AstroVision Song Festival 1

"Magic of Tradition"

## Dates

Semi Finals : 12 May 2023

Grand Final : 22 May 2023

## Host

Venue : Malta Fairs & Conventions Centre Attard, Malta

Hosts : Ben Camille & Eliana Gomez Blanco

Broadcaster : PBS Malta

## Participants

Number of entries : 39

Debuting countries : Aland Islands , Andorra , Australia , Austria , Canary Islands , Cyprus , Denmark , Faroe Islands , Finland , France , Germany , Gibraltar , Greece , Greenland , Guernsey , Iceland , Ireland , Isle Of Man , Italy , Jersey , Kazakhstan , Latvia , Luxembourg , Malta , Monaco , North Macedonia , Norway , Poland , Portugal , Romania , Russia , San Marino , Spain , Sweden , Switzerland , The Netherlands , Turkey , Ukraine , United Kingdom ,

Returning countries : None

Non-returning countries : None

## Winner

Winner : **Italy** Annalisa - *"Mon Amour"*

Points : 193

The **AstroVision Song Festival #1**, often shortened **AVSF #1**, is the first edition of the AstroVision Song Festival, a European-based fan contest.

This edition was hosted in the Malta Fairs & Conventions Centre located in Attard, Malta by the Maltese national broadcaster PBS Malta.

## Host & Organization

As there has not been an AVSF winning country yet, the host country was decided by a period of invitation. The AstroVision Broadcasting Union indeed contacted the six countries which had the best track record back in the former AstroVision Song Contest days : Ukraine, Finland, Malta, The Netherlands, Sweden, Aland Islands

The six countries submitted their own candidature to gain the hosting process of the AVSF #1. The AVBU imposed them a common theme art composed of a wavy background, as well as the slogan for this edition : "**Magic of Tradition**". The AVBU also imposed to the six competitng broadcasters a logo which translates a symbol of their respective countries, to match the slogan and the edition's vision of celebrating traditions and folklore.

Here are the six candidatures deposed by the invited broadcasters :

- **Candidature #1 : "Magic of Tradition" - UKRAINE**  | The Ukrainian broadcaster UA:PBC invites Europe in the International Exposition Centre of Kyiv, Ukraine. The venue has already hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in 2017, as well as the AstroVision Song Contest #23. With its 11,000 people's capacity, the venue is the largest exhibition centre of the country. Built in 2002, it is fairly recent, and is a capable venue to host such an event, as they already proved in the past, despite it's rather small capacity compared to other candidatures. For their artwork, UA:PBC wanted to represent a namysto, a traditionnal pearl collar, in a modern way. It directly takes inspiration from their ESC 2017 artwork "Celebrating Diversity".

- **Candidature #2 : "Magic of Tradition" - FINLAND**  | The Finnish broadcaster Yle already hosted an AstroVision event once, and they are ready to welcome Europe back for this edition. For their candidature, Yle confirmed that their venue would be the Helsinki Halli arena in Helskinki, Finland, a hockey stadium and concert venue which hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in 2007, as well as the AstroVision Song Contest #10. This big venue has a capacity of 15,000 people, which is well enough to welcome AVSF fans from all over the continent. For their artwork, Yle took inspiration from one of their symbols : the whopper swan, which is represented in a very singular way, and tainted with the colors of the Finnish flag, just like the background.

- **Candidature #3 : "Magic of Tradition" - MALTA**  | The Maltese broadcaster PBS is no stranger to hosting AstroVision events as they hosted not less than two in the past. This edition, they are ready to welcome the upcoming participants in the Malta Fairs & Conventions Centre in Attard, Malta, a multipurpose convention centre which is by far the largest of the entire country, with its capacity of 14,000 people. For their artwork, PBS chose to represent their main national symbol : the Maltese cross, which is also PBS' logo, in nuances of red, along with a shining beam at the center of the artwork. A logo illustrating their vision of uniting people into one point of interest which is the contest.

- **Candidature #4 : "Magic of Tradition" - THE NETHERLANDS**  | Unlike the previous broadcasters, the Dutch public broadcaster NPO never hosted an edition of the AVSC. However, in their candidature, they want to deploy huge means to welcome the contest. Their selected venue is the Ahoy Rotterdam located in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, a large concert venue which hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in 2021, as well as the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2007. The venue has a capacity of 16,000 people, and is the largest venue of the country which is not a football stadium. For their artwork, NPO wanted to represent a symbol of Holland which is well anchored in people's inconscient : the tulips. In this artwork, they represented three tulips, one for each color of the country's national flag, in a contemporary style.

- **Candidature #5 : "Magic of Tradition" - SWEDEN**  | The Swedish boradcaster SVT, just like their Maltese homologues, have hosted the AstroVision Song Contest twice in the past, in two different venues. For the first edition of the AVSF, they have planned things big, with the largest venue out of all the candidatures : the Friends Arena in Stockholm, Sweden, a venue with a capacity of not less than 20,000 people. The arena originally has a capacity of 50,000 people for concerts, but it will be turned lower for this edition. This arena has hosted the Avicii Tribute Concert and hosts in a regular basis the grand final of the Melodifestivalen each year. For their artwork, SVT wanted to represent their main national symbol, which is the Swedish crown, symbol of their monarchy. It is represented along with beams of light making it shine bright in a glorified manner.

- **Candidature #6 : "Magic of Tradition" - ALAND ISLANDS**  | Out of all the candidatures, Aland's one was surely the trickiest to plan. Indeed, the 29,000 inhabitants' nation could not afford to build a new and fully purposed venue to host the contest. Instead, they wanted to insist on originality, by planning a show that was never seen before in AstroVision history. The local Alandic broadcaster Alands Radio TV has selected as their venue the Torget Square located in Mariehamn, Aland Islands, which hosts a local rock festival, the Rockoff Festival, to create the first ever outdoor venue for an AstroVision edition. The square is estimated to have a capacity of about 5,000 spectators once the stage is built. For their artwork, Aland Radio TV wanted to remain very straight-forward, with the representation of their national flag floating in the wind, in neons.

Out of the six candidatures, on April, 25 2023, it is announced that Malta's candidature was selected internally as the best proposition. PBS Malta therefore got granted the hosting of the AVSF #1.

     On the same day, the broadcaster revealed the stage design for this edition. It is composed of a wide triangular background screen along with two hollow triangular parts made of LEDs which can move towards the audience. Two sets of projector lights are located behind these parts. This structure is along with a half-circular podium made of screens and neons. The stage is topped with multiple projectors above the podium, and the podium is surronded by neon bars which go through the audience. PBS Malta explains that "*this stage design represents Malta opening arms to the contestants for the rebirth of AstroVision with the moveable structures, as well as their will to keep the show simple yet memorable, with a stage allowing delegations to express themselves but not proposing a show based on artifacts, which is a nod to this edition's slogan Magic of Tradition*".

    Moreover, it was also officialized that the hosts for this edition would be actor and TV presenter Ben Camille and singer and JESC 2019 Maltese representant Eliana Gomez Blanco.

## Contest

### Returning Artists

Seven artists were confirmed to take part again to an AstroVision contest.

### Semifinals

The AVBU announced that 39 countries would participate in the first edition of the AstroVision Song Festival. **Australia**  was announced as this edition's Guest Country by broadcaster PBS Malta.

On May, 10 2023, the AVBU revealed the running orders for the two semifinals of the AVSF #1. They have been decided through three randomizations : 6 pots, 4 halves and 2 official running orders. Both semifinals took place on May, 12 2023.

Results for both semifinals were revealed on May, 20th 2023. 10 countries qualified from semifinal 1 and 10 from semifinal 2. **Greece**  got penalised with a -75% points penalty for not voting in both semifinals. Qualifiers were announced in a random order :

- Canary Islands , Russia , United Kingdom , Guernsey , Romania , Monaco , Germany , Australia , Faroe Islands  & Italy  for Semifinal 1,

- Cyprus , Ireland , Latvia , Iceland , Austria , Greenland , Gibraltar , Turkey , Luxembourg  & Isle Of Man  for Semifinal 2.

#### Semi Final 1

 Qualified for the Grand Final

Not qualified for the Grand Final

 Last place in the Semifinal

 Last place in the Semifinal with a -75% points penalty

#### Semi Final 2

 Qualified for the Grand Final

Not qualified for the Grand Final

 Last place in the Semifinal

 Last place in the Semifinal with a -75% points penalty

### Grand Final

On May, 20 2023, the AVBU revealed the running order for the Grand Final of the AVSF #1. It has been decided through two randomizations : two halves with a perfect balance of 5 qualfiers from SF1, 5 qualifiers from SF2 and 3 big 6 countries each & 1 official running order.

The Grand Final opens on a postcard of Malta, and then with a flag ceremony, during which the 26 participating countries parade on stage. During the ceremony, a remixed version of AVSC #4's and AVSC #18's winning entries were played, both of which were Malta's two winning songs : "Tonight" by Alice Chater and "Fireflies" by Binky respectively.

The voting scores were revealed in two times : first, the points from the Jury Voting were revealed, followed by the Televoting scores afterwards.

After the two sets of points, it was announced that **Italy**  was the winner of the first edition of the AstroVision Song Festival, with a global score of 193 points. **Cyprus**  finished in second place with 177 points. **Germany**  finished in third place with 162 points, followed by **Finland** , **Greenland**  and **Turkey**  to complete the top 6, which will be prequalified for the upcoming AVSF #2 Grand Final.

 Country which finished in first place

 Country which finished in second place

 Country which finished in third place

 Country which is prequalified for the next edition

 Countries which are tied in points

 Country which finished in last place