Bisini in the Mearthvision Song Contest

Internal selection

Bisini has participated in every Mearthvision Song Contest since its inaugural edition in 200 in Poler, being one of 10 countries to have been ever present at the contest, the others being Canadina, Dania, Lincly, Lincon, Noda, Rinasine, South Yelsiva, Tontin and Yelsiva. Bisini is the only country that has consistently participated in the contest that has never used a national final to select their entrants; instead, its national broadcaster, the Bisinish Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), has opted to internally select them each year. Bisini has hosted the contest three times: twice in Sydinie (201 and 218) and once in Wesilu (217).

Bisini was the first country to win the contest, with Izzy and Dig and the song "Animals". Following the contest, Izzy and Dig became hugely successful internationally, and are typically considered to be the most successful Mearthvision act of all time. Bisini won the contest again in 216 with the song "Acceptatie" performed by Joel and Donna, becoming the first country to win it twice. Izzy and Dig returned in 217 to defend Bisini's crown with "Cover It In Black", which attracted positive media and fan attention and managed to score Bisini their third win. As of 218, Bisini is the only country that has won the contest more than once, twice in a row and twice with the same artists.

Other than its victories, Bisini has finished in the top five 5 times. It finished second with Media (210) and Streak (212), third with Outside In (205) and fourth with Alice Quin (213) and Gabriella Anderson (215). Bisini has finished last once, in 206.

## History

### 200–205: First victory and following years

Bisini's national broadcaster, the Bisinish Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), was one of the fifteen broadcasters that showed preliminary interest in taking part in 200, having been a member of the IBU since its creation in 193. It was later confirmed as one of the sixteen countries that would participate in Poler on 15 October 199.

The BBC opened artist applications on 16 October and selected Izzy and Dig and their song "Animals". Upon its official release in December, it immediately became a hit and the favourite to win. Over the next couple of months, Izzy and Dig worked with BBC to advertise and promote their song before the contest, growing Izzy and Dig's fanbase and making them well-known even before the contest. Prior to the final, the duo won two Mearthvision Awards in the Artistic and Press categories, and topped the OGAM poll. On the night, Bisini performed 9th and won the contest with 98 points. Following the contest, Izzy and Dig became hugely successful internationally and are typically considered to be the most successful Mearthvision act of all time.

In 201, the BBC selected Archy Marchy and his song "Months" to represent the country on home soil in Sydinie. It performed last on the night of the final, as all host countries would until 209, and finished in 7th place with 64 points. He was succeeded in 202 by Francine Turner and "The Enemy", which finished in 13th place in a field of 16 with 46 points, marking the lowest-scoring Bisinish entry until 206.

Trent McCree represented Bisini in the 203 contest, finishing in 9th place with 62 points with "Ja, Nein", the first Bisinish song in the contest to be sung in a language other than Linclian; in this case, Easatloan. In 204, JOYAN and "Yes Siree" finished again in 9th place with 62 points, and, in 205, Outside In earned Bisini their best performance since 200, when the band's song "Welcome" finished in third place with 81 points.

### 206–209: Dark age

The BBC revealed their entrant for 206 on *The Breakfast Show* on 17 October 205: Jordan Rey, known professionally as Trip, who would sing "I Dig It". The announcement was met with very mixed opinions from fans and the press, with much criticism stemming from the singer's controversial opinions on transgender people. The official music video for "I Dig It" became the most disliked Mearthvision-related video on Vuzu, which still remains the case as of 218. Eventually, at the contest in Maylvík, the song finished in 19th and last place with just 34 points, Bisini's worst performance to date.

Bisini's last-place finish in 206 began a streak of low placements, often called the "dark ages" of Bisini at the contest. Stan Will Stay's "Great" finished in 12th with 44 points in 207, followed by a 13th-place finish in 208 with 43 points for "Story of My Life" by Barry McConnell and a 14th-place finish in 209, when "Shine, Shine" performed by Katie Oval finished with 45 points.

### 210–215: Return to success

Following their relative failure, the BBC looked to change their method of internally selecting their artist. For 210, they collaborated with BMG and their top songwriters and artists to select their entrant. Indie rock band Media was selected to represent the country with "Kicks", which went on to place second with 88 points, their second best performance at the time. The song's composers, Johnny Tomson and Aaron Blake, won the Mearthvision Award in the Composer category and the song topped that year's OGAM poll.

Bisini were represented by Nate James and "We're More" in 211, which did surprisingly poorly, finishing in 17th with 38 points. Nonetheless, the BBC continued to collaborate with BMG for 212, selecting supergroup Streak, which performed "Too Hard". One of the favourites to win, Streak performed 15th on the night and finished with a record-breaking 105 points, giving Bisini its second 2nd-place finish as well as its second Composer Award at that year's Mearthvision Awards ceremony.

For 213 the BBC returned to their initial selection technique after announcing they were no longer working with BMG. Alice Quin, who was instead signed with Candy Music Bisini, was chosen to represent Bisini, performing "Killing Me More". Another positively received song, it won another Mearthvision Award for Bisini, this time in the Artistic category. In the end, the song finished in 4th place with 81 points. Bisini was represented by Solstice and "Come Forth" in 214, finishing in 10th with 48 points.

In 215, Bisini was represented by Gabriella Anderson with "One in a Million". It finished 4th with 133 points, another point record due to the implementation of the televote, giving Bisini their sixth top five placement. Bisini finished 10th in the jury vote with 57 points and 3rd in the televote with 76 points.

### 216–present: Second and third victories

The BBC selected Joel and Donna to represent Bisini in 216, out of over 200 applicants, revealing the duo to the public on 16 November 215. Their song, "Acceptatie", was sung mostly in Warelersh, but also contained lyrics in Danian, Easatloan, Linconian, Maron, Rinasinean, South Halsivese and Yelsivan, by far the most languages ever to appear in a Mearthvision song. Upon its release it quickly became a favourite to win but was also highly controversial for its prominent use of the Warelersh language, the official language of Warelern, which would not join the UN or the IBU until 217. Some news outlets claimed that the song had a political message since Bisini, with its prominent Warelersh minority, was one of five countries that recognised Warelern. These outlets wanted the IBU to disqualify the song, but the IBU denied that the song had any political message and it was allowed to participate.

Joel and Donna performed first on the evening and ended up winning the contest with 218 points, scoring Bisini its second win and marking the first time a country won more than once. Unlike 215, in which Jolivan won the televote but not the jury vote, Bisini won neither, instead placing second in both. Noda and Porta won the jury vote and televote respectively. The song surprisingly did not win any Mearthvision Awards, marking the first time since 209 that the contest's winner failed to win an award in the ceremony. However, it finished second in that year's OGAM poll behind Porta.

As usual, the BBC revealed their artist and song for the 217 contest before any other country. To be specific, they announced on 1 November 216 that Izzy and Dig would return to represent the country in Wesilu with "Cover It in Black". Though the song was not officially released until 6 December, the announcement was met with huge attention from the media and positive reception from fans, and Bisini immediately shot to the top of the winning odds. Speculation arose over whether the BBC specifically chose the duo again so they could win the contest, although this was denied by the BBC and Izzy and Dig themselves.

"Cover It in Black" went viral following its release and, according to Digby York, brought attention to the duo that they had not received in years. It charted on the *Billboard* Hot 100 and was praised by music critics for its tone, memorability and maturity. It won all three Mearthvision Awards (Press, Artistic and Composer) and topped the OGAM poll by a large margin. At the contest, the duo performed eighth on the night and won the contest with 372 points, 76 points over second place finisher Lincly, giving Bisini their third victory and second in a row, as well as their second with Izzy and Dig. Their record number of points was 123 points higher than the previous record, achieved by Jolivan in 215. Bisini became the first country to win both the jury and televotes since the implementation of the televote in 215 and received points from every single country in both. Bisini broke the record for the most amount of points given by the juries with 166 points, beating Lincly's record of 144 achieved in 214, and the public with 206 points which beat Jolivan's record of 148 from 215. All of these records were beaten by Dania and Warelern in the following edition, but, due to the implementation of the pre-qualifying round, these are not properly comparable and Izzy and Dig's records remain for the pre semi-final era. A record that has not been broken, however, is the percentage of maximum possible points the country received: 77.5%, which beat Lincly's record in 214 by over 10%.

At the 218 contest, again in Sydinie, Marie-Lee Blake represented Bisini with "When I Wait", the second of their songs to include Danian lyrics. As one of the 21 countries that had participated in 217, Bisini automatically qualified for the final but voted in the pre-qualifying round. Performing 17th in a 26-country final, Blake finished in 10th place with 123 points. While this achieved the worst result for a host country since 213, Bisini still proved to be successful as three-time hosts.

The BBC announced that Ryan Walsman will represent Bisini at the 219 contest with "She Told Me" on *The Late-ish Show with Ariana Barrett,* just as they had done for 218, on 15 November 218. Due to the large intake in countries, only the "Big Six" consisting of the top six placed countries of the previous edition will automatically qualify for the final; as it did not finish in the top 6, Bisini will have to take part in the first semi-final.

## Participation overview

Table key
 **†** | Upcoming

### *Oh Yes: A Mearthvision Song Contest Celebration*

*Further information: Oh Yes: A Mearthvision Song Contest Celebration*

As Bisini had won the contest in 200, they were entered into the winner's semi-final of the 10th anniversary event *Oh Yes: A Mearthvision Song Contest Celebration* with the winning song "Animals" performed by Izzy and Dig. It finished 1st with 315 points, winning both the jury vote and televote, and qualified for the final.

In the final, "Animals" won the event with 333 points, 83 points ahead of runner-up "This Modern World", which had won in 201 for Canadina. As winners, Izzy and Dig were presented with a custom-made glass-blown trophy.

 Izzy and Dig | Linclian

## Awards

### Mearthvision Awards

*Further information: Mearthvision Awards*

## Related involvement

### Heads of delegation

The public broadcaster of each participating country in the Mearthvision Song Contest assigns a head of delegation as the IBU's contact person and the leader of their delegation at the event. The delegation, whose size can greatly vary, includes a head of press, the contestants, songwriters, composers and backing vocalists, among others.

 214–present

## Notes and references

### Notes

1. ↑ Contains lyrics in Danian, Easatloan, Linconian, Maron, Rinasinean, South Halsivese and Yelsivan.
2. ↑ As the host and one of the 21 countries that participated in the 217 contest, Bisini automatically qualified for the final.

### References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Statham, Jeffrey (217). *Izzy and Dig: The Official Fan Guidebook (217 edition)*. Long Haul Books, Bisini.
2. ↑ Thomas, Henry (17 May 216). "Bisini's Joel and Donna have won Mearthvision 216". *The Waves*. Retrieved 17 October 218.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Tate, Stanley. "Winners of the Mearthvision Awards". *Mearthvision.tv*. International Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 17 November 218.
4. ↑ Gordon, William (17 December 215). "Mearthvision 216: Izzy and Dig and Acceptatie will be allowed represent Bisini". *BisiniVision*. Retrieved 18 November 218.
5. ↑ McDonald, Sue (2 January 218). "No, Izzy and Dig aren't back at Mearthvision to win again - but they probably will". *EntertainmentPortal*. Retrieved 9 November 218.
6. ↑ "Bisini – Ryan Walsman announced as 219 representative with "She Told Me"". *Vision*. 15 November 218. Retrieved 15 November 218.
7. ↑ Nolan, Kaylie. "The IBU confirms two semi-finals for 218". *mearthvoice.com*. 7 October 218. Retrieved 7 October 218.
8. ↑ "Mearthvision 219: Here are the 36 countries competing in Poler". *Mearthvision.tv*. IBU. 20 October 218. Retrieved 20 October 218.
9. ↑ "Mearthvision 219: Allocation Draw results". *Mearthvision.tv*. IBU. 31 January 219. Retrieved 31 January 219.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Mearthvision Awards". *mearthvision.tv*. Retrieved 20 November 218.
11. ↑ "Winners of the Mearthvision Awards 212". *mearthvision.tv*. 15 May 212. Retrieved 20 November 218.
12. ↑ "Winners of the Mearthvision Awards 213". *mearthvision.tv*. 20 May 213. Retrieved 20 November 218.
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 "Izzy and Dig sweep the 217 Mearthvision Awards". *mearthvision.tv*. 22 May 217. Retrieved 20 November 218.
14. ↑ Escovedo, Ronaldo (10 April 213). "Mearthvision 213: Who will top the OGAM poll?". *MSCextra*. Retrieved 20 November 218.
15. ↑ "210 OGAM Poll". *OGAM International*. 28 April 210. Retrieved 20 November 218.
16. ↑ "217 OGAM Poll". *OGAM International*. 12 April 217. Retrieved 20 November 218.
17. ↑ "Heads of Delegation". International Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 15 October 218.
18. ↑ "Bisini – Helen Martin steps down as head of delegation". *Vision*. 9 October 206. Retrieved 20 November 218.
19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 "Mearthvision 218: HoD Sandra Lewis on Bisini's Mearthvision renaissance". *BisiniVision*. Retrieved 20 November 218.
20. ↑ "Important news: Alan Charles will replace Ethan Freeman as Bisini's HoD!". *mscfun.org*. 20 November 210. Retrieved 20 November 218.
21. ↑ "Interview with Chloe York, Izzy and Dig's cousin and their costume designer". *EBNN*. 21 May 217. Retrieved 20 November 218.
22. ↑ North, George (4 May 218). "Mearthvision 218: Brian Peterson to commentate on both shows". *BisiniVision*. Retrieved 12 June 218.
23. ↑ Pree, Harry. "BBC announces Elena Baxter as radio commentator for 218". *mearthvoice.com*. 4 May 218. Retrieved 12 June 218.
24. ↑ "Mearthwizja 218: kto będzie prezentował wyniki głosowania?". Mearthwizja.org (in Rinasinean). OGAM Rinasinzce. 12 May 218. Retrieved 18 May 218.
25. ↑ "Important news: Stanley Ash will present Bisini's votes for 218!". *mscfun.org*. 9 May 218. Retrieved 10 May 218.
26. ↑ Price, Olivia (15 November 218). "Mearthvision 219: Ryan Walsman will represent Bisini with She Told Me". *BisiniVision*. Retrieved 15 November 218.
27. ↑ "Bisini – Ryan Walsman announced as 219 representative with "She Told Me"". *Vision*. 15 November 218. Retrieved 15 November 218.