Edition 42

The forty-second edition of the **Global Music Festival** took place at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany. It was the first time the country hosted the contest, after Germany's first victory in the forty-first edition with the song Heart to Break performed by Kim Petras - which scored 237 points. This edition consisted of three semi-finals which were all launched on the 02 October 2018 and a grand final which took place from the 08 October 2018. All four of the shows in this edition were hosted by model Heidi Klum and singer Wincent Weiss, who represented Germany in the thirty-third edition.

Fifty countries participated in this edition of the contest. The forty-second edition saw Bahrain become the 125th country to debut in to the contest. Belarus made their long-awaited return the contest after being absent since the twenty-eighth edition. Four other countries also made their return to the contest; Armenia, Greece, Morocco and Namibia. After being in the contest constantly since their debut in the nineteenth edition, China left the contest for the first time. Antigua & Barbuda, Bolivia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Colombia, Lithuania and Monaco all withdrew from the contest.

The power six for this edition were Germany, Malaysia, Mexico, Switzerland, South Korea and Ireland - these were the delegations that placed in the top six from the previous edition. Lithuania finished sixth in the forty-first edition, however they decided to withdraw from the contest and giving the seventh placing country, Ireland, their spot 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
 Avril Lavigne - Head Above Water

## Participants

* Belarus
* Greece
* Morocco
* Namibia
* Bolivia
* Bosnia & Herzegovina
* China
* Colombia
* Lithuania
* Monaco

## 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 01 October 2019. The forty-four 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 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, second and third 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 three.

Also, in the semi-final allocation draw the power six nations (Germany, Malaysia, Mexico, Switzerland, South Korea and Ireland) were all drawn to vote in one of the respective semi-finals. Mexico and Switzerland were assigned to vote in the first semi-final, Germany and South Korea were assigned to vote in the second semi-final, and Malaysia and Ireland were assigned to vote in the third semi-final.

## Semi Final One

 Mexico and  Switzerland 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.

## Semi Final Two

 Germany 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.  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

 Malaysia 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.  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 [#] 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 08 October 2018. The results for the final were released on the 14 October 2018.