Edition 9

The **​**​ninth edition of **​The Global Music Festival**​ took place at Arena Ciudad de Mexico in Mexico City, Mexico.  It was the first time the contest took place in Mexico, following the country's first victory at the eighth edition of the contest in Jamaica with the song "Todo Cambio" performed by Becky G.  This edition consisted of two semi-finals which were both launched on the 29 May 2017 and a grand final which took place from the 01 June 2017.  All three of the shows in this edition were hosted by Selena Gomez - previous representative for Mexico in the first and fourth editions of the contest.  Also, the slogan for this edition is "#Unity" and was chosen by the head of delegation for Mexico, whilst also deciding to dedicate this edition to commemorating those who were affected by the recent terror attacks at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, United Kingdom.  The slogan stands so that we can create "#Unity" between people through music and stand in solidarity against the evil that exists in this world.

Forty-two countries participated in this edition of the contest.  This edition saw the exciting debut of two more countries: Latvia and the Philippines, while Indonesia sadly withdrew from the contest.  Sadly, we saw the withdrawal of Belgium, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Serbia and Wales as well.  Also, we saw the long-awaited return of Canada and Lebanon who have been absent for five and six editions respectively.

The power six for this edition were Mexico, France, Italy, Scotland, Russia 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 of this edition.

Mexico won this edition with the song "No Promises" and were the first country to win two consecutive contests.  A number of countries also received their best result in the history of the contest: South Africa came second, Russia came third, India came seventh, Turkey came ninth and England came twelfth.  Unfortunately, Sweden received their worst position so far in the contest, coming twenty-seventh with 40 points with the song "A Million Years" performed by Mariette.  Also, Jamaica received their first last place finish in the final, breaking Germany's streak of last place finishes (Germany in this edition came fourteenth).  Colombia received their worst position to-date with the song "Vente Pa' Ca" which came seventeenth in the first semi-final with a mere 42 points.  The United States also had their least successful entry with Miley Cyrus with the song "Malibu" who came last in the second semi-final.  Finally, Spain and Croatia also received their lowest placement to-date coming seventeenth and fifteenth in their semi-final respectively.  Greece broke their qualification streak and failed to qualify for the first time since their debut in the first edition; also, Puerto Rico failed to qualify for the first time since their debut

 Slogan
 Venue
 Presenter(s)
 Participants
 Winner

## Participants

* Philippines
* Lebanon
* File:Indonesian Flag.png Indonesia
* Northern Ireland
* Portugal
* Serbia
* Wales

## ​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 28 May 2017, hosted by one of the admins via Live Stream on the Facebook group.  The thirty-six semi-finalists (excluding Finland and Bulgaria) were allocated to six 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.

Finland were not included in the pots because the head of delegation for Finland is on the admin team and they are in charge of the second semi-final each edition.  Therefore, Finland were automatically placed  in the first semi-final.  Likewise, Bulgaria were not included in the pots because the head of delegation for Bulgaria is on the admin team and is in charge of the first semi-final.  Therefore, Bulgaria were automatically placed in the second semi-final.

Also, in the semi-final allocation draw the power six nations (Mexico, France, Italy, Scotland, Russia and Kosovo) were all drawn to vote in one of the respective semi-finals.  France, Italy and Russia all voted in the first semi-final and Mexico, Scotland and Kosovo all voted in the second semi-final.  The power six all received the places they would perform in the grand final as well.

​

## Odds

The odds for the semi finals were released on Monday 29 May 2017 by the admins in charge of their respective semi finals, below you can see the odds for the top ten in each semi final:

And, below are the odds for the favourites for the final of the ninth edition:

  Mexico
  Ireland
  Russia
  South Africa
  Finland
  Bulgaria
  Turkey
  Scotland
  Barbados

## Returning Artists

This edition saw three artists returning for a fifth time to win the title for their respective countries; Rihanna for Barbados, Nicki Minaj for Trinidad & Tobago and Pitbull for Puerto Rico (Pitbull's four previous participations were for Cuba rather than Puerto Rico).  There are some other frequent participating artists who returned for the ninth edition; Demi Lovato returned for her fifth participation (third for Mexico, after representing New Zealand in edition three and Brazil in edition seven), she is hoping to beat her best result of tenth place in the third edition with her song "Skyscraper".  Also, two DJs will return this edition for their third appearances in this contest, Zedd for Russia and David Guetta for Trinidad & Tobago (David Guetta has previously represented France in the second edition and The Netherlands in the eighth edition); both Zedd and David Guetta are hoping to get higher than fifth which is both of their highest results.  Also, the operatic trio, Eurovision legends Il Volo will be returning for a third participation for their home nation of Italy; Il Volo will be hoping to achieve another placement in the top six to maintain their reputation after placing second in the first edition and sixth in the sixth edition with their songs "Si me falta tu mirada" and "Grande Amore" respectively.  Miley Cyrus returned for her third time, after previously representing the United Kingdom in edition three and Portugal in edition seven - she hoped to improve on her previous placement of fourth with her song "Wrecking Ball" from the third edition.  Finally, Ariana Grande will also be returning to the contest, after participating twice previously for Trinidad & Tobago (in the first edition alongside Nicki Minaj, and in the seventh edition alongside John Legend), she represented Russia with Zedd in this edition and hoped to beat her best result of fifth place.

Also, this edition saw the return of some previously participating artists.  Kristian Kostov returned for Bulgaria, he last participated in the sixth edition with his song "Ne si za men" where he placed twenty-second with 53 points.  Timebelle made a return for Switzerland following their twentieth place in the final of the eighth edition with their song "Apollo", and they hoped to improve upon this result in this edition.  Maluma and Nyla will both return for Colombia and Jamaica (respectively) after previously appearing as featured artists in the eighth and sixth editions respectively.  Emeli Sandé also returned after he participation for the United Kingdom with the song "Highs and Lows" - she represented Scotland in this edition and was part of the power six.  Lana Jurčević made a return for Croatia and Kalomira made her long-awaited return for Greece, not appearing since the first edition, where she placed twentieth with the song "Shoot 'em Down".  Lena returned for Germany, after giving Germany their best result ever in the sixth edition, she was hoping she could break Germany's streak of last place finishes.  Era Istrefi returned for Kosovo, she still holds Kosovo's best result in the history of the contest when she placed fourth in the sixth edition of the contest with the song Bonbon, she hoped to replicate this success.  Finally, India sent Neha Kakkar again in this edition, her last participation was in the last edition with the song "Car Mein Music Baja" which failed to qualify, she returned in this edition with a ballad, completely different to anything the Indian delegation had sent in the history of the contest.

## Semi Final One

 France,  Italy and  Russia from the power six voted in the semi final, following the allocation draw, as well as the countries participating in this semi final.  Also, Finland was automatically placed in this semi final because the head of delegation is on the admin team and is in charge of the second semi final.  After the results were announced the admin team discussed selecting a wild card entry from this semi final to progress to the final; after deliberation,  Switzerland were selected as the wildcard (Timebelle's second time being saved by the wildcard).

## Semi Final Two

 Mexico,  Scotland and  Kosovo from the power six voted in the semi final, following the allocation draw, as well as the countries participating in this semi final.  Also, Bulgaria was automatically placed in this semi final because the head of delegation is on the admin team and is in charge of the first semi final.  After the results were announced the admin team discussed selecting a wild card entry from this semi final to progress to the final; after deliberation,  Estonia were selected as the wildcard.

## Final

Twenty-eight countries participated in the final - the power six, the ten qualifiers from each semi-final and the two wildcards (one from each semi-final).  All fourty-two participating countries were eligible to vote in the final; however, only the twenty-eight countries in the final had to vote.  The running order for the final was announced shortly after the results of the two semi-finals on the 01 June.