abstract
| - The Eurovision Song Contest 2017 was the 62nd annual event and was held at the International Exhibition Centre in Kiev, Ukraine thanks to Jamala's win in Stockholm the previous year. The dates for the contest announced by the EBU on 24 June 2016 were as follows: the two semifinals were on 9 and 11 May 2017, with the final on 13 May 2017. The dates coincide with the second leg of the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League semifinals. 6 cities officially submitted bids to host the contest: Kiev, Lviv, Kherson, Dnipro, Odessa, and Kharkiv. A debate was held on 21 July 2016 to determine the top two cities to host the contest - Odessa and Kiev made the final cut, while Dnipro's bid was added to make a final three. The host city was chosen by the beginning of August. A date was set for 1 August, however, there were extra requirements to review. On 25 August 2016, Dnipro took its bid out of the running citing the constant delays regarding the announcement of the host city, leaving Odessa and Kiev as the remaining two candidates. On 9 September 2016, it was finally announced that Kiev was chosen as the host city. This was the second time that the city would host the event, the first time was back in 2005. 42 countries participated. Portugal returned to the contest after a year away, as was Romania, who returned after their government agreed to pay back TVR's debts to the EBU. Australia was invited back to participate for the third time. Bosnia and Herzegovina withdrew due to financial problems. Russia had no choice but to withdraw due to their selected artist Yulia Samoilova being unable to enter Ukraine after a travel ban was issued on her. The winner was Portugal with the song Amar pelos dois by Salvador Sobral, ending the longest wait for a first victory in contest history (53 years). Bulgaria took second place, with Moldova rounding out the top 3, all three countries recording their best ever placings. Of the Big 5, both Italy and France made the left-hand side of the scoreboard, finishing 6th and 12th respectively
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