Zone Song Contest 12

Final
 Venue
 Entries
 Debuting
**Participation map**
* Participating 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 12**, often referred as **ZSC 12**, was the twelfth edition of the Zone Song Contest. This edition was located in Spain as host country. RTVE was the TV station chosen by the Spanish delegation to televise and organize such important event of this dimensions for all Europe and the world after their first victory at the eleventh edition with the singer *Belén Aguilera* and the song *"Vértigo"* with *461 points* in a exciting final voting where the jury put Spain in third place and the televote in second place. United Kingdom and Norway were finally completing the podium in second and third position. Thus achieving Spain their first victory for the country at the Zone Song Contest.
Although it was already known that Australia would not be present as it was a guest country, on March 23 and 24 the expulsion of Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the withdrawal of San Marino due to the poor result obtained after 10 editions without participating was confirmed by the ZBU.

At the press conference of the "bidding phase" the presenters of the twelfth edition, this time held in Spain were also revealed. In first place the Spanish actor, director, producer, and singer Antonio Banderas, the influencer, content creator, comedian and television presenter Inés Hernand and the artist, singer, actress, internet celebrity and LGBT activist Samantha Hudson those three would host the live shows while José Gabriel Ramos would present the Red Carpet and will host in the Green Room.

On April 13, 2022, the Zone Broadcasting Union announced the official list of participating countries for the twelfth edition of the contest, having confirmed a total of **43** countries. Lower number than previous editions due to the withdrawal of Australia, Russia and San Marino, but with the return of Andorra and the debut of Luxembourg.

## Location

**Spain** is a country in southwestern Europe with parts of territory in the Atlantic Ocean and across the Mediterranean Sea. The largest part of Spain is situated on the Iberian Peninsula; its territory also includes the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea, the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, and several minor overseas territories also scattered along the Moroccan coast of the Alboran Sea. The country's mainland is bordered to the south by Gibraltar; to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea; to the north by France, Andorra and the Bay of Biscay; and to the west by Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean.

**Valencia** is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-largest city in Spain after Madrid and Barcelona, with 789,744 inhabitants in the municipality. The wider urban area also comprising the neighbouring municipalities has a population of around 1.6 million. Valencia is Spain's third-largest metropolitan area, with a population ranging from 1.7 to 2.5 million depending on how the metropolitan area is defined. The Port of Valencia is the 5th-busiest container port in Europe and the busiest container port on the Mediterranean Sea. The city is ranked as a Gamma-level global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network.

### Bidding phase

As of April 11, 2022, the Spanish HoD Aitana García officially presented the rules that Spanish 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 RTVE:

* 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.

That same 11 April six cities were announced with possibilities to host the contest, they were:

**Key**
  †  Host venue   ‡  Shortlisted venues

 Valencia | Pavelló Municipal Font de Sant Lluís † | 9,000

## Format

### Allocation Draw

The draw to determine the allocation of the participating countries into their respective semi-finals took place on May 2 2022 at 16:00 CET, at the *Palacio de Exposiciones y Congresos de Granada*  located in Granada, Spain. 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 thirty-eight 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.

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

## Results

### Semi-Final 1

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

### Semi-Final 2

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

## Incidents

### Disqualification of Russia

Despite confirming its participation in the twelfth edition of the Zone Song Contest, Russia was temporarily expelled by the ZBU due to the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and claiming that above all else there is peace and then everything else. "Russia has been a very appreciated country for the ZBU in the Zone Song Contest, we love the Russian language, culture, and all Russian singers who wish and sings for peace between the Russian and Ukrainian people, but not everything goes right now. The Russian ZBU application will be revoked and when this senseless war ends, the Russian return can take place, which, on the other hand, we look forward to." sentenced the ZBU.

### Association of RTVA and TV3

After the announcement of Andorra's return, RTVA argued that due to the chain financial problems, the Andorran national final called "*Nostra Cançó*" would not be held, since instead a new national final called "*24 Punts*" would be organized by RTVA with the help of the Catalan broadcaster TV3 which lent itself to help Andorra with their return. From that moment, several political movements took people to the streets to ask that Andorra not participate in the Zone Song Contest since it was "a covert participation of Catalonia to encourage the independence movement". The ZBU didn't notice the least bit of this incident but in Spain it was quite controversial.

### Forced withdrawal of Italy

After starting the voting for the edition, Italy was discovered as a cover of the song "La Più Bella Del Mondo" by Italian singer Raf. Because the vote had already begun, Italy was forced to withdraw from this twelfth edition, since the rules of the Zone Song Contest do not allow cover songs to participate. Because it was a human error of the RAI Italy was able to vote in both the Semi-Final 2 and the Grand Final without sanction of any type.

## External Links

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