 All countries except the " Big 5 " ( France , Germany , Italy , Spain and the United Kingdom ) and the host country , were required to qualify from one of two semi @-@ finals in order to compete for the final ; the top ten countries from each semi @-@ final progressed to the final . The European Broadcasting Union split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests , with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot . On 20 January 2014 , a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi @-@ finals , as well as which half of the show they would perform in . The Netherlands was placed into the first semi @-@ final , to be held on 6 May 2014 , and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show . 
