Our Eurovision Song Contest 9

## Participation map

The **Our Eurovision Song Contest 9** was the eighth edition of the Our Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Oslo, Norway and was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK). The contest was held at the Telenor Arena and, for the first time, consisted of a two semi-finals and a final. It was the first time that Norway had hosted the contest.

Forty countries took part in the contest this season, beating the record of thirty-two in the previous edition. Albania, Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Moldova and North Macedonia competing for the first time. Israel and Slovenia returned to the competition after missing one season.

The winner was Russia with the song "Beverly Hills", performed by Zivert. This was Russia's first victory in the contest after the country made its debut in previous edition. Sweden, Slovenia, Ukraine and Germany rounded out the top five.

## Location

Norway gained the right to host the contest after Astrid S won the previous edition in Hamburg, Germany. Since Norway was the winner of the preceding contest, the ninth edition was subsequently held there. The Telenor Arena in Oslo was chosen as the venue for the contest.

Telenor Arena, sometimes referred to as Fornebu Arena, is a multi-purpose indoor arena located at Fornebu in Bærum, outside Oslo, Norway. It serves as a venue for a variety of events, including concerts, exhibitions, action shows, family shows, TV and sport. It has a capacity for 15,000 spectators for sports and 25,000 for concerts, including 40 luxury boxes and club seating for 1,200.

## Forman

At a press conference in Hamburg, executive supervisor of the contest for the EBU, announced that the competition's format may be expanded to two semi-finals. Based on research conducted, the semi-finalists were sorted into the two heats through the drawing of lots, which was seeded to keep countries that have a significant history of voting for each other apart.

The automatic grand finalist countries chose whether they would broadcast both semi-finals or just one, but viewers from these countries could only vote in one. All countries participating in the ninth edition were divided into six pots. The Big 5 countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) and the host country (Norway) were also allocated between the semi-finals for voting. The top ten songs from each semi-final according to the results of the voting pass to the final. Twenty-six songs competed in the grand final.

### Semi-final allocation

The first part of the draw is the distribution of the Big 5 (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) and the host countries (Norway) for the semi-finals when voting. The second part is the distribution of the participating countries by semifinals. In total, thirty-four countries were divided into six pots. All countries in the semi-finals were separated into the following pots based on voting history and geographical location. Seventeen countries competed in both semifinals. The table below shows the order of "pulling" of the participating countries.

all participating countries in the first semi-final + France Norway Spain
all participating countries in the second semi-final + Germany Italy United Kingdom

## Participating countries

### Semi-final 1

Seventeen countries participated in the first semi-final. Those countries plus France, Norway and Spain voted in this semi-final. The highlighted countries qualified for the final.

### Semi-final 2

Seventeen countries participated in the second semi-final. Those countries plus Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom voted in this semi-final. The highlighted countries qualified for the final.

### Final

Twenty-six countries participated in the final, with all forty participating countries eligible to vote.