New Rules...

A bit of unexpected news today regarding the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest!

The running order of the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest will be decided by the producers of the show. The contest's governing body, the Reference Group, decided that during its last meeting. The decision was approved by the Television Committee of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) as well.

Until now, the order in which artists perform was decided purely by draw, both for the Semi-Finals as well as for the Final. From this year onwards, the running order of the three shows will be determined in three steps:

As before, the countries that perform in the Semi-Finals will be determined by the Semi-Final Allocation Draw. This draw will traditionally take place in late January. Countries are being divided into pots based on historical voting patterns, the draw will then determine which country is represented in which Semi-Final;

Different from previous years, the producers of the show will determine the exact running order of the Semi-Finals.

The running order for the Final will be determined the same way. The producers of the show will determine the exact running order. Only the starting position of the host country will be determined by draw.

The new way of determining the running order will contribute to making three diverse shows: "We want to make great television. For our viewers, but also for the participants. Allowing the producers to determine the running order will help to make more exciting television shows and allows each contestant to stand out, instead of being surrounded by entries in similar style or tempo," says Jon Ola Sand, Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of the EBU.

The running order will be determined by the producers and will be approved by the EBU Executive Supervisor and the Reference Group.

To assure a fair distribution and sufficient availability of tickets over neighbouring countries, the Reference Group also decided that Denmark and Norway will perform in different Semi-Finals at the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest. A draw held at the EBU headquarters determined that Denmark will participate in the first Semi-Final, and Norway shall be represented in the second Semi-Final.

Swedish public broadcaster SVT (Sveriges Television) have made a further step forward in their preparations for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2013, as they have revealed the host city for next year’s pan-European music show.

Beating out a rival bid from capital Stockholm (and a cancelled one from the country’s 2nd-largest city Gothenburg), the SVT chose Malmo, and its 15,500-capacity Malmo Arena, to be the focal point of their hosting next May, earned by having the winning entrant (Loreen with her song “Euphoria”) at the 2012 contest in Baku (Azerbaijan).

Scheduled to run between 14-18 May (with a day’s break inbetween each ‘show’ (two semi-finals and a final)), SVT claim that they chose the city, which is located near the southern-most point of Sweden and only a 22km bridge-tunnel away from Copenhagen (Denmark), for its proximity to the remainder of Europe, relative ease of transport compared to Stockholm, and the international community of Malmo, which claims to be home to speakers of 174 different languages, as well as the fact that Stockholm will be co-hosting the Ice Hockey World Championship at the time.

Now, the running order of songs in Sweden's Melodifestivalen has been decided by the producers for years, and it makes for a fantastic viewing! Hopefully the same will happen on Eurovision. A lot of fans are unhappy about this, but we'll see...