Eurasian Song Contest 2

Final date
 Host city
 Broadcaster
 Entries
 Debuting
 System
 Null points
 Winner

The **Eurasian Song Contest 2**, often referred to as **EASC 2**, was the second edition of the Eurasian Song Contest. The second edition took place in Tromsø, Norway, after Serlina won the first edition of the contest in Helsinki, Finland, scoring 149 points with "Puste under vann".

## Location

**Tromsø** is a city and municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø. Outside Norway, *Tromso* and *Tromsö* are alternative spellings of the city. Tromsø town has a population of 64,376 as of 1 January 2016. The most populous town north of it is Alta, Norway, with a population of 14,272 (2013).

Tromsø lies in Northern Norway. The 2,521-square-kilometre (973 sq mi) municipality is the 18th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Tromsø is the 9th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 74,541. The municipality's population density is 30.1 inhabitants per square kilometre (78/sq mi) and its population has increased by 15.6% over the last decade. It is the largest urban area in Northern Norway and the third largest north of the Arctic Circle anywhere in the world (following Murmansk and Norilsk). Most of Tromsø, including the city centre, is located on the island of Tromsøya, 350 kilometres (217 mi) north of the Arctic Circle. In 2012, Tromsøya had a population of 36,088. Substantial parts of the urban area are also situated on the mainland to the east, and on parts of Kvaløya — a large island to the west. Tromsøya is connected to the mainland by the Tromsø Bridge and the Tromsøysund Tunnel, and to the island of Kvaløya by the Sandnessund Bridge. The city is warmer than most other places located on the same latitude, due to the warming effect of the Gulf Stream.

The city centre of Tromsø contains the highest number of old wooden houses in Northern Norway, the oldest house dating from 1789. The city is a cultural centre for its region, with several festivals taking place in the summer. Torbjørn Brundtland and Svein Berge of the electronica duo Röyksopp and Lene Marlin grew up and started their careers in Tromsø. Noted electronic musician Geir Jenssen also hails from Tromsø.

## Format

### Semi-final allocation draw

The draw that determined the semi-final allocation was held on 5 April 2018. The big 6 countries were drawn first to determine in which semi-final each country would vote. The rest of the thirty-seven countries were drawn next. The countries were all placed in the same pot.

### Running order

The running orders of the semi-finals were chosen randomly. When a country was drawn from a pot, its semi-final and running order place was drawn from another pot.

## Participating countries

Forty-three countries participated in the edition. Six of them, Albania, Finland, Kosovo, Mongolia, Sweden and the host country Norway pre-qualified for the grand final. Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, China, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Japan, Lithuania, Slovakia, Uzbekistan and Vietnam debuted in the edition, while Cyprus, Serbia, Slovenia, South Korea and Switzerland withdrew.

## Results

### Semi-final 1

Eighteen countries participated in the first semi-final. Finland, Kosovo and Sweden were allocated to vote in this semi-final. The highlighted countries qualified for the grand final. Bulgaria and the Netherlands were disqualified from the contest.

### Semi-final 2

Nineteen countries participated in the first semi-final. Albania, Mongolia and Norway voted in this semi-final. were allocated to vote in this semi-final. The highlighted countries qualified for the grand final. Greece and Poland were disqualified from the contest.

### Finalists

Twenty-six countries participated in the final.

## Incidents

### Danish point deduction

Denmark originally finished 20th in the grand final, but due to DR failing to present their votes in time, the Eurasian Broadcasting Union gave the delegation sanctions, resulting them finishing second to last with only 34 points.

### Greek cover entry

Greece had originally been planned to perform 11th in the second semi-final, but due to the Eurasian Broadcasting Union finding out that the song the Greek representative Eleni Foureira had intended to sing was a cover, the country was forced to withdraw from the edition. It is uncertain whether the country would participate in the third edition.

### Bulgarian delegation

The head of delegation of Bulgaria failed to present their votes in time, resulting in sanctions given by the Eurasian Broadcasting Union. It is uncertain whether the country would participate in the third edition.

### Dutch delegation

The head of delegation of the Netherlands failed to present their votes in time, resulting in sanctions given by the Eurasian Broadcasting Union. It is uncertain whether the country would participate in the third edition.

### Polish delegation

The head of delegation of Poland failed to present their votes in time, resulting in sanctions given by the Eurasian Broadcasting Union. It is uncertain whether the country would participate in the third edition.

## Other countries

Countries that are active members of the Eurasian Broadcasting Union (EABU) are also eligible to participate in the Eurasian Song Contest. As in every edition, an invitation to all the members have been sent in order to confirm whether they will participate or not.

* Cyprus CyBC announced their withdrawal from the contest, though no official statement was given regarding the reasoning behind the decision.
* Serbia: RTS announced their withdrawal from the contest, citing that they will boycott the contest due to Kosovo being eligible to participate in the contest. It was later confirmed that Serbia was planning to return to the contest in a future edition.
* Slovenia: RTV SLO announced their withdrawal from the contest due to internal issues, and unpaid debts to the EABU.
* South Korea: KBS announced their withdrawal from the contest, citing "timezone issues" as the reason. No announcements about a return in a future editions have been made, though KBS is restructuring their broadcasting.
* Switzerland: SRG SSR announced their withdrawal from the contest, citing internal issues as the reason. A return in a future edition is intended, though.