This week has been the first official occasion from the host broadcaster BBC and the EBU to determine which country is going to participate in which part of semi-final 1 or 2. This event has been hosted by the TV personalities AJ Odudu and Rylan and broadcasted live from the St. George’s Hall in Liverpool. Almost 90.000 people have been watching this show on YouTube. The event was also accompanied by the Eurovision Executive supervisor Martin Österdahl.

There has been the host insignia with the mayors from Turin and Liverpool. A short introduction film have given the first impression of what to expect from the city of Liverpool in May 2023 and the inspiration for this year’s motto “United By Music”. Even if Ukraine has won the contest last year, the UK is hosting the event in cooperation with Ukraine.

You can watch the explanation video here

As usual there were 6 pots where the hosts of the event –this is based on voting patterns from the last 15 years. This is made to avoid that countries may prefer to vote for their neighbour countries.

This the outcome of the allocation draw, this is in alphabetic order. The running order will be determined by the broadcaster BBC in alignment with the EBU reference group when all songs are known in mid-March.

Semi-Final 1 – first half

• Croatia
• Ireland
• Latvia
• Malta
• Norway
• Portugal
• Serbia

Semi-Final 1- second half

• Azerbaijan
• Czech Republic
• Finland
• Israel
• Moldova
• Netherlands
• Sweden
• Switzerland

Semi-Final 2 – first half

• Armenia
• Belgium
• Cyprus
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Greece
• Iceland
• Romania

Semi-Final 2 – second half

• Albania
• Australia
• Austria
• Georgia
• Lithuania
• Poland
• San Marino
• Slovenia

Furthermore it has also been drawn, which of the two semi-finals will be broadcasted by the Big 5 countries with the right to vote. In the 1st Semi-Final it will be France, Germany and Italy, in the 2nd Semi-Final it will be Spain, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

You can also watch the allocation draw again