Zone Song Contest 15

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

**Zone Song Contest 15**, often referred as **ZSC 15**, was the fifteenth edition of the Zone Song Contest. This edition was located in France as host country. FTV was the TV station chosen by the French delegation to televise and organize such important event of this dimensions for all Europe and the world after their second victory at the fourteenth edition with *Janie* and the song *"La Macarena"* with *448 points*. France got the victory for the second time in a very exciting voting sequence in front of Serbia, that finally was in second place with 411 points and United Kingdom, that came in third place with 335 points. France is the third country to achieve a double victory at the Zone Song Contest along with Norway and United Kingdom.

Finally **45** countries decided to participate at the Zone Song Contest 15 that was held in France. The Zone Broadcasting Union (ZBU) managed to get two member countries to return to the contest. Andorra, which withdrew from the previous edition citing financial problems, and Kazakhstan, which had not participated since the fifth edition (June 2020), that decided to withdraw due to the poor results obtained after only two competing editions. On the other hand, also a debut, that of Monaco, the microstate competed very close to home, since France was just 10 minutes away. The new chain MCRTV (*Monte-Carlo Riviera TV*) finally decided to participate by programming the Zone Song Contest on its broadcast just as the chain was about to start broadcasting and become part of the ZBU.

## Location

**France** is a founding and leading member of the European Union and the Eurozone, as well as a key member of the Group of Seven, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Francophonie. Retains its centuries-long status as a global centre of art, science and philosophy. It hosts the fifth-largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and is the world's leading tourist destination, receiving over 89 million foreign visitors in 2018. Also a developed country ranked 28th in the Human Development Index, with the world's seventh-largest economy by nominal GDP and tenth-largest by PPP; in terms of aggregate household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world.

**Nice** is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly 1 million on an area of 744 km2 (287 sq mi). Located on the French Riviera, the southeastern coast of France on the Mediterranean Sea, at the foot of the French Alps, Nice is the second-largest French city on the Mediterranean coast and second-largest city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region after Marseille. Nice is approximately 13 kilometres (8 mi) from the principality of Monaco and 30 kilometres (19 mi) from the French–Italian border. Nice's airport serves as a gateway to the region.

### Bidding phase

As of April 3, 2023, the French HoD Christophe Romaine officially presented the rules that French cities should meet in order to hold the contest. The basic requirements to select a host city were set out in a document presented by the ZBU to FTV:

* A suitable venue that can accommodate around at least 9,000 spectators.
* An international press centre for 1,500 journalists with adequate facilities for all the delegates.
* A good distribution of hotel rooms, at different price categories, able to accommodate at least 2,000 delegates, accredited journalists and spectators.
* An efficient transport infrastructure, including a nearby international airport with readily available connections with the city, venue, and hotels.

On April 5, seven cities were announced breaking records of cities interested in hosting the Zone Song Contest, they were:

**Key**
  †  Host venue   ‡  Shortlisted venues

## Format

### Alocation Draw

The draw to determine the allocation of the participating countries into their respective semi-finals took place on April 30 2023 at 16:00 CET, at Palais Nikaïa located in Nice, France. The organizing committee of the festival decided to do the third allocation draw there given the multiculturalism that reflects this city to be welcoming. The forty semi-finalists had been allocated into six pots, based on their geographical place and cultural similarities. Drawing from different pots helps to reduce the chance of so-called "bloc voting" and increase suspense in the semi-finals. The draw also determined which semi-final would be broadcast and voted by each of the five automatic finalist countries: France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and United Kingdom. It was also decided in which Semi-Final each member of the Big 5 should vote.

* Austria
* Belgium
* Monaco
* Netherlands
* Portugal
* Switzerland
* Estonia
* Finland
* Iceland
* Ireland
* Norway
* Sweden
* Azerbaijan
* Belarus
* Georgia
* Kazakhstan
* Türkiye
 Pot 4
 * Albania
* Bulgaria
* Croatia
* Montenegro
* North Macedonia
* Serbia
* Slovenia
* Hungary
* Latvia
* Lithuania
* Poland
* Slovakia
* Greece
* Israel
* Malta
* Moldova
* Romania

## Participants

1.**^** Sung in Chakavian dialect
2.**^** Contains lines in English and Spanish
## Results

### Semi-Final 1

France, Germany and United Kingdom will also vote in this semi-final.

### Semi-Final 2

Italy and Spain will also vote in this semi-final.

## Score sheet

### Semi-Final 1

#### 12 points (Jury)

Below there is a summary of the maximum 12 points awarded by each country's professional jury in the first semi-final:

#### 12 points (Televote)

Below there is a summary of the maximum 12 points awarded by each country's televote in the first semi-final:

### Semi-Final 2

#### 12 points (Jury)

Below there is a summary of the maximum 12 points awarded by each country's professional jury in the second semi-final:

#### 12 points (Televote)

Below there is a summary of the maximum 12 points awarded by each country's televote in the second semi-final:

### Grand Final

#### 12 points (Jury)

Below there is a summary of the maximum 12 points awarded by each country's professional jury in the final:

#### 12 points (Televote)

Below there is a summary of the maximum 12 points awarded by each country's televote in the final:

## Incidents

### Manifestation to withdraw the Ukrainian entry

Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the constant tensions, many fans of the festival took to the streets to demand Ukraine's withdrawal from the fifteenth edition, claiming that Russia has already been expelled from the Zone Broadcasting Union until there is calm. and all the Ukrainian songs have political connotations since the beginning of the invasion and portending for a Zone Song Contest without political connotations. On the other hand, the video of the Antytila group participating in Ukraine in this edition is quite explicit, in "Forteza Bahmut" several explicit scenes of missiles, allusions to war and others are shown. Which has been able to twitch many fans of the contest who took to the streets to demand not the withdrawal of the Slavic country, but another choice of song to represent Ukraine. Neither the NTU nor the ZBU have yet provided an answer or explanation on the matter.

## External Links

* Google Drive (#12-)
* Google Drive (#04-#11)
* Instagram
* Twitter
* Youtube