Edition 48

The forty-eighth edition of the **Global Music Festival**​ took place at the Telefonica Arena in Madrid, Spain. It was the second time the country hosted the contest, after Spain's second victory in the forty-seventh edition with the song Vas A Quedarte performed by Aitana - which scored 358 points. This edition consisted of three semi-finals which were all launched on the 10 February 2019 and a grand final which took place from the 17 February 2019. All four of the shows in this edition were hosted by TV presenters Adriana Abenia and Eloisa Gonzalez.

Sixty countries participated in this edition of the contest. Nine countries returned to the Global Music Festival in the forty-eighth edition. Vietnam made their long-awaited return after being absent form the contest since their last participation in the twenty-seventh edition. We also saw the return of Turkey who left the contest after the thirtieth edition. Colombia, Cuba, Cyprus, Kosovo Lithuania, the Netherlands and the Philippines all made their return in this edition too. However, we did see seven countries leave the contest. They were as follows; Algeria, Armenia, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, FYR Macedonia and Luxembourg.

The power six for this edition were Spain, Jamaica, Andorra, England, Ghana and Estonia - 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
 Lewis Capaldi - Someone You Loved

## Participants

* Cuba
* Cyprus
* Lithuania
* The Netherlands
* The Philippines
* Turkey
* Vietnam
* Armenia
* Bulgaria
* Canada
* Chile
* FYR Macedonia
* Luxembourg

## 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 07 February 2019. The fifty-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, Finland and Ireland 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 three, and Finland were assigned to semi-final one, and Ireland were assigned to semi-final one.

Also, in the semi-final allocation draw the power six nations (Spain, Jamaica, Andorra, England, Ghana and Estonia) were all drawn to vote in one of the respective semi-finals. Spain and Ghana were assigned to vote in the first semi-final, Andorra and England were assigned to vote in the second semi-final, and Jamaica and Estonia were assigned to vote in the third semi-final.

## Semi Final One

 Spain and  Ghana 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 and  Ireland were automatically assigned to this semi-final because the head of delegation for Finland and Ireland are on the admin team and is the organiser for the second semi-final and third semi-final respectively - this is done to allow the admins to have the uncertainty of their countries' result.

## ​Semi Final Two

 Andorra and  England 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 Three

 Jamaica and  Estonia 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. Unfortunately,  The Philippines were disqualified as they failed to vote on time. They would have came in 14th with 97 points, so they would still have failed to qualify.

## ​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 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 17 February 2019. The results for the final were released on the 24 February 2019.