Canticum Certamine 21

PQR date
 Final date
 Venue
 Entries
 Returning
**Participation map**
* Participating countries     Did not qualify from the semi final or the PQR     Countries that participated in the past but not this edition
 System
 Winner

**Canticum Certamine 21**, also known as **CC 21**, was the twenty-first edition of Canticum Certamine. It was held in Fontvieille, Monaco after Cocanha won the twentieth edition with their song "Que son aüros". Stade Louis-II was chosen as the host venue. Charlotte Casiraghi and Charles Leclerc were chosen as the edition's presenters. This was the first time Monaco hosted the contest.

The edition held in Monaco drew a total of 48 countries. Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Hungary, Kosovo, Moldova, Slovenia and Türkiye withdrew, while Algeria and Lithuania returned. There were initial plans for Denmark to host a pre-qualification round to determine the advancement of Australia, Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Iceland, Moldova, North Macedonia, Russia, Serbia and Türkiye to the semi-finals. It was not held in the end due to a low number of overall participating countries. The Israeli broadcaster KAN lost its CBU membership and was therefore forced to withdraw.

The winner of the edition was Portugal with the song "Nina" by Sónia Trópicos, this was the second time Portugal won the contest, and the first time since edition fifteen that the winner performed in the first half of the final. Portugal scored 438, 48 points ahead of the runner-up, United Kingdom, despite only coming in seventh in the semi-final. Italy ended up on third place, meanwhile Belgium, Algeria, and Bulgaria rounded out the top six. All countries were pre-qualified in the next edition, this was the first time Algeria and Bulgaria managed receive pre-qualification status. Monaco, the host country finished in thirteenth place, being the second highest scoring pre-qualified country this edition, the first one being France which ended up in seventh place.

## Location

Although **Monaco** won the previous edition, which granted it hosting rights, it was unclear whether the micronation would be able to host. Other than the winning country, several countries expressed interest in hosting the event if it could not be held in Monaco.

* Monaco being the first micronation to win the competition, set a precedent so high that questions are raised about how a place with limited availability could possibly serve as a host.
* France is the only neighbour of Monaco and is closely linked to that of the micronation. Paris has been mentioned to take over the hosting rights.
* Georgia hosted the previous edition in Tbilisi and has the means to host the contest again if needed.
* Spain, as the runner-up of the previous edition, has also confirmed the possibility of hosting. Barcelona has been mentioned to take over the hosting rights, with the country already hosting the contest previously twice.

Alongside with the theme art reveal, the CBU stated that the district of Fontvieille in Monaco would host the contest, the Principality’s westernmost, newest district. The country also announced that alongside Fontvieille, the broadcaster was in talks to host the contest in Paris, France in the Accor Arena, in a partnership with the French broadcaster.

### Bidding phase

**Key**      Host venue

  Paris | Accor Arena | 20,300

## Format

### Semi-final allocation draw

The draw that determined the semi-final allocation was held in the Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo, Monte-Carlo. The big 6 countries were first drawn to determine in which semi-final each would country vote. The rest of the forty-two countries were divided into six pots, based on their geographical place. Each time a country was drawn from the pot, its semi-final and half of the semi-final was determined. From each semi-final, ten countries will join the "Big 6" in the final, where a total of twenty-six countries will participate.

The six pots were the following:

* Croatia
* Cyprus
* Greece
* Montenegro
* North Macedonia
* Serbia
* Bulgaria
* Italy
* Luxembourg
* Malta
* Portugal
* San Marino
* Czech Republic
* Georgia
* Poland
* Russia
* Slovakia
 Pot 4
 * Algeria
* Armenia
* Egypt
* Lebanon
* Morocco
* Tunisia
* Uzbekistan
* Denmark
* Estonia
* Finland
* Iceland
* Lithuania
* Norway
* Belgium
* Germany
* Ireland
* Netherlands
* Switzerland
* United Kingdom

## Participating countries

Forty-eight countries participated in the edition, the lowest number of participants since edition fifteen. Two countries returned to the contest: Algeria and Lithuania returned to the contest after previous absence. Algeria last participated in the contest in edition twelve.

Eight countries withdrew from the competition, this was the highest number of withdrawing countries since edition ten - Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Hungary, Israel, Kosovo, Moldova, Slovenia and Türkiye were all absent from this edition. Hungary, Moldova and Türkiye stated a lack of viewership and their participation in the pre-qualification round as reason for their withdrawals. Azerbaijan despite originally confirming in the edition, withdrew from the competition a week before the confirmation deadline. The Israeli broadcaster KAN lost its CBU membership and was therefore forced to withdraw. Bosnia, Kosovo and Slovenia did not give reasoning for their withdrawal.

### Returning artists

Sylvie Kreusch returned to the contest after previously representing Belgium in the eighth edition. She was the only returning artist this edition.

### Semi-final 1

Twenty-one countries participated in the first semi-final. Romania, Spain and Sweden also voted in this semi-final. The highlighted countries qualified for the final.

### Semi-final 2

Twenty-one countries participated in the first semi-final. Faroe Islands, France and Monaco also voted in this semi-final. The highlighted countries qualified for the final.