The Semi-Final Allocation Draw, to determine which country will participate in which Semi-Final of the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest, will take place in the Column Hall of Kyiv's City State Administration at 11:00 CET on Tuesday 31st January.

According to Eurovision.tv, during the ceremony, which will be broadcast live and streamed internationally on YouTube, Mrs Eva-Louise Erlandsson Slorach, President of the City Council in Stockholm, will formally hand over the Host City Insignia to Kyiv City Mayor Vitaliy Klychko.

The first part of the draw will determine on which semi-final each of the six pre-qualified countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and host country Ukraine) will broadcast and vote. At the request of German broadcaster ARD, and following approval from the Reference Group, the governing body of the Eurovision Song Contest, Germany will broadcast and vote in the Second Semi-Final on Thursday 11th May.

The second draw will then decide in which semi-final each of the other participating countries will perform. At the request of Swiss broadcaster SRF and approved by the Reference Group, Switzerland will participate in the Second Semi-Final which will have 19 participants and the First Semi-Final 18 participants.

As in previous years, the exact running order will be determined by the producers of the show. From each Semi-Final, ten countries will proceed to the Grand Final on 13th May, joining the six pre-qualified countries. In total, 26 countries will be represented in the Grand Final.

AZERTAC