Retrica Song Contest 4

Final date
 Venue
 Number of entries
 Debuting countries
 Voting system
 Winning country

The **Retrica Song Contest 4** will be the fourth edition of the Retrica Song Contest. Germany's Sash! won the contest with their song "Ecuador", scoring a total of 197 points, 2 above the runner-up, Netherlands.

Notably, Liberland scored the least amount of points in the contest's history. Estonia also scored the least amount of televoting points.

## Format

C1R announced that they would try to push the contest and CCU broadcasters to make it as popular and merrier as the original contest. A budget thrice the amount from the previous three editions was confirmed to be used for the contest. This statement was followed by the debut of 5 Ex-USSR nations, whom were specifically asked by C1R about participating. Croatia also debuted as a result of their victory in Country Contest 19.

It was rumored on 3 October 2018 that the CCU were "contemplating an invite to associate CCU member United States" as a result of being mentioned on the winning song from Russia. However, the CCU later declined this and stated that "associate members would not be participating until a jubilee edition, to celebrate a special occasion." Despite this, the CCU announced on 5 August 2018 that they would invite one associate member country in the fifth edition, as had been done in Country Contest 6 and Country Contest 9. With no semi-finals, an associate country would only be reinvited should they place in the Top 3. The CCU also defended this decision, a result of an unanimous vote, as a way to be more inclusive to the entirety of the Union members.

On 4 August 2018, the CCU confirmed that 20 countries would participate in the fourth edition of the contest. This includes the debut of 8 countries, as well as the return of 1. It was later and subsequently confirmed that Danila Kozlovsky and Olesya Rulin would co-host the contest. A random draw allocation later took place in Moscow, which was broadcast live and approved by the CCU, who attended and inspected the event.

## Location

Following Russia's victory in the third contest, C1R announced that Russia would indeed host the fourth competition. The broadcaster also stated that "a tender process would not be opened" and that the chosen venue and city would be chosen via "closed discussions to the top picks."

It was later confirmed that the contest would be held in the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk. The venue, which was chosen to "embrace the retro aspect of the contest," can host up to 7,500 people.

## Other countries

Eligibility for potential participation in the Retrica Song Contest requires a national broadcaster with active CCU membership, or a special invitation from the CCU as was the case with Australia, South Africa and South Korea in Country Contest in the past. It is currently unknown whether the CCU issue invitations of participation to all 56 active members like they do for the Country Contest.

### **Active CCU members**

* Austria: On 1 October 2018, ORF confirmed that Austria would withdraw from the competition, without giving any reason.
* Finland: On 3 October 2018, YLE confirmed that participating was not in their "immediate plans."
* Malta: On 1 October 2018, PBS confirmed that Malta would not return to the contest.
* Montenegro: On 2 October 2018, RTV Atlas stated that "a Montenegrin debut in the future could be possible, but it would depend on the interest of the public." In the past, RTCG stated that "under no circumstances, would a debut be possible in the near future."
* Netherlands: On 1 October 2018, AVROTROS announced that Netherlands would return as a result of neighbor Belgium's third place result, which gave the contest more interest in the country.
* Serbia: RTS confirmed on 2 October 2018 that they would sit out the edition.
* United Kingdom: BBC confirmed on 4 August 2018 that they would separate into the 4 countries from then on, for all future editions of the contest; this is a result of a petition and its aftermath. However, England was the only British country to confirm, as usual from BBC.
* Ukraine: UA:PBC stated that, while they were not interested in competing in the current edition, wouldn't rule out a debut in the fifth contest. C1R responded, stating that "all member countries [were] welcome to participate."

### **Associate CCU members**

* United States: It was rumored on 3 October 2018 that the CCU were "contemplating an invite to associate CCU member United States" as a result of being mentioned on the winning song from Russia. However, the CCU later declined this and stated that "associate members would not be participating until a jubilee edition, to celebrate a special occasion." It was later confirmed that the fifth contest would include an associate country for exclusivity reasons.

### **Non-CCU members**

* Kosovo: On 5 October 2018, it was reported that executives at RTK were interested in having Kosovo participate in the contest. However, RTK later clarified that "a debut would not possible until a CCU decision would be made."