JOY Eurovision

25 Jan 2016

Dandelions have come together to pick the semis

There’s been a buzz of activity in Stockholm today as the insignia handover, logo presentation and semi final allocation draw all took place with 100 days to go.

The Artwork

2016 artwork

The host broadcaster, SVT, revealed the long awaited artwork and slogan for the 61st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Come Together was chosen as a continuation of the 2013 slogan, We Are One. Martin Österdahl, SVT’s Executive Producer of the Contest, explained the ideas behind the theme:

In selecting the theme… we based our decision on two assumptions. Firstly, we believe in the Eurovision idea: that original reason… to send a signal to every home in Europe… and fill that signal with a message of unity, music.

In a time where Europe faces new challenges… Eurovision is never about borders, ideologies or politics. It’s about reaching across all those boundaries that separates human beings from each other. Those boundaries are often in the insides of us — of prejudiced ideas about race, culture, religion, sexuality — the limits of our potential and our imagination.

The symbol has been inspired by the dandelion, drawing on the notion that they can break through anything and can fly way and regenerate in their new location.

The Draw

Following the presentation of the artwork, the all-important Semi Final Allocation Draw took place. The Semi finals that each of the Big 5 and Sweden had to vote in were selected:

Big5-voting-2016

Each remaining country was drawn by lot for the two semi finals:

allocationdraw 2016

The Washup

TB_esc_australia Australia has been sent to Semi Final 2, to compete with a large number of Eastern European countries.

Based on last year’s voting in the Grand Final, it is possible that Norway and UK will vote favourably for Australia and hopefully Ireland would follow suit. However, the Semi Final is an unknown for Australia and anything could happen.

What do you think about being allocated to Semi Final 2? Will it affect our chances?

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