Dreamvision 8

Grand final: Bilal Hassani - Jaloux

 Slovakia

## Vote

### Voting system

50% jury voting, 50% televoting. The jury voting will consist of each participation nation awarding their 12, 10 and 8 to 1 points to their top 10. The televoting is partly decided by non-participants and partly via free voting.

### Winner

 AlbaniaElvana Gjata - 'Me tana'

The eighth edition of the Dreamvision Song Contest took place in France following the country's victory at the seventh edition with the song 'Là haut' peformed by Chimène Badi. It was the second time France won the contest and the third time France hosted a Dreamvision event. The contest took place in late January 2020 and in February 2020 and consisted of 2 semi-finals and a grand final. All three shows were held in La Défense Arena in Paris.

Forty-eight countries participated in the contest with Austria making its first appearance. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Taiwan both returned after an absence of one edition. Sadly, Barbados and Slovakia both withdrew due financial difficulties while Jamaica missed out of the contest due scheduling problems.

## Location

### **Host venue**

The contest took place in La défense Arena in the capital Paris. The venue is one of the biggest indoor arenas of the country and has a capacity of 30.000 to 40.000. The arena is located in Nanterre, a western surbub of Paris.

### **Bidding phase**

Prior the grand final of the contest Ukraine stated they would like to host the country, also Sweden revealed their interest in hosting the shows. Both countries announced they would choose their venue via a selection, however on 20 December the DBU announced the contest would take place in the winning country of the seventh edition which was France.

On 22 December broadcaster France 2 announced that venues all over the country had until 27 December to submit their bidbook. The same day it was announced via the official instagram of Dreamvision that the venue would be chosen by the audience via battles on Instagram Stories.

On 28 December it was announced that 8 venues had submit their bidbook to the DBU and France 2. Those were La Phare in Chambéry, Stade couvert régional in Liévin, Sud de France arena in Montpellier, Hall XXL in Nantes, Paris la défense arena in Paris, Zénith de Strasbourg in Strasbourg and the two venues who had previously hosted the contest in France: Arkéa Arena in Bordeaux and AccorHotels Arena in Paris. The same day voting went open via Instagram Stories which determined the 4 shortlisted venues.

On 31 December 2019 it was announced via Instagram that the Sud de France Arena in Montpellier, AccorHotels Arena in Paris, La défense Arena in Paris and Zénith de Strasbourg collected the most votes in round 2 and that those 4 venues were still in the lead to host the contest. At the same day round 2 of voting opened which determined the host venue.

On 5 January it was announced La défense Arena in Paris had won the second round of voting making it the host venue of the eighth edition.

**Key**:  Host venue  Shortlisted

## Format

The contest consited of 2 semi-finals and a grand final like the past editions, for the first time ever a second chance round was hosted to determine the 27th available spot in the final. The 11th and 12th places from both semi-finals battled for a wildcard. It was also the first time ever that there were 27 countries in the final.

### **Semi-final allocation draw**

The draw to determine the allocation of the participating countries into their respective semi-finals took place on 13 January 2019 at 15:30 CET in the Louvre Museum in Paris. The 42 semi-finalists had been allocated into six pots, based on historical voting patterns and the location of the country. Drawing from different pots helps to reduce the chance of so-called neighbourly voting and increases suspense in the semi-finals. The draw also determined the semi-final that each of the six automatic finalist countries (Host country France and Big Five countries Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Liechtenstein, Morocco and  Marino San Marino) would broadcast and vote in. It was also announced in which half each automatic qualifier would participate in. The ceremony was hosted by Amir who was one of the hosts in the first edition.

* Australia
* Belize
* Canada
* Colombia
* Spain
* United States
* Belgium
* Germany
* Italy
* Malta
* Poland
* Switzerland
* Iceland
* Isle of Man
* Netherlands
* Norway
* Sweden
 Pot 4
 * Austria
* Estonia
* Hungary
* Kosovo
* Latvia
* Romania
* Ukraine
* Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Greece
* North Macedonia
* Serbia
* Slovenia
* Turkey
* Israel
* Kazakhstan
* Russia
* South Korea
* Taiwan
* Thailand

### **Visual design**

The official artwork was revealed at 1 January 2020 via Instagram. The slogan for the contest was 'Colour your life'. The logo shows a golden feather and a blue diamond which are the colours that are bringing humans alive, the background shows several red feathers which symbolizes all different but equal people.

### **Voting**

The voting system remained the same as of last edition's. 50% of the results were determined by each national jury and the other 50% was determined by televoting. In both semi-finals all 21 national juries and 3 of the automatic qualifiers awarded 12,10 and 8 to 1 points to their top 10. The televoting was determined via non-participants and Instagram Stories. In the grand final all 48 participating countries awarded their votes, the televoting system remained the same.

## Provisional list of participants

Forty-eight countries took part. Austria made their debute while Bosnia and Herzegovina and Taiwan both returned after an absence of one edition. Sadly, Barbados, Jamaica and Slovakia withdrew due various reasons.

### **Returning artists**

Shakira returned for Colombia after representing the country during their debute in the sixth edition, she placed 25th in the final with the song 'Hips don't lie'. Saara Aalto returned for Finland after representing Finland in the fifth edition failing to qualify due voting issues from the broadcaster. Eleni Foureira returned to represent Greece after representing Greece in the third edition, winning the contest and after representing Cyprus in the fourth edition placing ninth with 68 points. Dua Lipa returned for the third time in a row to represent Kosovo after placing fifth and nineteenth in the sixth and seventh edition. Ira Losco returned, this time featuring Michela, after representing Malta in the seventh edition with the song 'Hey now' and placing 10th with 225 points. Davina Michelle represented the Netherlands after receiving the country's best result in the fifth edition placing third with the song 'Skyward'. Raiven represented Slovenia after previously representing the country in the fourth edition placing seventh with the song 'Naisem kriva'. Mahmut represented Turkey after representing the country in the sixth edition featuring Sena placing third with the song 'Feel'. Taylor Swift represented the United States after representing micro-state American Samoa, sadly placing last due voting issues from the broadcaster with the song 'You need to calm down'.

### **Semi-final 1**

The first semi-final took place on 26 January featuring 21 countries, the 10 countries with the highest amount of points qualified to the final.

### **Semi-final 2**

The second semi-final took place on 2 February featuring 21 countries, the 10 countries with the highest amount of points qualified to the final.

### **Second chance round**

Right after the announcement of the semi-final 2 qualifiers it was announced that for the ever there would be held a second chance round in order to add a 27th country to the final. The 11th and 12th places from both semi-finals battled for the last final spot.

### **Grand final**

The grand final took place on 9 February 2020 and featured 27 countries, 10 from each semi-final, the second chance winner and the big 5 + host country. Albania was the overall winner, Latvia and Azerbaijan completed the top 3.

## Other countries

* Barbados The Barbadossian government announced they were considering participation due high costs and other, more important, tasks. On 26 December Barbados was not on the full list of participants.
* China Mango TV announced they would not return to the contest due scheduling problems. However, Chinese broadcaster CCTV announced they would discuss with Mango TV wheter CCTV could broadcast the show in the ninth edition making a return possible.
* Cuba CIRT announced Cuba would not return due financial difficulties and lack of a HoD.
* Czech Republic Broadcaster CT did not return due financial issues and scheduling problems.
* Ireland The broadcaster announced in 23 December that talks about a return to the contest would take place within a few days, making it possible for the country to return after an absence. However, on 26 December 2019 Ireland was not on the full list of participants. On 27 December it was announced that Ireland did not made their attempt due scheduling problems but that the broadcaster was already discussing about a return to the ninth edition.
* Jamaica During their debute in the seventh edition it was announced by the DBU that Jamaica would participate for at least 2 editions making it possible for the country to debute, however on 26 December 2019 Jamaica was not on the full list of participants. Later in the evening it was announced that Jamaica withdrew due scheduling problems.
* Lebanon LBCI announced they would not return to the contest due lack of interest and political issues with Israel.
* Luxembourg On 25 December it was announced that Luxembourg had no plans to return to the contest due financial difficulties and the lack of a HoD.
* Portugal On 26 December RTP announced they were considering participation in the eighth edition but decided to not return due lack of viewers, they states that they were open to return one of the next editions.
* Slovakia Broadcaster RTVS announced their withdrawal on 24 December due bad results and financial difficulties.