Edition 47

The forty-seventh edition of the **Global Music Festival**​ took place at the Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand. It was the first time the country hosted the contest, after New Zealand's first victory in the forty-sixth edition with the song Not Too Late performed by Ricki-Lee - which scored 361 points. This edition consisted of three semi-finals which were all launched on the 19 January 2019 and a grand final which took place from the 27 January 2019. All four of the shows in this edition were hosted by Sonny Bill Williams, Lucy Lawless and Ricki-Lee, the winner of the forty-sixth edition of the Global Music Festival.

Fifty-nine countries participated in this edition of the contest. Twenty countries all decided to return in the forty-seventh edition. Chile decided to return to the contest after not participating since the twenty-third edition. Bulgaria, France, Jamaica, Norway, Poland, San Marino, Spain, Sweden, Uruguay and Wales returned after having a break over the festive period and New Year's celebrations. Also, we saw the return of nine previous participants; Algeria, Armenia, Canada, Estonia, FYR Macedonia, Ghana, Luxembourg, Syria and Venezuela. However, we had to say goodbye to eight countries, we hope they will come back soon; Czech Republic, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Moldova, Nigeria, the Philippines, Russia and Trinidad & Tobago.

The power six for this edition were New Zealand, Morocco, Thailand, Australia, Italy and India - these were the delegations that placed in the top six from the previous edition. India placed seventh in the previous edition, however the third placing country, Lithuania, withdrew from the contest. 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
 Aitana - Vas A Quedarte

## Participants

* Armenia
* Bulgaria
* Canada
* Chile
* Estonia
* France
* FYR Macedonia
* Ghana
* Jamaica
* Luxembourg
* Norway
* Poland
* San Marino
* Spain
* Sweden
* Syria
* Venezuela
* Uruguay
* Wales
* Liechtenstein
* Lithuania
* Moldova
* Nigeria
* The Philippines
* Russia
* Trinidad & Tobago

## 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 26 January 2019. 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 two, and Finland were assigned to semi-final three, and Ireland were assigned to semi-final one.

Also, in the semi-final allocation draw the power six nations (New Zealand, Morocco, Thailand, Italy, Australia and India) were all drawn to vote in one of the respective semi-finals. Morocco and Italy were assigned to vote in the first semi-final, New Zealand and Australia were assigned to vote in the second semi-final, and Thailand and India were assigned to vote in the third semi-final.

## ​Semi Final One

 Morocco and  Italy 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 Two

 New Zealand and  Australia 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.

## ​Semi Final Three

 Thailand and  India 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.

## ​Grand Final

Thirty countries participated in the final of this edition of the **Global Music Festival**​ - the power six, the eight qualifiers from the three semi-finals. 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 27 January 2019. The results for the final were released on the 2 February 2019.