Dreamvision 16

Pre-qualification round
 Semi-final 1
 Semi-final 2
 Second chance round
 Final
 Venue
 Executive supervisor
 Executive producer
 Host broadcaster
 Opening act
 Interval act
 Number of entries
 Winner

The 16th edition of the Dreamvision Song Contest took place in the United Kingdom after Griff's victory at the 15th edition in the United States with the song 'Black hole'. It was the second time the United Kingdom hosted a dreamvision event. The contest was held during September and October 2021 and consisted of 6 shows: 2 quarter-finals, 2 semi-finals, the second chance round and the grand final. All shows were hosted by former Dreamvision representatives: Fleur East and Grace Carter. The quarter-finals took place in Liverpool, the semi-finals in Glasgow and the grand final in London.

51 countries participated in the contest. Originally, 52 countries were scheduled to participate however Latvia withdrew later due to the failure of finding a suitable entry and problems within the broadcasting team.

## Location

On 21 July 2021, the DBU and BBC confirmed co-operation to host the 16th edition, thus confirming the United Kingdom as official host country. The BBC also called venues across the country to submit their bid book to the broadcaster if they wanted to host the contest. The BBC revealed: 'We hope all 4 countries within the United Kingdom will submit at least one bid'.

Between 16 August and 5 September the seven bidding phases were revealed, it total 3 countries submitted at least one bid. Wales later revealed there wasn't any venue that met the criteria in order to host the show however that they were supporting Liverpool due to its location, close to Wales. On 7 September it was announced that Glasgow, Liverpool and London were the shortlisted cities. One day later the BBC revealed that all cities would host at least one show.

**Key**:  Host venue

## Participating countries

### **Quarter-final 1**

The first quarter-final took place on 18 September 2021 and consisted of 14 countries. A total of 9 countries qualified for the semi-finals. Finland, Italy and United Kingdom also voted in this quarter-final.

### **Quarter-final 2**

The first quarter-final took place on 25 September 2021 and consisted of 14 countries. A total of 9 countries qualified for the semi-finals. France, the Netherlands and Romania also voted in this quarter-final.

## Other countries

* Andorra Although RTVA did not comment on their withdrawal it is likely the country withdrew due to financial difficulties.
* Armenia
* Bosnia and Herzegovina On 23 July, BHT announced they would not return to the contest because of financial problems.
* Chile Canal 13 made an official statement after Chile did not appear on the participation list: 'Within our team we have decided to not send an entry to the 16th edition because of limited time. We are working hard to participate again in the future'. Chile only participated once so far.
* Colombia The participating Colombian broadcaster, Canal Uno, announced they would not return to the contest on 25 July. Lack of interest under Colombian artists to participate was given as main reason, also political issues played a role.
* Cyprus The head of CyBC revealed on 20 July 2021 they were in talks with the DBU to bring the island back to the contest. However, Cyprus was not on the list of participating countries. The country took part for the last time in the thirteenth edition, where they placed 12th in the grand fnal.
* Cuba The official participating broadcaster of Cuba announced it was unlikely that the country would return to the contest due to financial issues.
* Iceland
* Latvia LTV confirmed participation on 16 August 2021, however on 25 September it was revealed by the DBU that the broadcaster had failed to submit a suitable entry before the deadline. LTV confirmed this news and gave the missing of a HoD as main reason: on the same day Latvia was disqualified from the 16th edition.
* Taiwan Although TTV participated in the contest during the same editions as China before, the head of the broadcaster revealed they will no longer participate in editions if China also participates. On 3 August the Chinese broadcaster confirmed participation, one day later TTV confirmed its withdrawal from the competition.
* Thailand In the 15th edition Thailand returned to the contest after an absence of six editions. However, the participating Thai broadcaster revealed it was an one-time participation to celebrate the 15th edition of the contest. On 28 July it was officialy announced that Thailand would not participate in the 16th edition.

**The following countries withdrew without giving a statement:**

* Hungary
* Jamaica