Athas Song Contest 11

The 11th edition of athas will be hosted in  Norway after facading won the contest with a new record 440 points winning both juries and online voting. Norway has only hosted ASBU event once and it was the Junior edition which was the first edition of the contest. The other top 5 from last edition  Wales,  South Korea,  Israel,  United States and  Romania will travel to Norway in the 11th edition.

## Host Country Information

**Norway**, officially the **Kingdom of Norway**, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of Norway. Bouvet Island, located in the Subantarctic, is a dependency of Norway; it also lays claims to the Antarctic territories of Peter I Island and Queen Maud Land. The capital and largest city in Norway is Oslo.

Norway has a total area of 385,207 square kilometres (148,729 sq mi) and had a population of 5,385,300 in November 2020. The country shares a long eastern border with Sweden at a length of 1,619 km (1,006 mi). It is bordered by Finland and Russia to the north-east and the Skagerrak strait to the south, on the other side of which are Denmark and the United Kingdom. Norway has an extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea. The maritime influence dominates Norway's climate, with mild lowland temperatures on the sea coasts; the interior, while colder, is also a lot milder than areas elsewhere in the world on such northerly latitudes. Even during polar night in the north, temperatures above freezing are commonplace on the coastline. The maritime influence brings high rainfall and snowfall to some areas of the country.

## Bidding

Currently 5 cities/towns are interested to host the contest. The bidding will begin in 21st on December and end on 28th of December. **Trondheim** was selected to be the host city for the 11th edition.

## Host City Information

**Trondheim** historically **Kaupangen**, **Nidaros** and **Trondhjem**, is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It has a population of 205,332 as of 2020, and is the third most populous municipality in Norway, although the fourth largest urban area. Trondheim lies on the south shore of Trondheim Fjord at the mouth of the River Nidelva. Among the major technology-oriented institutions headquartered in Trondheim are the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), the Foundation for Scientific and Industrial Research (SINTEF), and St. Olavs University Hospital.

The settlement was founded in 997 as a trading post, and it served as the capital of Norway during the Viking Age until 1217. From 1152 to 1537, the city was the seat of the Catholic Archdiocese of Nidaros; since then, it has remained the seat of the Lutheran Diocese of Nidaros and the Nidaros Cathedral. It was incorporated in 1838. The current municipality dates from 1964, when Trondheim merged with Byneset, Leinstrand, Strinda and Tiller, and the municipality was further expanded 1 January 2020 when Trondheim merged with Klæbu.

## Voting

11th edition will have the same voting system as in last editions. Which means the juries give 12 to their favourite, 10 to their next favourite, and then from 8 to 1 points. Online Voting will happen on a site where you can vote in both semi finals and grand final when voting has opened and you can select 3 to 5 of your favourites of the semi/grand final.

## Format

11th edition will use the same format as ASBU used in the 10th edition. There will be 2 semi finals where 16-18 countries will fight for 9 places to the grand final. So 24 countries will be fighting for the victory in the grand final. However there has been rumors that the grand final places would be extended 2 places meaning 10 countries from each semi would make it to the grand final. So there could be 26 songs competing in the grand final.

## Participating Countries

42 countries will participate in the contest

## Allocation Draw

### Pots

The Pots were announced on 29th of December, In each pot 3 countries will be in the same semi final. The Pots were drawn randomly. The Big 6 wont be in the pots since they are not participating in the semi finals but however they will be drawn on which semi final will they vote

* Finland
* Iceland
* Iraq
* Montenegro
* San Marino
* Egypt
* England
* Japan
* Spain
* Turkey
* Armenia
* Senegal
* Serbia
* Sweden
 Pot 4
 * Belgium
* France
* Indonesia
* Moldova
* Syria
* Taiwan
* Germany
* Isle of Man
* Portugal
* Russia
* Ukraine
* Canada
* China
* Denmark
* Italy
* Lithuania
* Åland Islands

## First Semi Final

First Semi Final contains 18 countries where 10 will qualify to the grand final. The show will be hosted in Trondheim Arena.  South Korea,  Israel and  United States will vote in this semi final.

## Second Semi Final

Second Semi Final contains 18 countries where 10 will qualify to the grand final. The show will be hosted in Trondheim Arena.  Norway,  Romania And  Wales will vote in this semi final.

 Isle of Man was the winner of the wildcard round against  Lithuania. Meaning they qualifed to the grand final.

## Other Countries

 Venezuela: VNT Confirmed their Participation back in November but due to failing to submit the song before the deadline Venezuela got disqualified from the contest

 Kazakhstan: KK said that they were interested to be returning to the contest after only participating in the 1st edition. However they were not in the final list of the participants.

 Netherlands: Avrotros confirmed that Netherlands would likely participate in the contest but however they announced later that they wont be in the 11th edition.