Running Order Announced!

Last night, the EBU in partner with Austria’s national broadcaster released the running order for the two semi-finals to be held on the 19th and the 21^st of May. Since 2013, it has been up to the production team to determine the running order of the semi-finals, in order to create a more balanced show, i.e, having a balance of up-tempo and slower songs. This change has been controversial, as it brings up the notion of bias, however it is believed that the impacts of a pre-determined order, if any, are insignificant.

Here is the running order for the first semi-final:

• Moldova

• Armenia

• Belgium

• The Netherlands

• Finland

• Greece

• Estonia

• FYR Macedonia

• Serbia

• Hungary

• Belarus

• Russia

• Denmark

• Albania

• Romania

• Georgia

And here is the running order for semi-final two:

• Lithuania

• Ireland

• San Marino

• Montenegro

• Malta

• Norway

• Portugal

• Czech Republic

• Israel

• Latvia

• Azerbaijan

• Iceland

• Sweden

• Switzerland

• Cyprus

• Slovenia

• Poland

Although the final semi-final running order is chosen by the producers, not all of the process is pre-determined. Back in January, the semi-finalists were put into a series of ‘bowls’ and were picked out at random to determine firstly which semi-final they will perform in, and secondly which half of the semi-final they will perform in. So from there, it is up to the producers to order the acts in the way they best see fit.

Back in that allocation draw, we also found out which semi-finals the Big 7 countries will vote in this year.

In the first semi-final, Spain, Austria, France and Australia will be allowed to vote. In the second semi-final, Germany, Italy, UK and Australia will be allowed to vote.

During the head of delegations meeting last week, it was also decided that Austria will perform 14^th in the Grand Final.