Altervision Song Contest 7

Final date
 Venue
 Interval act
 Entries
 Debuting
**Participation map**
* Countries that have confirmed their participation but have not announced their entry     Countries that have confirmed their participation and their entry, and qualified for the final     Countries that have confirmed their participation and their entry, but did not qualify to the final     Countries that participated in the past, but not in this edition
 System
 Null points

The **Altervision Song Contest 7** was the seventh edition of the Altervision Song Contest. It took place in Auckland, New Zealand and was organised by Television New Zealand following the nation's victory in Glasgow in the 6th edition with So Below performing "Ruin". It was the first time when New Zealand hosted the contest, only one edition after making its debut. New Zealand was also the second country outside Europe to stage the contest, only after Australia's hosting of the fifth edition.

Thirty-one countries will take part at the contest, with seven debuting, five returning and nine withdrawing nations. Many of the debuting countries are African.

The contest consisted of two shows: a semi final held on 29th January and a grand final held on 13th February. Both shows were hosted by Lorde, making her the second solo presenter of the contest.

The **7th winner of the Altervision Song Contest** was **Japan** with the song "Lucid" performed by Rina Sawayama, gathering a total amount of **274** points overall in the final, passing the runner-up by **21** points. Japan was the first Asian country to win the contest and the third nation outside Europe to do so. The top 5 was rounded out by the United Kingdom, Romania, Turkey and the Aland Islands. Romania achieved their second top 3 placement in a row, a feat that has only been achieved by Albania, Andorra, Sweden and the United Kingdom so far. The United Kingdom extended their record of being the country that has never placed outside the top 10.

## Location

### Host City

**Auckland** (Māori: *Tāmaki Makaurau*) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country, Auckland has an urban population of about 1,470,100 (June 2020). It is located in the Auckland Region—the area governed by Auckland Council—which includes outlying rural areas and the islands of the Hauraki Gulf, resulting in a total population of 1,717,500.

Auckland lies between the Hauraki Gulf to the east, then extending in Hunua Ranges to the south-east, the Manukau Harbour to the south-west, and the Waitākere Ranges and smaller ranges to the west and north-west. The surrounding hills are covered in rainforest and the landscape is dotted with 53 dormant volcanic cones. The central part of the urban area occupies a narrow isthmus between the Manukau Harbour on the Tasman Sea and the Waitematā Harbour on the Pacific Ocean. Auckland is one of the few cities in the world to have a harbour on each of two separate major bodies of water.

The isthmus on which Auckland resides was first settled c. 1350 and was valued for its rich and fertile land. The Māori population in the area is estimated to have peaked at 20,000 before the arrival of Europeans. After a British colony was established in 1840, William Hobson, then Lieutenant-Governor of New Zealand, chose the area as his new capital. He named the area for George Eden, Earl of Auckland, British First Lord of the Admiralty. It has throughout most of its history been the nation's largest city. Today, Auckland's central business district is New Zealand's leading economic hub.

The city's varied cultural institutions - such as the Auckland War Memorial Museum, the Museum of Transport and Technology, and Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki - and national historic sites, festivals, performing arts, and sports activities are significant tourist attractions. Architectural landmarks include the Harbour Bridge, the Town Hall, the Ferry Building and the Sky Tower. The city is served by Auckland Airport, which handles around 2 million international passengers a month. Despite being one of the most expensive cities in the world, Auckland is recognised as one of the world's most liveable cities, ranked third in the 2019 Mercer Quality of Living Survey.

### Bidding phase

Following New Zealand's victory in Edinburgh, TVNZ has been given the right by the Altervision Broadcasting Union to host the upcoming edition, which the broadcaster later accepted. Following that, a bidding phase began with cities all across the country expressing their interest to host the contest. Eventually, 5 cities were shortlisted as potential host cities and those cities were Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hamilton and the capital city, Wellington. After a delegation visited the venues, the ABU pointed at the Spark Arena in Auckland as the most fitting venue to host the contest. The arena later has been announced as the official venue of the contest. Spark Arena has a capacity of approximately 12,000 attendees.

 †  Host venue

 Christchurch
 Dunedin
 Hamilton
 Wellington

## Format

### Slogan, theme art

The slogan of the edition was unveiled on 17th January, alongside with the theme art and the host city. The slogan was inspired by the growing popularity of the contest proven by the rise in number of participating countries each edition. The theme artwork features the slogan visualized in a dark green background, with a human-shape plant growing out of one of the letters. It also features two stripes, both of which appear to be a Māori pattern.

### Host

On 28th January it was announced that both shows would be hosted by New Zealand singer and songwriter Lorde.

## Participating countries

### Returning artists

Below is a summary of all artists in this edition who have taken part in the competition previously.

 Alice Chater | #05 (for the  United Kingdom)
 Eric Destler (as part of Colonia)
 Ina Wroldsen | #02 (for  Norway with Dynoro)
 Jax Jones | #02 (for the  United States with Martin Solveig and Madison Beer), and #05 (for  Germany with Au/Ra)
 Minelli | #06 (for  Romania with INNA)

## Incidents and issues

### The Russian Head of Delegation's disappearence

Right before the semi final voting started, the Russia Head of Delegation have made the decision to step down despite the country's entrance in the contest. The ABU considered fining the country and disqualifying them, however decided otherwise eventually due to the progress already made before.

## Other countries

* Afghanistan: Afghanistan did not appear on the final list of participants thus will not participate in the 7th edition.
* Albania: Albaniadid not appear on the final list of participants thus will not participate in the 7th edition.
* Armenia: Armenia did not appear on the final list of participants thus will not participate in the 7th edition.
* Algeria: Algeria did not appear on the final list of participants thus will not participate in the 7th edition.
* Austria: Austria did not appear on the final list of participants thus will not participate in the 7th edition.
* Belarus: RTBC announced Belarus' withdrawal from the contest citing financial issues as the reason.
* Belgium: Belgium did not appear on the final list of participants thus will not participate in the 7th edition.
* Bosnia & Herzegovina: Bosnia & Herzegovina did not appear on the final list of participants thus will not participate in the 7th edition.
* Brazil: Brazil did not appear on the final list of participants thus will not participate in the 7th edition.
* Guam: Guam did not appear on the final list of participants thus will not participate in the 7th edition.
* Kyrgyzstan: KGBC withdrew from the contest due to poor results at their debut participation. A participation in the future hasn't been ruled out.
* Latvia: Latvia did not appear on the final list of participants thus will not participate in the 7th edition.
* Lithuania: Lithuania did not appear on the final list of participants thus will not participate in the 7th edition.
* Macau: Macau did not appear on the final list of participants thus will not participate in the 7th edition.
* Malaysia: Malaysia did not appear on the final list of participants thus will not participate in the 7th edition.
* Monaco: Monaco did not appear on the final list of participants thus will not participate in the 7th edition.
* Morocco: Morocco did not appear on the final list of participants thus will not participate in the 7th edition.
* Netherlands: The Netherlands did not appear on the final list of participants thus will not participate in the 7th edition.
* Poland: Poland did not appear on the final list of participants thus will not participate in the 7th edition.
* Serbia: Serbia did not appear on the final list of participants thus will not participate in the 7th edition.
* Slovenia: Slovenia did not appear on the final list of participants thus will not participate in the 7th edition.
* Switzerland: Switzerland did not appear on the final list of participants thus will not participate in the 7th edition.
* Ukraine: Ukraine did not appear on the final list of participants thus will not participate in the 7th edition.
* Vatican City: Vatican City did not appear on the final list of participants thus will not participate in the 7th edition.
* Venezuela: Venezuela did not appear on the final list of participants thus will not participate in the 7th edition.

## References and notes

1. ↑ Germany would've qualified to the final, however the Head of Delegation failed to hand in it's votes on time and thus have been punished with a disqualification.
2. ↑ Portugal would have received the 20th place with 68 points, however as the HoD failed to cast their votes, the country's final score was reduced by 25%.

 First decade
 Active
 Host cities