IX PANAM Song Contest

Semi-finals
 Final
 Second Chance
 Venue
 Executive supervisor
 Executive producer
 Host broadcaster
 Number of entries
 Debuting countries
 Voting system
 Winning song

The **IX** **Eurovision Americas Song Contest** was the 9th edition of the monthly PANAM Song Contest. It took place in St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda, following Vega Almohalla's win at the eight contest in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with the song "*En El Aire*". This was the first time that the islands host the contest, and the second for a Caribbean nation. The contest was held at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium and consisted of two semi-finals and the final on 14 July 2020. The winner of the contest was Chile with the song "*Desatar*", performed by Karla Grunewaldt and written by herself; this was Chile's second win since the country's debut, being the first delegation to win the contest more than once.

Due to the inability of guest nations to host the contest, the Andorran delegation decided through internal conversations to host the ninth edition of the contest in Antigua and Barbuda.

Forty-five countries participated in the contest. There were five returning delegations: Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Cuba, Haiti and Saint Lucia, two withdrawing delegations: Dominican Republic and Uruguay, and the Guam delegation debuted in the contest.

Twenty-seven countries competed in the Grand Final, being the first time this total number of delegations participated in the Final; Panama and Nicaragua managed to qualify for the Final for the first time since the introduction of the Semi-finals in the third edition, while Haiti, Bermuda and Lucayan Archipelago failed to qualify from the semi-finals for the first time ever. In the final, Brazil finished second, being this the second time the country finishes in this place; Guam, Nicaragua, Portugal and Spain also obtained their best results in the Final on this edition.

Guam completes the podium obtaining the third place in the Final, while Venezuela, Spain and Portugal obtain the fourth, fifth and sixth places respectively, all becoming automatic qualifiers for the next edition in Chile.

 Location

The ninth contest took place in St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda. The islands obtained the rights to host the contest after the delegation of Andorra, country which won the previous edition, granted Antigua and Barbuda the rights to host it.

### **Host City**

*For more details on the host city, see Saint John's.*

[[file:Template:Location map Uruguay|200px|IX PANAM Song Contest is located in Template:Location map Uruguay]]

**St. John's** It is the capital and largest city of Antigua and Barbuda, a country located in the Lesser Antilles, in the Caribbean Sea. With a population of 22,219 inhabitants, Saint John's is the country's commercial center and the main port of the island of Antigua. The city has been the administrative center of Antigua and Barbuda since the islands were first colonized in 1632, and after its independence from the United Kingdom in 1981 it became the seat of government.

Saint John's is the main communications center of the country. The city has a port to which many tourist cruises arrive, and the V. C. Bird International Airport.

### **Venue**

*For more details on the Venue, see Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.*

The **Sir Vivian Richards Stadium** is a stadium in Antigua, Antigua and Barbuda. It was built for use in the 2007 Cricket World Cup where it hosted Super 8 matches. The stadium usually caters for 10,000 people, but temporary seating doubled its capacity for the 2007 World Cup. The stadium is named after former West Indies cricket captain Viv Richards.

The stadium is about 10–20 minutes' drive from the capital city, St. John's, and the country's international airport. The venue cost approximately US$60 million to build, with the majority of the funds coming from a Chinese Government grant. The first Test match staged on the ground began on 30 May 2008 when the West Indies hosted Australia, with the match ending in a draw.

The stadium constitutes two main stands: the Northern Stand and the five story South Stand. In 2008, the roof of the South Stand was damaged by high winds. Other facilities include a practice pitch for the various cricket teams, training infrastructure and a media centre. Sir Viv Richards Stadium is one of the few state-of-the-art venues that encompass underground passageways for the cricket teams to move about in.

####  Bidding phase

During the week before the Contest, both of the host broadcasters  made a list of potential cities and venues in Antigua and Barbuda to host the Contest. The final list was formed by different stadiums and fair centres in the country.

On 5 June 2019, both announced the capital city, St. John's, as the host, with the Sir Vivain Richards Stadium as the selected venue for the contest.

 Antigua Recreation Ground

 Participants

The following countries expressed their provisional interest in participating in the contest or confirmed that their expected national selection process would take place:

 Other countries

*Further information: List of countries in the Eurovision Americas Song Contest*

Eligibility for potential participation in the Eurovision Americas Song Contest requires a national broadcaster with active ASBU membership that will be able to broadcast the contest. The ASBU issued an invitation of participation in the contest to all fifty-one active members.

###  Active ASBU members

* Uruguay: The Uruguayan delegation decided to temporarily withdraw from the Contest without explaining further reasons.
* Dominican Republic

 The Contest

### **Semi-finals**

#### Allocation draw

The draw to determine the allocation of the participating countries into their respective semi-finals took place on 1 June 2020. The thirty-six semi-finalists had been allocated into six pots, based on historical voting patterns. 39 countries participated in both of each semi-finals.

Drawing from different pots helps to reduce the chance of so-called neighbourly voting and increases suspense in the semi-finals. The draw also determined the semi-final that each of the five automatic finalist countries (host country Antigua and Barbuda and the previous edition top 5 countries Paraguay, Canada, Guadeloupe and Jamaica) would broadcast and vote in.

Because Antigua and Barbuda became an automatic qualifier when granted the right to host the contest, the ASBU decided to expand the limit of participants in the Grand Final to 27 countries and territories.

•  Cayman Islands
•  Guam
•  Puerto Rico
•  Saint Lucia
•  United States
•  U.S. Virgin Islands
•  Chile
•  Costa Rica
•  Cuba
•  Haiti
•  Peru
•  Venezuela
•  Barbados
•  Brazil
•  French Guiana
•  Martinique
•  Portugal
•  Saint Pierre & Miquelon
• Ecuador
• Greenland
•  Guatemala
•  Nicaragua
•  Trinidad & Tobago
•  Brit. Virgin Islands
•  Equatorial Guinea
•  Guyana
•  Lucayan Arch.
•  Panama
• Carib. Netherlands
•  Colombia
•  Mexico
•  Spain
•  The Philippines

####  Semi-final 1

In the first semi-final, twenty countries participated. The highlighted countries qualified for the final. Chile won the first semi-final, followed by Guam and Portugal.

The country of U.S. Virgin Islands competed in the Wildcard Round since it got the eleventh place on its Semi-final. The country competed against Colombia, obtaining the victory and qualifying to the Grand Final.

#### Semi-final 2

In the second semi-final, seventeen countries participated; the highlighted countries qualified for the final. British Virgin Islands won this semi-final, followed by Venezuela and Nicaragua.

The country of Colombia competed in the Wildcard Round since it got the eleventh place on its Semi-final. The country competed against the U.S. Virgin Islands, but loses the round.

### **Final**

The final took place on July 14th, 2019, following the both semi-finals where a total of 21 countries qualified, plus the 6 automatic qualifiers.

### **Breakdown**

####  12 points

Below is a summary of the maximum 12 points awarded by each country's professional jury in the final: