Canticum Certamine 21

Canticum Certamine 21, also known as CC 21, was the twenty-first edition of Canticum Certamine. It was held in Fontvieille, Monaco after Cocanha won the twentieth edition with their song "Que son aüros". Stade Louis-II was chosen as the host venue. Charlotte Casiraghi and Charles Leclerc were chosen as the edition's presenters. This was the first time Monaco hosted the contest.
The edition held in Monaco drew a total of 48 countries. Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Hungary, Kosovo, Moldova, Slovenia and Türkiye withdrew, while Algeria and Lithuania returned. There were initial plans for Denmark to host a pre-qualification round to determine the advancement of Australia, Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Iceland, Moldova, North Macedonia, Russia, Serbia and Türkiye to the semi-finals. It was not held in the end due to a low number of overall participating countries. The Israeli broadcaster KAN lost its CBU membership and was therefore forced to withdraw.
The winner of the edition was Portugal with the song "Nina" by Sónia Trópicos, this was the second time Portugal won the contest, and the first time since edition fifteen that the winner performed in the first half of the final. Portugal scored 438, 48 points ahead of the runner-up, United Kingdom, despite only coming in seventh in the semi-final. Italy ended up on third place, meanwhile Belgium, Algeria, and Bulgaria rounded out the top six. All countries were pre-qualified in the next edition, this was the first time Algeria and Bulgaria managed receive pre-qualification status. Monaco, the host country finished in thirteenth place, being the second highest scoring pre-qualified country this edition, the first one being France which ended up in seventh place.
==Location==
Although Monaco won the previous edition, which granted it hosting rights, it was unclear whether the micronation would be able to host. Other than the winning country, several countries expressed interest in hosting the event if it could not be held in Monaco.
* being the first micronation to win the competition, set a precedent so high that questions are raised about how a place with limited availability could possibly serve as a host.
* is the only neighbour of Monaco and is closely linked to that of the micronation. Paris has been mentioned to take over the hosting rights.
* hosted the previous edition in Tbilisi and has the means to host the contest again if needed.
*, as the runner-up of the previous edition, has also confirmed the possibility of hosting. Barcelona has been mentioned to take over the hosting rights, with the country already hosting the contest previously twice.
Alongside with the theme art reveal, the CBU stated that the district of Fontvieille in Monaco would host the contest, the Principality’s westernmost, newest district. The country also announced that alongside Fontvieille, the broadcaster was in talks to host the contest in Paris, France in the Accor Arena, in a partnership with the French broadcaster. 
===Bidding phase===
Key Host venue
City 	Venue 	Capacity
Fontvieille	Stade Louis-II	16,000
Paris 	Accor Arena 	20,300
==Format==
===Semi-final allocation draw===
The draw that determined the semi-final allocation was held in the Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo, Monte-Carlo. The big 6 countries were first drawn to determine in which semi-final each would country vote. The rest of the forty-two countries were divided into six pots, based on their geographical place. Each time a country was drawn from the pot, its semi-final and half of the semi-final was determined. From each semi-final, ten countries will join the "Big 6" in the final, where a total of twenty-six countries will participate.
The six pots were the following:
Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3
* 
* 
*
*
*
* 
*	
*
*
* 
* 
* 
* 
*	
*
*
* 
*
*
* 
*
Pot 4	Pot 5	Pot 6
* 
* 
*
* 
*
*
*	
*
*
*
*
*
* 
*	
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
==Participating countries ==
Forty-eight countries participated in the edition, the lowest number of participants since edition fifteen. Two countries returned to the contest: Algeria and Lithuania returned to the contest after previous absence. Algeria last participated in the contest in edition twelve.
Eight countries withdrew from the competition, this was the highest number of withdrawing countries since edition ten - Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Hungary, Israel, Kosovo, Moldova, Slovenia and Türkiye were all absent from this edition. Hungary, Moldova and Türkiye stated a lack of viewership and their participation in the pre-qualification round as reason for their withdrawals. Azerbaijan despite originally confirming in the edition, withdrew from the competition a week before the confirmation deadline. The Israeli broadcaster KAN lost its CBU membership and was therefore forced to withdraw. Bosnia, Kosovo and Slovenia did not give reasoning for their withdrawal.
===Returning artists ===
Sylvie Kreusch returned to the contest after previously representing Belgium in the eighth edition. She was the only returning artist this edition.
===Semi-final 1===
Twenty-one countries participated in the first semi-final. Romania, Spain and Sweden also voted in this semi-final. The highlighted countries qualified for the final.
Draw	Country	Artist 	Song 	Place	Points
01 	 	Bordeaux 	"Lucciole" 	21 	42
02 	 	Local Suicide, Skelesys 	"Moustache" 	9 	139
03 	 	Lucy 	"Mi Ari" 	15 	95
04 	 	Saint Levant 	"Nails" 	4 	165
05 	 	Perel 	"The Principle of Vibration"	10 	131
06 	 	Ultraflex 	"Rhodos" 	7 	143
07 	 	Luna Ki 	"Dispara" 	5 	164
08 	 	Sofia Shanti 	"Odni" 	6 	147
09 	 	Jelena Karleuša 	"Romane" 	18 	73
10 	 	Uche Yara 	"Sophie" 	20 	60
11 	 	Fanera 	"Euforija" 	13 	105
12 	 	Nour Khan 	"Atmah" 	17 	87
13 	 	Biandapid 	"Endorphins" 	12 	109
14 	 	NZIRIA 	"Amam Ancora" 	1 	200
15 	 	Jazzy 	"NRG" 	16 	93
16 	 	Giga Papaskiri 	"Avant Le Vol" 	3 	177
17 	 	Buzz 	"FTN" 	19 	65
18 	 	Yasmina Sadiki 	"Bleed Out" 	14 	99
19 	 	Spivak 	"Pigaine Me" 	11 	128
20 	 	Mura Masa, Erika de Casier	"e-motions" 	8 	143
21 	 	Cub Sport 	"Replay" 	2 	187
===Semi-final 2 ===
Twenty-one countries participated in the first semi-final. Faroe Islands, France and Monaco also voted in this semi-final. The highlighted countries qualified for the final.
Draw	Country	Artist 	Song 	Place	Points
01 	 	Lalla Rami 	"Naari" 	13 	108
02 	 	Galya, Veya, Asya Zykova, MATANYA	"Tuman" 	6 	154
03 	 	Acchiappashpirt 	"Ari I Ajrit" 	12 	117
04 	 	New Ro 	"I Cum" 	15 	99
05 	 	Sónia Trópicos 	"Nina" 	1 	221
06 	 	Suana 	"Transition" 	21 	45
07 	 	White Girl 	"Kakapomm" 	19 	72
08 	 	Aklea Neon 	"Na dah" 	18 	74
09 	 	Varta 	"Trioka" 	10 	129
10 	 	Tatarka 	"Dance with me" 	11 	128
11 	 	Tripnotic 	"Trip Naughty" 	16 	87
12 	 	Bklava 	"Back to Then" 	8 	132
13 	 	Bloodline 	"Minute To Midnight" 	17 	78
14 	 	Sylvie Kreusch 	"Please To Devon" 	3 	170
15 	 	Kasia Lins 	"Po trupach do Ciebie" 	9 	130
16 	 	CHAiLD 	"Italo Daddy" 	4 	162
17 	 	Tris Rei 	"ako hviezdy na oblohe"	14 	106
18 	 	Bree Runway 	"That Girl" 	7 	135
19 	 	Sassy 009 	"Lara" 	5 	156
20 	 	Niandraz 	"Sam sama" 	2 	178
21 	 	Liza Dries 	"Superbloom" 	20 	69
===Final===
Draw	Country	Artist 	Song 	Place	Points
01 	 	CHAiLD 	"Italo Daddy" 	11 	249
02 	 	Sylvie Kreusch 	"Please To Devon" 	4 	381
03 	 	Sofia Shanti 	"Odni" 	16 	211
04 	 	Miriam Rodríguez 	"Línea Roja" 	14 	224
05 	 	Sassy 009 	"Lara" 	18 	206
06 	 	Mura Masa, Erika de Casier 	"e-motions" 	19 	200
07 	 	Local Suicide, Skelesys 	"Moustache" 	22 	175
08 	 	NZIRIA 	"Amam Ancora" 	3 	383
09 	 	Petra Marklund 	"Panna Mot Panna (Forever Young)"	17 	210
10 	 	Suavne 	"As Bizarre as Me" 	26 	111
11 	 	Sónia Trópicos 	"Nina" 	1 	438
12 	 	Bklava 	"Back to Then" 	23 	167
13 	 	Ultraflex 	"Rhodos" 	24 	159
14 	 	Cub Sport 	"Replay" 	8 	275
15 	 	Luna Ki 	"Dispara" 	10 	260
16 	 	Saint Levant 	"Nails" 	5 	375
17 	 	Niandraz 	"Sam sama" 	6 	334
18 	 	Lucky Love 	"Paradise" 	13 	225
19 	 	Perel 	"The Principle of Vibration" 	21 	182
20 	 	Bree Runway 	"That Girl" 	2 	390
21 	 	Kasia Lins 	"Po trupach do Ciebie" 	15 	223
22 	 	Varta 	"Trioka" 	25 	138
23 	 	Giga Papaskiri 	"Avant Le Vol" 	9 	270
24 	 	neonme 	"the flower phallus" 	20 	184
25 	 	Galya, Veya, Asya Zykova, MATANYA	"Tuman" 	12 	232
26 	 	La Chica 	"Ratas" 	7 	294