Edition 60

The sixtieth edition of the **Global Music Festival** took place at the MFCC in Ta' Qali, Malta. It was the second time the country hosted the contest, after Malta's second victory in the fifty-ninth edition with the song Cannonball performed by Ira Losco ft. Michela- which scored [POINTS]. This edition consisted of two semi-finals which were all launched on the 04 November 2019 and a grand final which took place from the 11 November 2019. All three of the shows in this edition were hosted by TV presenter Claire Agius Ordway and medical doctor and part-time singer Gianluca Bezzina, who represented Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2013.

Edition 60 will be thematic edition. The selected theme for the sixtieth edition was known as "First Letter". There were a few rules for this edition. As per usual each artist must be from their country of origin and previous entries could not be sent again. What makes the theme of this edition special is that it makes the contest more personalised and unique.Participants were asked to send an entry where the first letter of the artist was the same as the first letter of their name. If any participant decided to send a band/group, then the first letter of the band/group must match their first initial.

Fifty-three countries participated in this edition of the contest. Afghanistan decided to return to the contest after being away since the thirty-seventh edition. The sixtieth edition marks their second appearance in the Global Music Festival. Another eight countries decided to make their return to the contest and they were; Albania, China, Croatia, Ecuador, Italy, Norway, The Philippines and Uganda, the latter last participated in the forty-third edition. Unfortunately, Barbados made the decision that it was their time to withdraw the contest. Barbados was one of the first countries to participate in the Global Music Festival and only missed one edition which was the fortieth edition. In their time in the contest they gained two wins and currently hold the record of the highest scoring entry in the fifty-fifth edition. Six other countries also made to decision to withdraw and they were; Chile, Greece, Israel, Puerto Rico, Tonga and Turkey.

The power six for this edition were Malta, Lithuania, Belgium, Scotland, Åland Islands and Ireland - 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

## Other Participants

* Chile
* Greece
* Israel
* Puetro Rico
* Tonga
* Turkey

## Semi-Final Allocation Draw

The draw to determine the allocation of the participating countries into their respective semi-finals took place on the 03 November 2019. The forty-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.

Finland was not included in the pots because the head of delegation for this country was on the admin team and was in charge of the second semi-final; as a result, Finland was automatically assigned to semi-final one.

Also, in the semi-final allocation draw the power six nations (Malta, Lithuania, Belgium, Scotland, Åland Islands and Ireland) were all drawn to vote in one of the respective semi-finals. Belgium, Scotland and Åland Islands were assigned to vote in the first semi-final and Malta, Lithuania and Ireland were assigned to vote in the second semi-final.

## Power Six

  Lithuania
  Belgium
  Scotland
  Åland Islands
  Ireland

## Semi Final One

 Belgium,  Scotland and  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.  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.

## Semi Final Two

 Malta,  Lithuania and  Ireland 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.

## Grand Final

Thirty countries participated in the final of this edition of the **Global Music Festival** - the power six and the twenty-four qualifiers from the two semi-finals. All forty-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 11 November 2019. The results for the final were released on the 18 November 2019.