Edition 24

The twenty-forth edition of the **Global Music Festival**​ took place at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan. It was the first time the country hosted the contest after Japan's first victory in the twenty-third edition with "Someday We'll Know" performed by FAKY - which scored an impressive score of 199 points (the third highest score in the history of the contest to-date). This edition consisted of three semi-finals which were all launched on the 01 January 2018 and a grand final which took place from the 05 January 2018. All four of the shows in this edition were hosted by Yû Aoi - Japanese model and actress.

Sixty countries participated in this edition of the contest - the most countries in the history of the contest! We saw four exciting debuts from: the Northern African country of Egypt, the Central American nation of Guatemala, the Middle-Eastern nation of Iraq, the South-East Asian country of Vietnam, and the African nation of Zimbabwe.  These debuts help build a wider variety of music and cultures which are key to the contest and its morals, therefore, we are very excited to welcome our new competing countries!  As well as our debuting nations, we saw the return of Croatia, Iran, Jamaica, Lebanon, Malaysia, Pakistan, Portugal, Russia, San Marino and Ukraine.  However, we sadly said goodbye to a number of countries this edition, but hopefully it will not be for too long!  Belarus, Belgium, Chile, Costa Rica, Estonia, Indonesia, Latvia, Lithuania, Northern Ireland, Slovenia, South Korea and Switzerland all withdrew from this edition.

The power six for this edition were Japan, Venezuela, The Netherlands, Morocco, Croatia and Finland - these were the delegations that placed in the top six from the previous edition: Hungary switched to Croatia. 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.

Mexico received their fourth win in this edition of the Global Music Festival and it was their most successful entry to date - scoring 263 points (the highest scoring entry in the history of the contest) with the song "Wolves" performed by Selena Gomez and Marshmello.  Also, Pakistan, Lebanon and Malaysia all received their best placing to-date, coming eleventh, thirteenth and twentieth respectively.  However, a number of countries received their worst placements to-date: Venezuela came twelfth (obviously not a bad placing, but it was still their worst) with Aneeka and her song "Ojo por ojo."  Also, a number of countries failed to qualify and they received their worst positions in the semi-finals ever, these countries are: Kazakhstan, Hungary, Barbados, Iran, Italy, Panama, San Marino, Ukraine and Wales.

 Slogan
 Venue
 Presenter(s)
 Participants
 Winner

## Participants

* Guatemala
* Iraq
* Vietnam
* Zimbabwe
* Iran
* Jamaica
* Lebanon
* Malaysia
* Pakistan
* Portugal
* Russia
* San Marino
* Ukraine
* Belgium
* Chile
* Costa Rica
* Estonia
* File:Indonesian Flag.png Indonesia
* Israel
* Latvia
* Lithuania
* Northern Ireland
* Slovenia
* South Korea
* Switzerland

## 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 January 2018. 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.

Malta and Ireland were not included in the pots because the head of delegations for the countries are on the admin team and are each in charge of one of the semi finals. Malta were automatically assigned to the second semi final and Ireland were automatically assigned to the first semi final.

Also, in the semi-final allocation draw the power six nations (Japan, Venezuela, The Netherlands, Morocco, Croatia and Finland) were all drawn to vote in one of the respective semi-finals. Japan and Finland were assigned to vote in the first semi-final, The Netherlands and Morocco were assigned to vote in the second semi-final, and Venezuela and Croatia were assigned to vote in the third semi-final.

## ​Semi Final One

 Japan and  Finland 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 (as always) because the head of delegation for Ireland is on the admin team and is the organiser for the third semi-final - this is done to allow the admins to have the uncertainty of their countries' result. After the results were announced, there were discussions about selecting one of the non-qualifiers to progress to the final as a wildcard entry -  Bosnia & Herzegovina were chosen as the wildcard entry.

## ​Semi Final Two

 The Netherlands and  Morocco 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 (as always) 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.  After the results were announced, there were discussions about selecting one of the non-qualifiers to progress to the final as a wildcard entry -  Malaysia were chosen to be the wildcard entry.

## ​Semi Final Three

 Venezuela and  Croatia 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. After the results were announced, there were discussions about selecting one of the non-qualifiers to progress to the final as a wildcard entry -  Guatemala were chosen as the wildcard entry.

## ​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 sixty participating countries were eligible to vote in the final; however, only the thirty finalists were obligated to vote! The running order for the final was announced shortly after the semi final results on the 06 January 2018. The results for the final were released on the 12 January 2018.