Edition 34

The thirty-fourth edition of the **Global Music Festival**​ took place at the Thessaloniki Concert Hall in Thessaloniki. It was the first time the country hosted the contest, after Greece's first victory in the thirty-third edition with the song "Στα Μισά Του Δρόμου" performed by Chryssanthemis and Thodoris Marantinis - which scored 260 points. This edition consisted of three semi-finals which were all launched on the 20 May 2018 and a grand final which took place from the 25 May 2018. All four of the shows in this edition were hosted by John Stamos and Helena Paparizou.

Sixty-five countries participated in this edition of the contest. We saw the exciting debut of another South American nation - Uruguay. The return of Cyprus, Estonia, the Faroe Islands, Namibia, Sweden and Ukraine. However, we did say goodbye to some of the nations, Bosnia & Herzegovina, France, Jamaica, Russia and Swaziland all withdrew.

The power six for this edition were Greece, Albania, Germany, Japan, South Korea and Kosovo - 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

## Participants

* Estonia
* Faroe Islands
* Namibia
* Sweden
* Ukraine
* France
* Jamaica
* Russia
* Swaziland

## ​Semi Final One

 Greece and  South Korea 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. Unfortunately,  Namibia and  Uruguay were disqualified due to failing to vote before the deadline.

## ​Semi Final Two

 Albania and  Germany 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

 Japan and  Kosovo 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 seven qualifiers from the three semi-finals and the three wildcard entries (one from each semi-final). All sixty-five 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 25 May 2018. The results for the final were released on the 01 June 2018.