Europavision Song Contest 2018

The Europavision Song Contest 2018 was the 1st edition of the annual Europavision Song Contest. It took place in the for the first edition for having the most votes to host the competition overtaking,  and. The contest was held at the Chornomorets Stadium, and consisting of two semi-finals on 16 and 20 July, and the final on 25 2018. The three live shows were hosted by Mika Newton and Verka Serduchka. 46 countries debuted in the first edition as being part of the Europa Broadcasting Union. All countries started their entry selection on the 2 February 2018.

Forty-six countries participated in the contest, which is the limit. All countries debuted due to being its debut year. The winner was with the song "Powder", performed by Luca Hänni, and written by himself. is the first winner of the contest and will host the Europavision Song Contest 2019. finished in last place with 1 point. The EBU reported that the contest had a worldwide audience of around 119 million viewers.

Location
The contest took place in for the first year. Odessa had been chosen as host for the contest.

Venue
The Chornomorets Stadium in Odessa is a multi-purpose indoor arena built for the Expo '98 and has a capacity of 20,000 attendees, making it the largest indoor venue in Portugal and among the largest in Europe.[5] It is located in the Parque das Nações (Park of Nations) riverside district in the northeast of Lisbon, which was completely renovated to host the 1998 world's fair. It is connected by metro to the nearby international airport and by train (Oriente Station) to the rest of the country and Europe.

Ukraine
Ukraine is a large country in Eastern Europe known for its Orthodox churches, Black Sea coastline and forested mountains. Its capital, Kiev, features the gold-domed St. Sophia's Cathedral, with 11th-century mosaics and frescoes. Overlooking the Dnieper River is the Kiev Pechersk Lavra monastery complex, a Christian pilgrimage site housing Scythian tomb relics and catacombs containing mummified Orthodox monks.

Odessa & Participants
Odessa is a port city on the Black Sea in southern Ukraine. It’s known for its beaches and 19th-century architecture, including the Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater. The monumental Potemkin Stairs, immortalized in "The Battleship Potemkin," lead down to the waterfront with its Vorontsov Lighthouse. Running parallel to the water, the grand Primorsky Boulevard is a popular promenade lined with mansions and monuments.

Semi-final allocation draw
The draw to determine the allocation of the participating countries into their respective semi-finals took place at Column Hall on 11 February 2018, hosted by Lidiya Taran and Oksana Marchenko. The fourty semi-finalists had been allocated into six pots, based on random.org. Drawing from different pots helps to reduce the chance of so-called "bloc voting" and increase suspense in the semi-finals.

Rules and Voting.
 * The singer must have connection with the country.
 * The song can't be overused and worldchart.
 * The song can't be cover, instrumental or opera.
 * All competing countries are obliged to vote in their own semi final. Failing to do so will result in a disqualification of the entry and risk to lose their spot in the final.
 * The automically qualified countries were assigned one semi final they are obliged to vote in.
 * There will be 10 qualifiers from each semi final.

Semi-final 1
Twenty countries will participate in the first semi-final. , and  will vote in this semi-final.

Semi-final 2
Twenty countries will participate in the first semi-final. , and  will vote in this semi-final.

Final
Twenty-six countries participated in the final, with all 46 participating countries eligible to vote. The running order for the final was revealed after the second semi-final qualifiers' press conference on 24 July.

National Finals

 * - Colours of Australia 2018
 * - Austria Needs You 2018
 * - Be Different 2018
 * - To Tragoúdi gia Kýpros 2018
 * - Europavision UMK 2018
 * - Destination Europavision 2018
 * - An Evening With Lina 2018
 * - Song for Moldova 2018
 * - Naša Pjesma 2018
 * - Nederland Wacht Op De Stereo 2018
 * - Polskie Preselekcje 2018
 * - Vedeta Noastră Pentru Odessa 2018
 * - Ruslandianian Song Numero 2018
 * - Megavizija
 * - A Night Of Slovakia 2018
 * - Die Entscheidungsshow - Europavision Song Contest 2018
 * - Europavision Party - Україна 2018
 * - Europavision: UK Needs You 2018

Commentators

 * - Lilit Hovannisyan (Armenia 1 & Public Radio of Armenia, all shows)
 * - Sia (SBS, all shows)
 * - Azer Suleymanli (İTV, all shows)
 * - Stromae (VRT, all shows)
 * - TITA & Georgi Kushvaliev (BNT 1, all shows)
 * - Dalal & Deen (BHT1, BHT HD & BH Radio 1, all shows)
 * - Constantinos Christoforou, Melina Karageorgiou (CyBC, all shows)
 * - Estonian: Marko Reikop (ETV, all shows); Juri Pootsmann & Laura (Raadio 2, first semi-final & final); Russian: Aleksandr Hobotov (ETV+, all shows)
 * - Amir & Isabelle Buolay (France 2, all shows)
 * - Tamara Gachechiladze (GPB First Channel, all shows)
 * - Hera Björk & Yohanna (RÚV, all shows)
 * - Marty Whelan (RTÉ2, semi-finals; RTÉ One, final), Neil Doherty & Zbyszek Zalinski (RTÉ Radio 1, second semi-final & final)
 * - Chen Aharoni (Uknown, all shows)
 * - Justs (LTV1, all shows)
 * - Dimitar Atanasovski - (MRT, all shows)
 * - Sergej Četković (RTCG, all shows)
 * - Waylon (AVROTROS, all shows)
 * - Artur Orzech
 * - Luisa Sobral (RTP, all shows)
 * - Yulia Samoylova (RTV3, all shows)
 * - Danica Krstic (RTS1, all shows)
 * - Lea Sirk (RTV SLO2, semi-finals; RTV SLO1, final; Radio Val 202, second semi-final & final; Radio Maribor, all shows)
 * - German: Sven Epiney (SRF zwei, semi-finals & SRF 1, final); Italian: Clarissa Tami & Sebalter (RSI La 2, semi-finals and RSI La 1, final); French: Jean-Marc Richard & Nicolas Tanner (RTS Deux, semi-finals and RTS Un, final)
 * - Hadise (TRTC, all shows)
 * - Melóvin (NSTU, All Shows)
 * - Mel B, Zayn Milak & Pixie Lott (BBC, all shows)

Non-participating countries
 * – Diana Wang & Jolin Tsai (Hunan TV, all shows, delayed to 12pm local time)
 * – Diana Snegina & Kaldybek Zhaysanbay (Khabar, all shows)
 * – Ross Mathews (Logo TV, final)

Other Countries

 * - Kazakhstan was close to confirming participation but the day before it closed, they decided that they couldn't debut. However, they said that they may in they may join in the near future.


 * - Bebe Rexha said she wanted to take part straight away. Kosovo later decided that they couldn't join and withdrew.


 * - On the first day of confirmation, the country had declined the invitation and we have heard nothing since. It looks like Morocco has no interest in taking part.