Edition 71

The seventy-first edition of the **Global Music Festival** took place in Chongqing, China, following Griff's victory at the seventieth edition in Oslo, Norway with the song "Good Stuff". It was the second win for China and the second time that the country hosted the competition. Organised by the head of delegation and host broadcaster, the contest was held at the Huaxi Live Banan International Cultural and Sports Center, and consisted of two semi-finals which were both launched on the 02 August 2020 and a grand final which took place from the 10 August 2020. The three shows were hosted by Chinese actresses Zhang Ziyi and Yang Mi and previous Global Music Festival participant Sam Tsui.

Sixty-one countries participated in this edition of the contest. This edition saw the exciting debut of another South-East Asian nation - Laos. Unfortunately, twenty countries withdrew from edition seventy-one: The Bahamas, Barbados, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Eritrea, Ghana, Israel, Jamaica, Mauritania, Monaco, Nigeria, The Philippines, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Somalia, Togo, Trinidad & Tobago, Uganda and Zambia. However, twenty-one countries returned to the competition. Fifteen of the countries returned after a one edition break: Åland Islands, Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Georgia, Iran, Japan, Malta, Mongolia, Northern Ireland, Russia, San Marino, Spain, Thailand, Turkmenistan and Wales. Bulgaria and England both returned after a two edition break. Then, Chile, Colombia and North Macedonia all returned after three, four and six editions of absence respectively. Most notably, Ecuador returned to the competition for their sixth participation after a ten edition break from the contest.

The power six for this edition were China, Greece, Finland, San Marino, Sweden and Svalbard - these were the delegations that placed in the top six from the previous edition. The delegation for San Marino participated with Jamaica last edition - hence the country's placement in the power six. 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

* Barbados
* Brazil
* Dominican Republic
* Eritrea
* Ghana
* Israel
* Jamaica
* Mauritania
* Monaco
* Nigeria
* The Philippines
* Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
* São Tomé and Príncipe
* Senegal
* Somalia
* Togo
* Trinidad & Tobago
* Uganda
* Zambia

## Semi-Final Allocation Draw

The draw to determine the allocation of the participating countries into their respective semi-finals took place on the 31 July 2020. The fifty-five 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 was not included in the pots because the head of delegation is on the admin team and is in charge of the first semi-final. As a result, Ireland was automatically assigned to semi-final two.

Also, in the semi-final allocation draw the power six nations China, Greece, Finland, San Marino, Sweden and Svalbard were all drawn to vote in one of the respective semi-finals. China, Greece and Sweden were assigned to vote in the first semi-final and Finland, San Marino and Svalbard were assigned to vote in the second semi-final.

## Semi Final One

 China,  Greece and  Sweden 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. Unfortunately, the  United States were disqualified from this edition because they failed to vote before the deadline.

## Semi Final Two

 Finland,  San Marino and  Svalbard 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 and the twenty-four qualifiers from the two semi-finals. All 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.