Alternative Eurovision Song Contest 28

## Participation map

The **Alternative** **Eurovision Song Contest 28** was the 28th edition of the Alternative Eurovision Song Contest. The contest was held in **Slovakia**, following the country's victory in the 27th edition with the song "Réva" by Riava. It was the first time that Slovakia hosted the contest. Three live shows took place in Ondrej Nepela Arena, hosted by Kristina Pelakova and Karin Majtánová.

## Location - Bratislava, Slovakia

**Slovakia**, officially the **Slovak Republic**, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the southwest, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's mostly mountainous territory spans about 49,000 square kilometres (19,000 sq mi), with a population of over 5.4 million. The capital and largest city is Bratislava, while the second largest city is Košice.

**Bratislava** is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approximately 150% of the official figures. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia at the foot of the Little Carpathians, occupying both banks of the River Danube and the left bank of the River Morava. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two sovereign states.

## Venue - Ondrej Nepela Arena

The **Ondrej Nepela Arena** is an indoor arena in Bratislava, Slovakia. It is primarily used for ice hockey and it was the home arena of the KHL's HC Slovan Bratislava.

 Žilina | Garmin Arena
 Žilina | Štadión pod Dubňom
 Trenčín | Pavol Demitra Ice Stadium
 Košice | Steel Aréna

## Format

### Design

In Riava, our last edition's winners Réva are telling the tale of society's drift from believing in good and destiny. Despite that, they managed to award Slovakia its first victory, coming after an absent from the final of 6 editions - a true fairytale story for the country.

To go along with the feelings of things you can't even imagine will happen, we decided to go with one of Slovakia's most prominent landmarks - castles. Slovakia is the country with most castles per capita in the world, and the Bratislava Castle in particular is a popular tourism site (that provide view also on Austria and Hungary, thus making it a clear connection-spot, like the contest itself). The castles, which are most associated with tales about knights and kingdoms, are representation of Real-Life Fantasies, our slogan for the edition.

### Presenters

**Kristína Peláková** (born 20 August 1987), known professionally as **Kristína**, is a Slovak singer. She is best known for representing Slovakia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with the song “Horehronie”. The song placed 16th in the semi-final with a total of 24 points. Kristína is one of the most popular female artists in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, and has toured both countries on multiple occasions.

**Karin Majtánová** (born 1 March 1974) is a Slovak television presenter, model and actress. She won the Miss Slovakia beauty pageant in 1993. She has presented television programmes on Slovenská televízia among other stations.

## Other Countries

*Other Stuff: List of all Countries in Alternative Eurovision Song Contest*

### Active ABU Members

* France - The delegation originally confirmed participation in the competition, however, 2 weeks after the deadline for applications, they announced that they would withdraw from the competition. They were allowed to do so, but due to the withdrawal after the deadline and with an earlier confirmation, they were be fined

* Italy - Due to internal problems in the delegation, the broadcaster did not manage to confirm participation in the edition on time, therefore the country were not allowed to compete

* Ukraine - Due to the lack of a budget and temporarily interest and opportunities, the broadcaster decided to withdraw from the competition. A comeback in the next edition is likely

* Uzbekistan - Due to internal problems of the delegation and the sudden resignation of the head of the delegation from the role, Uzbekistan decided to withdraw from the competition for an unknown time. Return in the next edition is not certain