BalkanVision Song Contest 26

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* Participating countries     Countries that participated in the past but not in #26
* **BalkanVision Song Contest**
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The **BalkanVision Song Contest 26** was the twenty-sixth edition of the BalkanVision Song Contest. The contest took place in Cyprus, following Cyprus's victory at the BalkanVision Song Contest 25 in Podgorica, Montenegro, with the song "To Be Human", performed by MARINA. The contest consisted of a final. The event was organized by the Balkan Broadcasting Union and hosted by CyBC. The event was sponsored by *Pilaros Inc.*. Twenty-two countries participated. Transnistria returned after a one-edition absence, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy and Monaco after a two-edition absence and Switzerland after a four-edition absence. Kosovo, Moldova, San Marino, Slovakia and Slovenia withdrew.

The winner was Bulgaria with the song "alright.", performed by Victoria. This was Bulgaria's sixth win, having previously won the 6th, 8th, 12th, 17th and 20th editions. This was also the second time Victoria had won the contest, having previously won the 20th edition with the song "I Wanna Know". Montenegro placed 2nd and Gagauzia placed 3rd.

## Location

Preparations for the twenty-sixth edition began on the 15 June 2020, immediately after Cyprus won the twenty-fifth edition in Podgorica, Montenegro. The Balkan Broadcasting Union (BBU) handed CyBC, the Cypriot participating broadcaster, a stack of documents and a USB drive with tools to begin the work needed to host the next edition.

### Bidding phase

Larnaca
**Limassol**
Nicosia
Paphos

On the 18 June 2020, it was confirmed by CyBC that 4 cities had submitted bids to host the contest. The hosting broadcaster reviewed the bids presented and on the 21 June 2020 announced that it eliminated those for Larnaca and Nicosia, shortlisting the two remaining cities - Limassol and Paphos. On the 22 June 2020, Limassol was announced as the host city. Below are the 4 cities and their bids:

**Key**:  †  Host venue  ‡  Shortlisted venues

 Limassol | Spyros Kyprianou Athletic Center †
 Paphos | Aphroditi Sports Hall ‡

### About the host city

**Limassol** (Greek: Λεμεσός, romanized: Lemesós; Turkish: Limasol or Leymosun) is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and is the capital of the eponymous district. Limassol is the second largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population of 183,658 and a metropolitan population of 239,842. Limassol has been ranked by TripAdvisor as the 3rd up-and-coming destination in the world, in its *Top 10 Traveler’s Choice Destinations on the Rise*. The city is also ranked 89th worldwide in Mercer's Quality of Living Survey (2017). In the ranking published by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, Limassol has been classified global city in the 4th category (sufficiency level cities).

## Format

### Visual design

The theme for the edition, *Dream Bigger*, was unveiled on the 22 June 2020, shortly after the host city announcement.

### Presenter(s)

Ivi Adamou was selected to host on the 19 July 2020.

### Running order

The running order was created by the producers.

## Scoreboard

### 12 points

Below is a summary of all 12 points in the final:

## Other countries

Further information: List of countries in the BalkanVision Song ContestEligibility for potential participation in the BalkanVision Song Contest requires a national broadcaster with active BBU membership that will be able to broadcast the contest. The BBU had issued an invitation of participation in the contest to all active members.

### Active BBU members

* Bavaria - Bavarian broadcaster BR announced on the 13 May 2020 that the country would not be making their return citing current scheduling issues as the reason. On the same day, the head of delegation announced that they are however looking forward to a return in the near future.

* Kosovo - Despite already having chosen their entry "Fuck It, I Love It!" by ILIRA, Kosovar broadcaster RTK announced the country's withdrawal on the 10 June 2020 due to sudden scheduling issues and the sudden resignation of the head of delegation.

* Moldova - On the 12 May 2020, Moldovan broadcaster TRM confirmed the country's withdrawal due to lack of interest by the public.

* San Marino - SMRTV, the Sammarinese broadcaster, confirmed on the 14 May 2020 that the country would be taking a break from the contest. On the same day, the broadcaster confirmed that the country intends to return in the next edition.

* Slovakia - Slovak broadcaster RTVS withdrew on the 13 May 2020 after their head of delegation resigned.

* Slovenia - Despite already having chosen their entry "Gola" by Joker Out, Slovene broadcaster RTV SLO confirmed their withdrawal on the 5 June 2020. Widespread rumours in the country stated that the broadcaster withdrew due to finding the contest "too commercial" with the sponsors, however, RTV SLO later denied this rumour stating that they withdrew due to a sudden scheduling issue with Joker Out and the inability to select a new artist within the deadline.

## Incidents

### Greek entries

On the 17 May 2020, Greek broadcaster ERT selected Greek singer Anna Bourma to represent the country with her song "The Era Of Monsters". However, the entry got rejected by the BBU due to the inappropriate video clip, as first stated by the contest's moderator Aris Odi. The BalkanVision Song Contest executive supervisor Балкан, stated that "The BalkanVison Song Contest is a family entertainment show, not a horror musical".

ERT later went on to select Toquel featuring Natasha Kay and their song "Ta pio diskola vradia" as their entry for the twenty-sixth edition. However, a week later, Natasha Kay announced that they would not be the Greek entry. Instead, Evangelia was selected to represent the country with the song "Páme, Páme".
On the 4 June 2020, it was announced by CyBC that Natasha Kay would instead be representing Cyprus with her song "Upgrade".