BalkanVision Song Contest 13

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* Participating countries     Countries that participated in the past but not in #13
* **BalkanVision Song Contest**
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The **BalkanVision Song Contest 13** was the thirteenth edition of the BalkanVision Song Contest. The contest took place in Sofia, Bulgaria, following Bulgaria's victory at the BalkanVision Song Contest 12 in Bucharest, Romania, with the song "Edin Sreshtu Drug", performed by Mihaela Marinova. 17 countries participated in the contest. Cyprus made their return after an absence from the previous edition. Hungary, Malta, Moldova, Transnistria and Turkey withdrew.

Ilinca, the winner of the first edition, won for a second time, performing the song "Nu Acum" and giving Romania its fifth victory. Republika Srpska came 2nd and Cyprus came 3rd.

## Location

**Sofia**

The contest took place in Sofia, Bulgaria.

### Venue

The **Arena Armeec** is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Sofia, Bulgaria. It has a seating capacity of 12,373. For concerts it can grow to 17,906. It was originally called **Arena Sofia** before the Bulgarian insurance company Armeec purchased the naming rights. There are 887 parking lots, 614 of them placed in a central exterior parking, 231 placed in near streets and 42 designated for disabled people.

Designed as a universal hall for cultural events and sports, the arena could host up to 30 types of sports, including basketball, volleyball, handball, futsal, boxing, tennis, weightlifting, fencing and gymnastics competitions as well as concerts.

### About the host city

**Sofia** (Bulgarian: София) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. The city is at the foot of Vitosha mountain in the western part of the country. Being in the centre of the Balkans, it is midway between the Black Sea and the Adriatic Sea, and closest to the Aegean Sea.

Sofia is the 13th largest city in the European Union. The city is surrounded by mountains, such as Mount Vitosha by the southern side, Lyulin by the western side, and the Balkan Mountains by the north, which makes it the second highest European capital after Madrid. The city is built on the Iskar river, and has many mineral springs, such as the Sofia Central Mineral Baths. Sofia has a humid continental climate.

Sofia has been described as the 'triangle of religious tolerance'. This is due to the fact that three colossal temples of the three world major religions - Christianity, Islam and Judaism, reside inside the borders of the city, which are the Sveta Nedelya Church, Banya Bashi Mosque and Sofia Synagogue.

Being Bulgaria's primate city, Sofia is home of many of the major local universities, cultural institutions and commercial companies. Sofia is one of the top ten best places for start-up businesses in the world, especially in information technologies. Sofia was Europe's most affordable capital to visit in 2013. In 1979, the Boyana Church in Sofia was included onto the World Heritage List, and it was deconstructed in the Second Bulgarian Empire, holding a lot of symbolic heritage to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

With its cultural significance in Eastern Europe, Sofia is home to the National Opera and Ballet of Bulgaria, the National Palace of Culture, the Vasil Levski National Stadium, the Ivan Vazov National Theatre, the National Archaeological Museum, and the Serdica Amphitheatre. The Museum of Socialist Art includes a lot of sculptures and posters that educate visitors about the lifestyle in communist Bulgaria.

The population of Sofia declined down from 70,000 in the late 18th century, through 19,000 in 1870, to 11,649 in 1878 and began increasing. Sofia hosts some 1.23 million residents within a territory of 492 km2, a concentration of 17.5% of the country population within the 200th percentile of the country territory. The urban area of Sofia hosts some 1.54 million residents within 5723 km², which comprises Sofia City Province and parts of Sofia Province (Dragoman, Slivnitsa, Kostinbrod, Bozhurishte, Svoge, Elin Pelin, Gorna Malina, Ihtiman, Kostenets) and Pernik Province (Pernik, Radomir), representing 5.16% of the country territory. The metropolitan area of Sofia is based upon one hour of car travel time, stretches internationally and includes Dimitrovgrad in Serbia. Unlike most European metropolitan areas, it is not to be defined as a substantially functional metropolitan area, but is of the type with "limited variety of functions". The metropolitan region of Sofia is inhabited by a population of 1.68 million and is made up of the whole provinces Sofia City, Sofia and Pernik, comprising more than 10,000 km².

## Format

### Visual design

The theme for the edition "*#Eternity*", was unveiled on the contest's Google+ community on the 20 June 2018.

### Presenter(s)

Darina Yotova (DARA) was selected to host on the 20 June 2018.

### Running order

The running order was made by randomly splitting the participating countries into 2 halves.

## Other countries

Further information: List of countries in the BalkanVision Song Contest
Eligibility for potential participation in the BalkanVision Song Contest requires a national broadcaster with active BBU membership that will be able to broadcast the contest. The BBU had issued an invitation of participation in the contest to all active members.

### Active BBU members

* Hungary - MTVA was forced to withdraw after failing to submit their entry before the song deadline.

* Malta - Like Hungary, PBS was forced to withdraw after failing to submit their entry before the song deadline.

* Moldova - TRM was forced to withdraw after failing to give an accurate vote in the previous edition.

* Transnistria - TV PMR confirmed the country's non-participation after their head of delegation was fired.

* Turkey - Despite initially confirming their participation, TRT withdrew without giving any reasons.