995 World Men's Handball Championship and many matches of the Iceland national handball team, one of the most successful sports of the country.

On November 6, 2010, the "National Assembly", the first step of a constitutional reform process, was held here. It gathered 1000 citizens, randomly picked in the national register. It produced a document listing the main principles of the island nation. From 2007 to 2011, it also hosted CCP Games' EVE Online annual 'Fanfest'. Every year since 2016, the arena has held the finals of Söngvakeppnin, the Icelandic preliminary round for the Eurovision Song Contest.

## Format

In total 16 countries take part, each performing one dance. After that, the jury decides which eight countries advance to the final. In the final, only the top 3 is being announced. The preliminary round is a round for small states, who do not yet have the right to perform in other EBO festivals, such as the Eurovision Song Festival and the Junior Eurovision Song Festival, or for states who do not want to join those bigger festivals jet. The preliminary can be joined by any country not wanting to spend full costs on the contest. Only one of those countries advances to the semi-final.

## Participating countries

Participating countries had until 24 August 2018 to submit their applications for participation in the contest. The EBO announced on 31 August that 16 countries would participate in the contest.

All countries debuted in the contest.

## Results

### **Preliminary round**

Six countries participated in the preliminary round. The highlighted country qualified for the final.

### **Semi-Final**

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