Country Contest 9

The Country Contest 7 was the seventh edition of the contest. It featured the return of the semi-finals and revelation of split voting results.
== Semi-final 1 ==
Turkey and Serbia also voted here. The top nine countries qualified to the Grand Final.
Draw	Country	Place	Points
01 	 	10 	128
02 	 	19 	53
03 	 	17 	78
04 	 	11 	117
05 	 	3 	168
06 	 	16 	89
07 	 	2 	170
08 	 	12 	113
09 	 	14 	96
10 	 	9 	149
11 	 	5 	162
12 	 	4 	163
13 	 	15 	95
14 	 	5 	162
15 	 	1 	213
16 	 	13 	112
17 	 	7 	155
18 	 	18 	63
19 	 	8 	150
== Semi-final 2 ==
Switzerland and Brazil also voted here.
Draw	Country	Place	Points
01 	 	5 	178
02 	 	8 	154
03 	 	1 	211
04 	 	12 	82
05 	 	9 	151
06 	 	11 	91
07 	 	10 	141
08 	 	2 	210
09 	 	6 	176
10 	 	13 	76
11 	 	14 	76
12 	 	3 	203
13 	 	4 	180
14 	 	18 	36
15 	 	7 	160
16 	 	15 	76
17 	 	17 	50
18 	 	16 	66
== Final ==
Qualifiers from the semi-finals, as well as the top 4 of previous edition took part. Additionally, Brazil voted due to Vatican City's withdrawal.
Draw	Country	Place	Points
01 	 	3 	417
02 	 	15 	152
03 	 	8 	238
04 	 	11 	193
05 	 	16 	128
06 	 	16 	128
07 	 	14 	159
08 	 	9 	233
09 	 	1 	504
10 	 	2 	435
11 	 	6 	305
12 	 	19 	119
13 	 	12 	185
14 	 	13 	161
15 	 	7 	240
16 	 	10 	221
17 	 	18 	126
18 	 	5 	330
19 	 	20 	117
20 	 	4 	364
== Incidents ==
=== Brazilian withdrawal ===
As Brazil did not enter the top 4 of the last edition, ultimately placing fifth, the nation had to withdraw allowing other guest countries to take its spot. The CCU later stated they had made a deal with Asia and Africa to allow South Korea and South Africa to participate to broaden interest of different continents. However, the CCU stated that North America were "not in their plans" of broadening despite the interest from US.
== Other countries ==
=== Active CCU members ===
* – RTCG announced its withdrawal citing lack of sponsors and general interest in the contest. It was rumored that this comes after Montenegro failed to qualify, and uses a possible return as a method to win the contest; this which RTCG denied.
* – RTVS stated that seeing that Czech Republic did not qualify, there was no reason for them to return. They added that a return would be "very possible" in the event of a qualification.
* – As some people questioned whether or not Sweden could return, SVT stated that they would not look into returning anytime soon. TV4 then said they would look into participating telling fans to 'make noise' for a potential return. In the end, no return was secured.
* – BBC announced that they would not return this edition but stated that the nation would return "sooner than later." ITV stated that they had no intentions in participating at the contest.
* – Despite finishing as the runner-up last edition and the successful coverage, RV announced its withdrawal citing lack of funds though being very optimistic about the result.
=== Associate members ===
* – Telefe announced that the contest would not be broadcast in Argentina owing to Brazil's controversial withdrawal.
* – Since the country did not place in the top four last edition, RC was forced to withdraw. However, RC announced that it would continue to broadcast the contest thanks to its high ratings. Many fans did not think it was a "coincidence" that the country lost the top four position by 2 points, arguing that it was rigged by the CCU to allow new guest countries. The CCU announced before the contest started that Brazil would be voting in a semi-final and a final, this being a result of Vatican City's withdrawal.
* – RTVC SMP stated their regrets that Brazil was no longer in the contest, removing the contest from its schedule.
* – Although the ratings did not appear so high, Freeform decided to broadcast the contest once again reassuring its want to participate (despite the CCU statement).
=== Non-CCU members ===
* – IPBC stated that once they were to be accepted into the CCU, they would take the contest more seriously. However, they urged fans to constantly contact CCU so they could be looked into as a new member.