Australia has drawn the first semi-final of the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest at a special ceremony at the Kyiv Column Hall in Ukraine today.
The draw was held in the lead-up to the competition which will this year see a record equalling 43 countries compete.
Australia, in its third year of competing, will appear in Semi-final one on Tuesday 9 May alongside countries such as Portugal, Belgium, Greece and 2015 winner Sweden.
Last year Australia’s Dami Im was runner-up in the final in Stockholm behind the winner Jamala from Ukraine.
Australia’s choice for 2017 has not yet been announced.
Today’s ceremony also featured a traditional passing over of the Eurovision key and also the launch of the Ukraine logo and tagline “Celebrate Diversity”
‘Celebrate Diversity’ is the central message for this year’s event and is to be complimented by a creative logo design based around traditional Ukrainian bead necklaces called Namysto.
Eurovision Executive Supervisor, Jon Ola Sand the notion of Celebrating Diversity builds on last year’s theme of ‘Come Together’ and is at the heart of Eurovision values
“It is all inclusive and all about countries around Europe, and beyond, joining together to celebrate both our common ground and our unique differences, as well as some great music,” said Mr. Sand.
“Incorporating this beautiful and meaningful logo based on a traditional amulet gives not only a sense of history and heritage but also a modern look and feel.”
Ukraine Public Broadcaster Executive Producer Victoria Romanova said hosting Eurovision in Kyiv will be a great honour for the country.
“We are preparing a number of innovations for the broadcast to impress the viewers of the variety of the Ukraine culture,” explained Ms. Romanova.
Using the Namysto as the basis of their logo the design agencies took a traditional piece and gave it a modern twist with the help of bright colours and vivid patterns. Each bead on this necklace has its own unique design and shape to symbolise a message that resonates throughout the Eurovision Song Contest; all of us are truly unique, and entwined by the common connection of our love for music.
“Our main desire was to bring the image of the traditional Ukrainian culture on a new level, to make it clear for the young audiences,” – says the co-founder of the Republique Denis Gerasko. “So we took this traditional item – a necklace – and gave it a bright modern look,” – adds the creative director of the Banda Agency Pavel Vrzhesch.
The final of Eurovision 2017 will be held on Saturday 15 May.
For a full list of semi-final, competitiors see below.
*These countries do not compete in the semi-finals but they will broadcast and vote for these editions.
May 9 – Semi-final 1
Italy*
Spain*
United Kingdom*
Montenegro
Finland
Georgia
Cyprus
Portugal
Belgium
Slovenia
Sweden
Armenia
Moldova
Czech Republic
Latvia
Albania
Iceland
Azerbejian
Greece
Australia
Poland
May 11 – Semi-final 2
Germany*
France*
Ukraine*
Switzerland
FYR Macedonia
Estonia
Israel
Bulgaria
Malta
The Netherlands
Serbia
Denmark
Russia
Romania
San Marino
Lithuania
Belarus
Hungary
Austria
Ireland
Last Updated on Feb 1, 2017
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