Edition 44

The forty-forth edition of the **Global Music Festival** took place at Arena Ciudad in Mexico City, Mexico. It was the fifth time the country hosted the contest, after Mexico's fifth victory in the forty-third edition with the song ¿Dónde Estabas Tú? performed by Danna Paola - which scored 248. It was also the second time that Mexico City hosted the contest ias well for the venue, Arena Ciudad. This edition consisted of three semi-finals which were all launched on the 14 November 2018 and a grand final which took place from the 19 November 2018. All four of the shows in this edition were hosted by actresses Salma Hayek and Megan Martinez.

Fifty-nine countries participated in this edition of the contest. Eleven countries decided they would return in the forty-fourth edition. The Philippines made their well awaited return after being absent from the contest since the thirtieth edition. Thailand also returned for their second appearance in the contest after their first appearance in the fortieth edition. Ghana, Israel, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, Morocco, The Netherlands, Nigeria, Russia and San Marino also returned. However, five countries decided to leave the contest; Dominican Republic, Hungary, Luxembourg, Uganda and Latvia, the latter of whom has participated in every edition since the twenty-sixth edition.

The power six for this edition were Mexico, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Japan, Haiti, Barbados and Moldova - 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
 Mimoza - Love for Days

## Participants

* Israel
* Kazakhstan
* Liechtenstein
* Morocco
* The Netherlands
* Nigeria
* The Philippines
* Portugal
* San Marino
* Thailand
* Hungary
* Latvia
* Luxembourg
* Uganda

## 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 13 November 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 Scotland 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: Malta were assigned to semi-final two, and Finland were assigned to semi-final one, and Scotland were assigned to semi-final two.

Also, in the semi-final allocation draw the power six nations (Mexico, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Japan, Haiti, Barbados and Moldova) were all drawn to vote in one of the respective semi-finals. Japan and Barbados were assigned to vote in the first semi-final, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Haiti were assigned to vote in the second semi-final, and Mexico and Moldova were assigned to vote in the third semi-final.

## Semi Final One

 Japan and  Barbaods 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

 Bosnia & Herzegovina and  Haiti 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.  Scotland and  Malta were automatically assigned to this semi-final because they are both the head of delegation for Scotland and Malta are on the admin team and are the organiser for the third and first semi-final resptively - this is done to allow the admins to have the uncertainty of their countries' result.

## Semi Final Three

 Mexico and  Moldova 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, the seven qualifiers from the three semi-finals and the three wildcard entries (one from each semi-final). 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 19 November 2019. The results for the final were released on the 26 November 2019.