Edition 51

The fifty-first edition of the **Global Music Festival** took place at the Saku Suurhall in Tallinn, Estonia. It was the second time the country hosted the contest, after Estonia's second victory in the fiftieth edition with the song Pretty Little Liar performed by Uku Suviste - which scored 248 points. This edition consisted of three semi-finals which were all launched on the 28 April 2019 and a grand final which took place from the 05 May 2019. All four of the shows in this edition were hosted by singers Elina Born, Kerli & Johann Urb. Elina Born has represented Estonia on two occasions with her best result in the tenth edition where she came in fourteenth place with 75 points. Kerli has also represented Estonia on three occasions with her best performance in the thirteenth edition where she placed in sixteenth with 78 points.

Fifty-two countries participated in this edition of the contest. Peru returned for their second appearance after being away since their first appearance in the fortieth edition. Another eleven countries made their return for the fifty-first edition, they were as follows; China, Colombia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Norway, Poland, Russia, San Marino, Sweden, Thailand and Vietnam. Sadly we had to say goodbye to Lebanon who had been participating since the thirty-second edition, only missing out in participating in the fortieth edition. Bosnia & Herzegovina, Brazil, Iran and Puerto Rico were four other countries who also withdrew.

The fifty-first edition also saw the continuation of there being two semi finals. In the previous edition, there was two semi finals due to the lack of participants. While the numbers did increase in the fifty-first edition, the two semi finals format proved to be popular and easier to maintain and will be continued for the next editions. Twelve countries from the each semi final now qualify in to the final, previously this was eight.

The power six for this edition were Estonia, France, New Zealand, Romania, Hungary and Wales - 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

* Brazil
* Iran
* Lebanon
* Puerto Rico

## 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 27th April 2019. The forty-six 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. Ireland and Finland 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 and second  semi-finals respectively; as a result, the countries were automatically assigned to another semi-final: Finland were assigned to semi-final one, and Ireland were assigned to semi-final two.
Also, in the semi-final allocation draw the power six nations (Estonia, France, New Zealand, Romania, Hungary and Wales) were all drawn to vote in one of the respective semi-finals. France, New Zealand and Romania were assigned to vote in the first semi-final, and Estonia, Hungary and Wales were assigned to vote in the second semi-final.

## Semi Final One

France, New Zealand and Romania 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

 Estonia,  Hungary and  Wales 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 first 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 twenty-four qualifiers from the two semi-finals. All fifty-two 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 6th May 2019. The results for the final were released on the 13th May 2019.