Altervision Song Contest 10

PQR date
 Final date
 Venue
 Entries
 Debuting
**Participation map**
* Countries that have confirmed their participation but have not announced their entry     Countries that have confirmed their participation and their entry, and qualified for the final     Countries that have confirmed their participation and their entry, but did not qualify to the final     Countries that participated in the past, but not in this edition
 System
 Winner

The **Altervision Song Contest 10** was the 10th edition of the **Altervision Song Contest**. It took place in Stockholm, Sweden following their victory in in the 9th edition in Split with Dotter performing Little Tot. It was the second time Sweden hosted the contest and the second time where the contest took place in a country that has hosted before. Sweden was the first country to win the contest two times as well. Stockholm was also the first capital city since the 8th edition to host the contest.

It was the first anniversary edition of the contest and had a theme. The official theme, revealed on 24th May, was a **non-english theme**, which means that **English-language entries were denied unless they fit certain rules** specifically made to reduce the popularity of English-language entries. All English-language songs would be denied for non-English speaking countries in spite of that.

A record-breaking amount of 47 countries have confirmed their participation with a lot of returning and debuting countries. Due to this, a pre-qualification round had to be enabled to reduce the amount of countries competing in the semi-finals.

The **10th winner of the Altervision Song Contest** was **North Macedonia** with the song "Za Nas" performed by Lara, gathering a record-breaking amount of **360** points overall in the final, passing the runner-up by **37** points. The top 5 was rounded out by Venezuela, Poland, the United Kingdom and the Falkland Islands. Za Nas was the first winning song sung entirely in a language other than English, and the first winning ballad in the history of the contest. It was also the first winner to contain non-English lyrics since edition 2's "Statements".

## Location

**Stockholm** is the capital of Sweden. It has the most populous urban area in Sweden as well as in Scandinavia. 1 million people live in the municipality, approximately 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropolitan area. The city stretches across fourteen islands where Lake Mälaren flows into the Baltic Sea. Outside the city to the east, and along the coast, is the island chain of the Stockholm archipelago. The area has been settled since the Stone Age, in the 6th millennium BC, and was founded as a city in 1252 by Swedish statesman Birger Jarl. It is also the county seat of Stockholm County.

Stockholm is the cultural, media, political, and economic centre of Sweden. The Stockholm region alone accounts for over a third of the country's GDP, and is among the top 10 regions in Europe by GDP per capita. Ranked as an alpha-global city, it is the largest in Scandinavia and the main centre for corporate headquarters in the Nordic region. The city is home to some of Europe's top ranking universities, such as the Stockholm School of Economics, Karolinska Institute, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm University. It hosts the annual Nobel Prize ceremonies and banquet at the Stockholm Concert Hall and Stockholm City Hall. One of the city's most prized museums, the Vasa Museum, is the most visited non-art museum in Scandinavia. The Stockholm metro, opened in 1950, is well known for the decor of its stations; it has been called the longest art gallery in the world. Sweden's national football arena is located north of the city centre, in Solna. Avicii Arena, the national indoor arena, is in the southern part of the city. The city was the host of the 1912 Summer Olympics, and hosted the equestrian portion of the 1956 Summer Olympics otherwise held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Stockholm is the seat of the Swedish government and most of its agencies, including the highest courts in the judiciary, and the official residencies of the Swedish monarch and the Prime Minister. The government has its seat in the Rosenbad building, the Riksdag (Swedish parliament) is seated in the Parliament House, and the Prime Minister's residence is adjacent at Sager House. Stockholm Palace is the official residence and principal workplace of the Swedish monarch, while Drottningholm Palace, a World Heritage Site on the outskirts of Stockholm, serves as the Royal Family's private residence.

### Bidding phase

Following Dotter's win in Split, several Swedish cities and their mayors have expressed interest in hosting the contest. A grand total of 10 venues expressed their interest in hosting the contest, however 2 of them have been rejected due to not meeting the requirements of the Altervision Broadcasting Union, while 2 others have announced their withdrawal due to various reasons.

In the end, out of the 6 remaining venues, ABU and host broadcaster SVT have chosen the Avicii Arena in Stockholm to host the contest. The arena, previously known as the Stockholm Globe Arena, has a maximum capacity of 16,000 attendees and is capable of hosting indoor sporting events such as ice hockey and basketball matches as well as concerts and fairs.

## Format

### Theme art and slogan

The official slogan and theme art of the edition was unveiled on 18th June.

The slogan was "reaching new heights". As the contest have progressed throughout the past year, it has become bigger and bigger. As the size grew, the contest has also become more organized and gathered a stable fanbase. These events have inspired the slogan which aims to inspire other people to keep reaching new heights even in the toughest times.

The official theme artwork was revealed alongside the slogan. It features a stripe of pride colours coming from the bottom of the screen and goes up a wall. It is aiming to picture reaching new heights and being proud of oneself as well. The theme artwork was inspired by pride month, which ended right before the main events of the contest.

### Shows

In spite of low expectations, the 10th edition saw a giant influx in countries, 47 broadcasters confirmed their participation compared to previous edition's 30. Due to this, the organizers seeked to expand the shows with bigger semi-finals and a pre-qualification round for those countries who ended up in the bottom 3 in their respective semi-final in the previous edition. Some exceptions have been made due to some head of delegations making the decision to change their countries.

### Hosts

All shows were hosted by Swedish singer-songwriter and television presenter Sanna Nielsen along with Swedish-Palestinian singer-songwriter Eric Saade.

## Participating countries

### Returning artists

The following list consists of artists who have entered the contest before.

### Semi-Final 1

Moldova, Sweden and the United Kingdom also voted in this Semi-Final.

### Semi-Final 2

Belgium, the Czech Republic and Germany also voted in this Semi-Final.

## Incidents

### Issues with the Chinese entry

Hunan TV have initially confirmed China's participation on 19th June. The broadcaster originally confirmed with Hong Kong's national anthem, which was against the contest rules as national anthems cannot participate. Their second entry, "Divine Song" by Gong Linna was unveiled on the same day, however was again in breach of the contest rules as troll entries cannot participate. The ABU's statement regarding this has caused major dissatisfaction with the contest in the country which in the end pulled out due to being pressured by the Chinese government.

## Other countries

* Argentina: On 22nd June, Televisión Pública confirmed Argentina's withdrawal due to the poor results in the previous edition.
* Belarus: Following internal discussions in the ABU, the Executive Board have agreed to suspend the membership of Belarusian broadcaster BTRC. This decision has been made due to the broadcaster constantly violating the people's freedom of speech as well as independent journalism. Belarus could still return however given that another broadcaster from Belarus applies for ABU membership and announces it's interest to participate.
* Bosnia & Herzegovina: BHRT announced on 19th June that Bosnia & Herzegovina would not be able to participate due to financial issues. It has been confirmed that once these issues have been solved the country would once again take part.
* China: Hunan TV have initially confirmed China's participation, however the broadcaster submitted two entries with none of them complying with the rules of the contest. As an aftermath, the broadcaster withdrew from participation.
* Iceland: A spokesperson from Icelandic broadcaster RÚV confirmed on 22nd June that Iceland would be withdrawing due to financial issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
* Ireland: RTÉ confirmed it's non-participation on 18th June without any further explanation. Later it was revealed that RTÉ is facing financial issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and could not pay the participation fee which is compulsory for a participating broadcaster in order to enter the contest.
* Morocco: SNRT confirmed Morocco's non-participation on 31st May due to internal issues the broadcaster has to face. This include financial issues and political issues. A return in the future has not been ruled out.

 First decade
 Active
 Host cities