Velnakin World Song Contest 19

Semi-final 1 date
 Semi-final 2 date
 Semi-final 3 date
 Final date
 Venue
 Executive supervisor
 Executive producer
 Number of entries
 Debuting countries
 Returning countries
* Costa Rica
* Israel
* Liechtenstein
* Poland
* Romania
* Turkey
 Withdrawing countries
* Czech Republic
* F.Y.R. Macedonia
* Malaysia
 Disqualified countries
 Voting system
 Nul points
 Winning song

The Velnakin World Song Contest 19 took its edition for the first time in Pristina, Kosovo following Flori Mumajesi and Argjentina's victory in the 18th edition with her song "Ku isha une?".

## Host and Design

### Country and City Host

Further information: Kosovo

**Pristina**

**Kosovo** (/ˈkɒsəvoʊ, ˈkoʊ-/; Albanian: Kosova [kɔsɔva]; Serbian Cyrillic: Косово) is a disputed territory and partially recognised state in Southeast Europe that declared independence from Serbia in February 2008 as the Republic of Kosovo. While Serbia recognises governance of the territory exclusively by Kosovo's elected government, it still continues to claim it as its own Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija, and the declaration of independence is contrary to the 2006 Constitution of Serbia.

Kosovo is landlocked in the central Balkan Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pristina. It is bordered by the Republic of Macedonia and Albania to the south, Montenegro to the west, and the uncontested territory of Serbia to the north and east. In antiquity, the Dardanian Kingdom, and later the Roman province of Dardania was located in the region. It was part of Serbia in the Middle Ages, and many consider the Battle of Kosovo of 1389 to be one of the defining moments in Serbian medieval history. After being part of the Ottoman Empire from the 15th to the early 20th century, in the late 19th century Kosovo became the centre of the Albanian independence movement with the League of Prizren. As a result of the defeat in the First Balkan War (1912–13), the Ottoman Empire ceded the Vilayet of Kosovo to the Balkan League; the Kingdom of Serbia took its larger part, while the Kingdom of Montenegro annexed the western part before both countries became a part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia after World War I. After a period of Yugoslav unitarianism in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the post-World War II Yugoslav constitution established the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within the Yugoslav constituent republic of Serbia.

Long-term severe ethnic tensions between Kosovo's Albanian and Serb populations left Kosovo ethnically divided, resulting in inter-ethnic violence, including the Kosovo War of 1998–99, part of the wider regional Yugoslav Wars. The war ended with a military intervention of NATO, which forced the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to withdraw its troops from Kosovo, which became a UN protectorate under UNSCR 1244. On 17 February 2008 Kosovo's Parliament declared independence. It has since gained diplomatic recognition as a sovereign state by 108 UN member states. Serbia refuses to recognise Kosovo as a state, although with the Brussels Agreement of 2013 it has accepted the legitimacy of Kosovo institutions. Today Kosovo is one of only two Muslim-majority territories on European mainland. The majority of people are of Albanian ethnic and speak the Albanian language. The country is poor by European standards with high unemployment, still not fully recovering from the past conflict. However Kosovo has been ranked as one of the most religiously tolerant nations in the world, by the IHEU.

The edition will take place in Pristina. Pristina, also spelled Prishtina (Albanian: Prishtinë, IPA: [pɾiʃtinə] ; Serbian: Приштина / Priština; Turkish: Priştine), is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the homonymous municipality and district.

Preliminary results of the 2011 census put the population of Pristina at 198,000. The city has a majority Albanian population, alongside other smaller communities. It is the administrative, educational, and cultural center of Kosovo. The city is home to the University of Pristina and is served by Pristina International Airport.

The name of the city is derived from a Slavic form \*Prišьčь, a possessive adjective from the personal name \*Prišьkъ, (preserved in the Kajkavian surname Prišek, in the Old Polish personal name Parzyszek, and in the Polish surname Pryszczyk) and the derivational suffix -ina 'belonging to X and his kin'.[citation needed] The name is most likely a patronymic of the personal name \*Prišь, preserved as a surname in Sorbian Priš, and Polish Przybysz - a hypocoristic of the Slavic personal name Pribyslavъ. A false etymology[citation needed] connects the name Priština with the Serbian word prišt (пришт), meaning 'ulcer' or 'tumour', referring to its 'boiling'. However, this explanation cannot be correct, as Slavic place names ending in -ina corresponding either or both to an adjective or the name of an inhabitant lacking this suffix are built from personal names or denote a person and never derive, in these conditions, from common nouns (SNOJ 2007: loc. cit.). The inhabitants of this city call themselves Prishtinali in local Gheg Albanian or Prištevci (Приштевци) in the local Serbian dialect.

The area in and around Pristina has been inhabited for nearly 10,000 years. Early Neolithic findings were discovered dating as far back as the 8th century BC, in the areas surrounding Pristina, i.e.: Matiçan, Gračanica and Ulpiana. In the 4th century BC, Bardyllis brought various tribes together in the region, establishing the Dardanian Kingdom. After the Roman conquest of Illyria in 168 BC, Romans colonized and founded several cities in the region, which they named Dardania.

During the Roman period, Pristina was part of the province of Dardania and Ulpiana was considered one of the most important Roman cities in the Balkans. In the 2nd century AD, Ulpiana became a Roman municipium. The city suffered tremendous damage from an earthquake in AD 518. The Byzantine Emperor Justinian I decided to rebuild the city in great splendor and renamed it Justiniana Secunda but with the arrival of Slav tribes in the 6th century the city again fell into disrepair.

## Results

### First Semifinal

14 countries took part in the first semi-final. The top seven from this semifinal will qualify for the Grand Final. Albania voted in this semifinal.

  Qualifiers Grand Final

  Qualifiers Second Chance Round

### Second Semifinal

15 countries took part in the second semi-final. The top seven from this semifinal will qualify for the Grand Final. United Kingdom voted in this semifinal. Venezuela received a total amount of 30 points and placed last.

  Qualifiers Grand Final

  Qualifiers Second Chance Round

  Disqualified

### Third Semifinal

14 countries took part in the third semi-final. The top seven from this semifinal will qualify for the Grand Final. Kosovo voted in this semifinal. Croatia received a total amount of 76 points, ranking 4th.

  Qualifiers Grand Final

  Qualifiers Second Chance Round

  Disqualified

### Second Chance Round

6 countries took part in the second chance round. The top two from this round will qualify for the Grand Final.

  Qualifiers Grand Final

### Grand Final

26 countries took part in the Grand Final.

  Winner