Europa Song Contest 8

Europa Song Contest 8 Enjoy Multiculturalism
Dates
Semi-final 1 date	19 September 2018
Semi-final 2 date	26 September 2018
Final date	2 February 2019
Host
Venue	Olympic Hall Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Presenter(s)	Seka Aleksić
Broadcaster	BHRT
Opening act	Semi-final 1: Maya Berović performing "Ljubomora" Semi-final 2: Seka Aleksić performing "Evo"
Interval act	Semi-final 1: Seka Aleksić performing "Oslobodi Me" Semi-final 2: Eleni Foureira performing "Fuego"
Participants
Entries	47
Debuting	None
Returning	Azerbaijan Georgia Latvia Montenegro
Withdrawing	Austria Bulgaria Faroe Islands Ireland Sweden
Participation map      Participating countries     Did not qualify from the semi final or the PQR     Countries that participated in the past but not this edition
Voting
System	Each country awards two sets of 12, 10, 8–1 points to their 10 favourite songs: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting.
Winner	Andorra
Europa Song Contest
◄ 7 9 ►

Europa Song Contest 8, often referred to as ESC 8, was the eighth edition of the Europa Song Contest. The contest was hosted in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, after Maya Berović won the seventh edition of the contest with "Nisam Normalna". It was the first time that Bosnia and Herzegovina hosted the contest. BHRT chose Olympic Hall in Sarajevo as the host venue for the edition while Seka Aleksić was selected as the presnter.

Forty-seven countries participated in the edition. Austria, Bulgaria, withdrew from the edition while Azerbaijan, Latvia and Montenegro returned after their one-edition absence and Georgia after two editions.

Location

For further information see Sarajevo

Sarajevo is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its current administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area, including Sarajevo Canton, East Sarajevo and nearby municipalities is home to 555,210 inhabitants. Nestled within the greater Sarajevo valley of Bosnia, it is surrounded by the Dinaric Alpsand situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans.

Sarajevo is the political, social and cultural center of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a prominent center of culture in the Balkans, with its region-wide influence in entertainment, media, fashion, and the arts.

Due to its long and rich history of religious and cultural diversity, Sarajevo is sometimes called the "Jerusalem of Europe" or "Jerusalem of the Balkans". It is one of only a few major European cities which have a mosque, Catholic church, Orthodox church and synagogue within the same neighborhood. A regional center in education, the city is also home to the Balkans' first institution of tertiary education in the form of an Islamic polytechnic called the Saraybosna Osmanlı Medrese, today part of the University of Sarajevo.

Format

Semi-final allocation draw

The draw that determined the semi-final allocation was held on 26 August 2018 in Sarajevo. The big 6 countries were then drawn to determine in which semi-final each would country vote. The rest of the forty countries were divided into six pots, based on their geographical place. Each time a country was drawn from the pot, its semi-final and half of the semi-final was determined.

The six pots were the following:

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3
Albania Croatia FYR Macedonia Montenegro Slovakia Slovenia Switzerland	Estonia Finland Iceland Latvia Lithuania Norway	Australia Armenia Azerbaijan Georgia Kazakhstan Russia Ukraine
Pot 4	Pot 5	Pot 6
Belgium France Luxembourg Monaco Netherlands Portugal Spain	Cyprus Greece Italy Malta Morocco San Marino Turkey	Belarus Czech Republic Hungary Moldova Romania Poland United Kingdom

Running order

The running order of the semi-finals and the final of the edition was by producers appointed by both the EBU and the host broadcaster BHRT.

Sneak peeks and betting odds

There were five sneak peeks with one to eight countries in each sneak peek. The countries were divided into the sneak peeks according to the order of the songs announcement with the songs that were announced first being in the first sneak peek. The broadcasters can post their result for each of the sneak peeks ranking the songs from first to last.

The betting odds of the edition are based on the rankings in the sneak peeks. The average rank of each country represented the country's odds to win the contest. After all 6 sneak peeks were released to the public, Croatia was on the lead of the edition with an average rank of 1.63 while Italy and the hosts, Bosnia and Herzegovina completed the top 3 with average ranks of 3.09 and 3.15 respectively. The least favorite country to win this edition was Armenia with an average rank of 6.56.

Participating countries

     Countries in the first semi-final
     Countries voting in the first semi-final
     Countries in the second semi-final
     Countries voting in the second semi-final

Forty-seven countries confirmed their participation for the edition. Four countries returned to the contest; Azerbaijan, Georgia, Latvia and Montenegro.

However, Austria, Bulgaria, Faroe Islands, Ireland and Sweden withdrew from the edition

Returning artists

Hayko was internally selected to represent Armenia for the second time; he previously represented the country in the seventh edition along with Super Sako. Samira Efendi, who represented Azerbaijan in the sixth edition, returned to represent Azerbaijan for the second time. Nikolija, who represented Serbia in the seventh edition, returned to represent Croatia for the first time. Abir was internally selected to represent Morocco for the second time; she previously represented the country in the seventh edition. Maya Berović was internally selected to represent Bosnia and Herzegovina for the second time; she previously represented the country in the seventh edition and she won. Bobi Andonov who represented FYR Macedonia in the seventh edition, returned to represent Australia for the first time. The Motans who represented Romania in the third edition and in the seventh edition, returned to represent Moldova for the first time.

Results

Semi-final 1

Twenty countries participate in the first semi-final. Andorra, Denmark and Germany also voted in this semi-final. The highlighted countries qualified for the final.

Draw	Country	Artist	Song	Place	Points
01	Lithuania	Beatrich	"Pardon Me"	18	65
02	Slovenia	Amaya	"Concrete"	7	145
03	Estonia	Laura	"Tõusulained"	5	161
04	Hungary	Follow The Flow	"Plátói"	17	77
05	Australia	Bobi Andonov	"Apartment"	4	205
06	Netherlands	O'G3NE	"Clouds Across The Sun"	15	106
07	Montenegro	Enisa	"Reunite"	11	133
08	United Kingdom	Dusky Grey	"A Little Bit"	8	142
09	Portugal	Ana Malhoa	"Viúva Negra"	6	148
10	Kazakhstan	Beibit Kushkaliev	"Laula"	13	121
11	Spain	Malú	"Ciudad De Papel"	10	136
12	Georgia	Manana	"Party Music"	12	129
13	Azerbaijan	Samira Efendi ft. Seeya	"Tocame"	14	117
14	Greece	Josephine	"Magia"	2	228
15	Czech Republic	Pavel Callta	"Tak Promiň"	16	81
16	France	Kendji Girac	"Pour Oublier"	19	62
17	Iceland	Hildur	"Water"	3	217
18	Belarus	ZØYA	"Falling Apart"	9	139
19	Turkey	Azusena	"In The Water"	1	235
20	Romania	Yasiris ft. Ilinca	"Hasta Mañana"	20	47

Semi-final 2

Twenty-one countries participate in the second semi-final. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Israel and Serbia also voted in this semi-final. The highlighted countries qualified for the final

Draw	Country	Artist	Song	Place	Points
01	Latvia	Viktoria Modesta	"Fevah"	8	149
02	Italy	Baby K	"Da Zero a Cento"	3	201
03	Switzerland	Bastian Baker	"All Around Us"	4	197
04	Croatia	Nikolija	"Malo"	1	248
05	Poland	Kamil Bednarek	"Jak Długo Jeszcze"	17	94
06	San Marino	Le Deva	"L'estate tutto l'anno"	13	128
07	Armenia	Ando & Rafo ft. Hayko	"Lady Kobuleti"	21	31
08	Slovakia	Codeko ft. Austin Mahone	"Say Hi"	12	130
09	Ukraine	Anna Sedokova	"Ni Slova O Nem"	6	159
10	Cyprus	Valanto Trifonos	"Se Niko"	16	99
11	Monaco	Lilian Renaud	"Promis Juré"	20	54
12	Moldova	Irina Rimes ft. The Motans	"Cel Mai Bun DJ"	7	156
13	Norway	Iselin	"Bathtub"	14	120
14	Morocco	Cash Cash ft. Abir	"Finest Hour"	5	181
15	Luxembourg	Foxy	"Puppet"	10	132
16	North Macedonia	Antonia Gigovska ft. Pancho DNK	"Vanilla"	9	144
17	Albania	Bleona	"I Don't Need Your Love"	19	75
18	Malta	Carlo Gerada ft. Yazmin Helledie	"Just Need You"	11	132
19	Belgium	Billie	"Love Kills Slowly"	2	232
20	Finland	Cyan Kicks	"Gasoline"	15	115
21	Russia	Yulia Parshuta	"Pochemu Dozhd"	18	80

Final

Draw	Country	Artist	Song	Place	Points
01	Denmark	Andreas Mark ft. Himalaya	"Runaway"	25	78
02	Belgium	Billie	"Love Kills Slowly"	7	255
03	Germany	VVAVES	"Alive"	21	135
04	Bosnia-Herzegovina	Maya Berović	"Neka Stvar"	17	151
05	Israel	Maor Edri	"Allah Ma'ak"	26	57
06	Switzerland	Bastian Baker	"All Around Us"	6	258
07	Slovenia	Amaya	"Concrete"	14	172
08	United Kingdom	Dusky Grey	"A Little Bit"	24	105
09	Latvia	Viktoria Modesta	"Fevah"	23	123
10	Belarus	ZØYA	"Falling Apart"	19	149
11	North Macedonia	Antonia Gigovska ft. Pancho DNK	"Vanilla"	20	143
12	Luxembourg	Foxy	"Puppet"	16	165
13	Estonia	Laura	"Tõusulained"	18	151
14	Australia	Bobi Andonov	"Apartment"	11	218
15	Serbia	Anastasija	"Savršen Par"	22	135
16	Croatia	Nikolija	"Malo"	5	276
17	Moldova	Irina Rimes ft. The Motans	"Cel Mai Bun DJ"	12	202
18	Turkey	Azusena	"In The Water"	2	354
19	Italy	Baby K	"Da Zero a Cento"	4	305
20	Andorra	Lola Indigo	"Ya No Quiero Ná"	1	387
21	Spain	Malú	"Ciudad De Papel"	10	237
22	Morocco	Cash Cash ft. Abir	"Finest Hour"	9	244
23	Iceland	Hildur	"Water"	8	250
24	Ukraine	Anna Sedokova	"Ni Slova O Nem"	15	167
25	Portugal	Ana Malhoa	"Viúva Negra"	13	175
26	Greece	Josephine	"Magia"	3	352

Voting grids

Semi-final 1

Semi-final 1 split jury/televote results
Place	Televoting	Points	Jury	Points
1	Greece	142	Turkey	120
2	Australia	133	Iceland	112
3	Turkey	115	Estonia	100
4	Georgia	107	Portugal	97
5	Iceland	103	Spain	90
6	Kazakhstan	77	Montenegro	89
7	UK	76	Greece	86
8	Slovenia	66	Belarus	83
9	Estonia	61	Slovenia	79
10	France	54	Netherlands	75
11	Azerbaijan	53	Australia	72
12	Belarus	53	UK	66
13	Hungary	52	Azerbaijan	64
14	Portugal	51	Lithuania	50
15	Spain	46	Kazakhstan	44
16	Montenegro	44	Czech R.	38
17	Czech R.	43	Romania	28
18	Netherlands	31	Hungary	25
19	Romania	19	Georgia	22
20	Lithuania	15	France	8

Semi-final 2 split jury/televote results
Place	Televoting	Points	Jury	Points
1	Croatia	135	Belgium	150
2	Italy	112	Croatia	113
3	Morocco	109	Switzerland	100
4	N. Macedonia	105	Malta	96
5	Switzerland	97	Italy	89
6	Norway	88	Moldova	87
7	Belgium	82	Ukraine	87
8	San Marino	80	Luxembourg	86
9	Slovakia	77	Latvia	85
10	Ukraine	72	Morocco	72
11	Moldova	69	Cyprus	67
12	Latvia	64	Finland	55
13	Finland	60	Slovakia	53
14	Russia	52	Poland	51
15	Albania	50	San Marino	48
16	Luxembourg	48	Monaco	43
17	Poland	43	N. Macedonia	39
18	Malta	36	Norway	32
19	Cyprus	32	Russia	28
20	Armenia	19	Albania	25
21	Monaco	11	Armenia	12

Final split jury/televote results
Place	Televoting	Points	Jury	Points
1	Greece	243	Iceland	198
2	Italy	214	Belgium	193
3	Andorra	201	Turkey	192
4	Morocco	164	Spain	189
5	Turkey	162	Switzerland	189
6	Croatia	151	Andorra	186
7	N. Macedonia	115	Australia	128
8	Australia	90	Croatia	127
9	Slovenia	88	Ukraine	122
10	Moldova	86	Moldova	116
11	Serbia	84	Portugal	111
12	B&H	76	Greece	109
13	Switzerland	69	Luxembourg	107
14	Portugal	64	Estonia	98
15	Belgium	62	Germany	95
16	Belarus	61	Italy	91
17	Luxembourg	58	Belarus	88
18	Estonia	53	Slovenia	84
19	Iceland	52	Morocco	80
20	Latvia	51	B&H	75
21	Spain	48	Latvia	72
22	Ukraine	45	UK	66
23	Denmark	42	Serbia	51
24	Germany	40	Denmark	36
25	UK	39	Israel	35
26	Israel	22	N. Macedonia	28

Other countries

Further information: List of countries in the Europa Song Contest

Countries that are active members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) are also eligible to participate in the Europa Song Contest. As in every edition, an invitation to all the members have been sent in order to confirm whether they will participate or not. The following list of countries declined stating their reasons as shown below.

Active EBU Members

• Austria: ORF announced that the country will take one edition break a return in the ninth edition is possible.
• Bulgaria: BNT announced that the country won't take part in the eighth edition after the poor results in the previous editions.
• Faroe Islands: Kringvarp Føroya announced that the country will take one edition break a return in the ninth edition is possible.
• Ireland: RTÉ announce that the country will withdraw from the eighth edition.
• Lebanon: Télé Liban announce that the country will not participate in this edition.
• Liechtenstein: 1FLT announced that the country won't return in the conteest a return in the ninth edition is very likely.
• Sweden: The country miss the deadline so SVT was forced to withdraw.

External links

• Forum