Edition 66

The sixty-sixth edition of the **Global Music Festival** took place at the Salle Mohamed V in Rabat, Morocco. It was the second time the country hosted the contest, after Morocco's second victory in the sixty-fifth edition with the song "The Road" performed by Faouzia - which scored an impressive 282 points. This edition consisted of two semi-finals which were all launched on 20 April 2020 and a grand final which took place from 27 April 2020. All three of the shows in this edition were hosted by French Montana and Loreen.

Fifty-nine countries participated in this edition of the contest. Following the random three edition, again we saw a number of withdrawing and returning countries. The following countries withdrew from this edition: Abkhazia, Angola, Argentina, Aruba, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, Burundi, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, Cyprus, El Salvador, Estonia, Guatemala, Guyana, Hungary, Iraq, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mali, Nigeria, San Marino, The Solomon Islands, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, Turkmenistan, US Virgin Islands, Venezuela and Zimbabwe. The follow countries returned for this edition: Åland Islands, Albania, Andorra, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Cameroon, Colombia, Denmark, Egypt, England, Ethiopia, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Monaco, Morocco, New Zealand, Romania, Scotland, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Svalbard, Switzerland, Syria, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Wales. Also, we saw the debut of one country in this edition - the small nation of Gibraltar.

The power six for this edition were Bulgaria, Ireland, Romania, Norway, Russia and Spain - 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

* Angola
* Argentina
* Aruba
* The Bahamas
* Barbados
* Belize
* Botswana
* Burundi
* Cambodia
* Canada
* Chile
* Cyprus
* El Salvador
* Estonia
* Guatemala
* Guyana
* Hungary
* Iraq
* Jamaica
* Kazakhstan
* Lebanon
* Malaysia
* Mali
* Nigeria
* San Marino
* Solomon Islands
* Taiwan
* Thailand
* Trinidad & Tobago
* Turkey
* Turkmenistan
* United States Virgin Islands
* Venezuela
* Zimbabwe

## Semi-Final Allocation Draw

The draw to determine the allocation of the participating countries into their respective semi-finals took place on the 16 April 2020. The fifty-two 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. Finland and Ireland were not included in the pots because the head of delegation for these countries are on the admin team and are in charge of the second and first semi-final respectively; as a result, Finland were automatically assigned to semi-final one and Ireland was automatically assigned to semi-final two.

Also, in the semi-final allocation draw the power six nations Bulgaria, Ireland, Norway, Romania, Russia and Spain were all drawn to vote in one of the respective semi-finals. Bulgaria, Norway and Russia were assigned to vote in the first semi-final and Ireland, Romania and Spain were assigned to vote in the second semi-final.

## Semi Final One

 Bulgaria,  Norway and  Russia 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

 Ireland,  Romania and  Spain 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 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.