WESC 1

Semi-final date
 Semi-final 1 date
 Semi-final 2 date
 Final date
 Venue
 Presenter(s)
 Broadcaster
 Interval act
 Entries
 Debuting countries
 Returning countries
 Withdrawing countries
 Voting system
 Winning song

**World Eurovision Song Contest**, often referred to as **WESC 1**, will be the first edition of the World Eurovision Song Contest. The contest will be hosted in The Netherlands, because it is the country of origin from the song contest. AVROTROS, the broadcaster host, chose the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam to serve as the host venue for the edition, Ewout Genemans and Kim-Lian van der Meij were selected as the presenters.

## Location

*For further information see* The Netherlands

**The** **Netherlands**, also known informally as **Holland**, is a country in Western Europe with a population of seventeen million. It is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, alongside with three insular states in the Caribbean (Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten). The European portion of the Netherlands consists of twelve provinces and borders Germany to the east,Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing maritime borders in the North Sea with Belgium, theUnited Kingdom, and Germany. The five largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague,Utrecht (forming the Randstad megalopolis) and Eindhoven (leading the Brabantse Stedenrij). Amsterdam is the country's capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of parliament and government. The Port of Rotterdam is the largest port in Europe and the world's largest outside East Asia. Utrecht is a central node for road and railway communications, commerce and cultural events, while Eindhoven is an innovative city known for its economic attractiveness.

"Netherlands" literally means "lower countries", influenced by its low land and flat geography, with only about 50% of its land exceeding one metre above sea level. Most of the areas below sea level are artificial. Since the late 16th century, large areas (polders) have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, amounting to nearly 17% of the country's current land mass. With a population density of 412 people per km2 – 507 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is classified as a very densely populated country. Only Bangladesh, South Korea, and Taiwan have both a larger population and higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the world's second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products, after the United States. This is partly due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate as well as its highly developedintensive agriculture. The Netherlands was the third country in the world to have elected representatives controlling the government's actions; it has been administered as a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy since 1848, organised as a unitary state. The Netherlands has a long history of social tolerance and is generally regarded as a liberalcountry, having legalised abortion, prostitution and euthanasia, while maintaining a progressive drugs policy. The Netherlands abolished the death penalty in 1870 and had women's suffrage introduced in 1919. Accepting of the LGBT community, it became the world's first country to legalise same-sex marriage in 2001.

The Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as being a part of theSchengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. The country is host to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and five international courts: the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the International Court of Justice, theInternational Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Court and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EU's criminal intelligence agency Europol and judicial cooperation agency Eurojust and the United Nations Detention Unit. This has led to the city being dubbed "the world's legal capital." The country also ranks second highest in the world's 2016 Press Freedom Index, as published by Reporters Without Borders. The Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to theIndex of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2016 according to theInternational Monetary Fund. In 2017, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the sixth-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life. The Netherlands also has a generous welfare state that provides universal healthcare, good public education and infrastructure, and a wide range of social benefits. That welfare system combined with its strongly redistributive taxing system makes the Netherlands one of the most egalitarian countries worldwide. It also ranks joint third highest in the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, along withAustralia.

### Host City

*For further information see* Amsterdam
**Amsterdam**is the capital and most populous municipality of The Netherlands. Its status as the capital is mandated by the Constitution of the Netherlands, although it is not the seat of the government, which is The Hague. Amsterdam has a population of 851,373 within the city proper, 1,351,587 in the urban area, and 2,410,960 in the Amsterdam metropolitan area. The city is located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country. The metropolitan area comprises much of the northern part of the Randstad, one of the larger conurbations in Europe, with a population of approximately 7 million.

As the commercial capital of the Netherlands and one of the top financial centres in Europe, Amsterdam is considered an alpha world city by the Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) study group. The city is also the cultural capital of the Netherlands. Many large Dutch institutions have their headquarters there, and seven of the world's 500 largest companies, including Philips and ING, are based in the city. In 2012, Amsterdam was ranked the second best city to live in by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and 12th globally on quality of living for environment and infrastructure by Mercer. The city was ranked 3rd in innovation by Australian innovation agency 2thinknow in their Innovation Cities Index 2009. The Amsterdam seaport to this day remains the second in the country, and the fifth largest seaport in Europe.

The Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the oldest stock exchange in the world, is located in the city center. Amsterdam's main attractions, including its historic canals, the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum, Stedelijk Museum, Hermitage Amsterdam, Anne Frank House, Amsterdam Museum, its red-light district, and its many cannabis coffee shops draw more than 5 million international visitors annually.

### Venue

*For further information see Ziggo Ziggo Dome*
**Ziggo Dome** is a 17,000-seat multi-use indoor arena in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is named after the Dutch cable TV provider Ziggo. In 2014, the Ziggo Dome Awards were announced, recognizing artists who performed at the arena.

Ziggo Dome has been the biggest entertainment venue in Amsterdam and Netherlands since its opening in June 2012. Many local, regional and international artists have performed at the venue, spanning a wide range of musical genres. Within 3 years after opening, the Ziggo Dome reached the 5th place of busiest venues worldwide. A list of notable concerts are given in the table below, while other non-concert entertainment events are also included.

AVROTROS chose their venue and there was no bidding phase.

## Format

The WEBU has decided that in the first edition there will be most likely 2 semi-finals. In each semi-final 10 countries will qualify for the Grand Final, like in the Eurovision Song Contest, to make a line-up of 26 competing countries (20 semi-final qualifers + Big 6).

### Voting

The WEBU has announced that the voting system would be each country awarding one set of points from 1-8, 10 and 12. 50% based on their professional jury and the other 50% from televoting.

### Semi final allocation draw and running order

The semi final allocation draw was chosen randomly with Wheeldecide. In the first edition there were no pots. Also the running order was chosen by the wheel.

## Participating countries

**Forty-two** countries have confirmed their participation in the first edition. All countries made their debut.

### Semi Final 1

Eighteen countries will participate in the first semi-final. The Netherlands  , United Kingdom File:Flag of United Kingdom.png and Spain  will also vote in this semi-final. The highlighted countries qualified for the final.

### Semi Final 2

Eighteen countries will participate in the first semi-final. France File:Flag of France.png , Germany File:Flag of Germany.png and Italy File:Flag of Italy.png will also vote in this semi-final. The highlighted countries qualified for the final.

### Grand Final

Twenty-six countries will participate in the Grand Final. All countries which participated in this edition has to vote, so also the non-qualifiers.