Binational Music Fest 15

Final date
 Venue
 Executive producer
 Presenter(s)
 Opening act
 Interval act
 Entries
 Debuting
 System
 Winner

**Binational Music Fest 15**, often referred to as **BMF #15**, was the fifteenth edition of Binational Music Fest, It took place in Serkey, following the country's victory in the previous edition with "Darbuka" by Eftalya Yağcı. This was the first time that the country had hosted the contest. The contest was held at Štark Arena and consisted of a semi-final and a final. The two live shows were presented by Serbian-Italian singer, songwriter, model, and actress Sara Jo and Turkish-British singer and songwriter Selin.

Thirty-two countries participated in the fifteenth edition. Belaruly, Lithuambia, Swedesrael, and Viet China made their debut appearance. Braand, South Yugoslavia, and Ukrainian Soviet Socialist England returned to the contest. However, Costa Belgium, Faroe Iceland, Irtugal, Lilles, Sri Korea, Swedenia, and Viet Cambodia withdrew from the competition.

The winner was West Indies Japan with the song "The Life" by Electric Youth which scored 128 points, winning by a margin of 4 points in front of Albangolia. The podium was completed by Philiden, which finished in third place. Serkey, the host country placed nineteenth in the final.

Besides three of four debutants, Belaruly, Swedesrael and Viet China, which qualified for the grand final on their debut, West Indies Japan, an eventual winner, qualified for the grand final for the first time. Meanwhile, Rondia and Spaice failed to qualify for the first time.

## Location

### Bidding phase

Template:Location map+The host broadcaster launched the bidding process after Eftalya Yağcı’s victory in the 14th contest in New Ireland, and Serkey was officially confirmed as the host country. Any potential candidates must meet a set of minimum standards that demonstrate they have the capacity, capability, and experience to host an event of this scale and complexity.

The selection criteria for the host city have included: a suitable venue capable of accommodating at least 5,000 spectators, an international press centre for a maximum of 1,000 journalists with adequate facilities for all the delegates, a good distribution of hotel rooms, at different price categories, able to accommodate at least 1,500 delegates, accredited journalists and spectators, and an efficient transport infrastructure, including a nearby international airport with easy reachability and readily available connections with the city, venue, and hotels.

During the first stage of the bidding process, the broadcaster received expressions of interest from various cities and towns across the country, Five of which were shortlisted: Ankara, Belgrade, Istanbul, İzmir, and Novi Sad. These cities went to the second stage to develop their bids in detail for evaluation. Belgrade was announced as the host city, with Štark Arena as the chosen venue for the contest.

**Key:**

     Host venue

  İzmir
  Novi Sad

### Host city

**Belgrade** is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. The population of the Belgrade metropolitan area is 1,681,405 according to the 2022 census. It is one of the major cities of Southeast Europe and the third most populous city on the Danube river.

Belgrade is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Europe and the world. One of the most important prehistoric cultures of Europe, the Vinča culture, evolved within the Belgrade area in the 6th millennium BC. In antiquity, Thraco-Dacians inhabited the region and, after 279 BC, Celts settled the city, naming it Singidūn. It was conquered by the Romans under the reign of Augustus and awarded Roman city rights in the mid-2nd century. It was settled by the Slavs in the 520s, and changed hands several times between the Byzantine Empire, the Frankish Empire, the Bulgarian Empire, and the Kingdom of Hungary before it became the seat of the Serbian king Stefan Dragutin in 1284. Belgrade served as capital of the Serbian Despotate during the reign of Stefan Lazarević, and then his successor Đurađ Branković returned it to the Hungarian king in 1427. Noon bells in support of the Hungarian army against the Ottoman Empire during the siege in 1456 have remained a widespread church tradition to this day. In 1521, Belgrade was conquered by the Ottomans and became the seat of the Sanjak of Smederevo. It frequently passed from Ottoman to Habsburg rule, which saw the destruction of most of the city during the Ottoman–Habsburg wars.

### Venue

The **Štark Arena**, also known as **Belgrade Arena**, is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Belgrade, Serbia. It is designed as a universal hall for sports, cultural events and other programs. The venue is used for several different sports events, such as basketball, futsal, handball, judo, table tennis, tennis, volleyball, water polo, as well as for concerts. The arena can hold 18,386 spectators, but the current record stands at 24,232, which was set in 2014 by KK Red Star as home team. Also there is small hall with underground tuminel for warming while the total floor area stands at 48,000 m2 (520,000 sq ft). Štark Arena is a member of the European Arenas Association (EAA).

## Results

### Semi-final

22 countries participated in the semi-final, with all participating countries eligible to vote. The highlighted countries qualified for the final.

**Note**

1. ↑ Contains repeated lines in Spanish.
2. ↑ Contains a repeated word and phrase in English.

### Final

24 countries participated in the final, with all participating countries eligible to vote.

**Note**

1. ↑ Contains repeated lines in Spanish.
2. ↑ Contains a line in English.

## Detailed voting results

### Semifinal

#### 12 points

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

Out of 32 countries, Albangolia and Azerbaistralia failed to vote. A total of 15 countries received at least one set of 12 points during the semifinal. Germastria, Lithuambia and USS England were the only non-qualifiers to receive 12 points.

### Grand Final

#### 12 points

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

A total of 17 countries received at least one set of 12 points during the semifinal. An eventual winner, West Indies Japan, received full marks from three countries, along with Cakhstan, Cungapore, Denland, Rwarway and Serkey, the host country. The runner-up of the fifteenth edition, Albangolia, received 12 points from two countries.

## Other countries

*Further information: List of countries in the Binational Music Fest*

* Costa Belgium: Despite confirming their participation, the broadcaster failed to submit a valid entry within the deadline and was forced to withdraw.
* Faroe Iceland: The broadcaster confirmed their withdrawal after the HoD had resigned from their position. A return in the future is possible but not confirmed.
* Irtugal: The broadcaster confirmed their withdrawal after the HoD had resigned from their position to work with Belaruly.
* Japadia: The broadcaster announced their withdrawal after the HoD was fired due to rules violation.
* Lilles: The broadcaster was forced to withdraw from this edition due to rules violations.
* Malvinas Falkland Guadeloupe: The broadcaster confirmed they would not return to the contest for the 15th edition.
* Norwarland: The broadcaster failed to confirm their participation within the deadline and was forced to withdraw. Shortly after the confirmation deadline, the broadcaster announced they would withdraw from the contest but a return in the future is possible.
* Southeast Colombia: The broadcaster failed to confirm their participation within the deadline and was forced to withdraw.
* Sri Korea: The broadcaster confirmed their withdrawal after the HoD had resigned from their position, citing schedule conflict as the reason.
* Swedenia: The broadcaster confirmed their withdrawal after the HoD had resigned from their position to work with Swedesrael.
* Turkeria: During the confirmation phase of the previous edition, the broadcaster confirmed they would not be present in the 15th edition as well.
* Viet Cambodia: The broadcaster confirmed their withdrawal after the HoD had resigned from their position, citing poor results as the reason to work with Viet China.