WorldVision 144

Confirmation
 Final
 Venue
 Co-host
 Entries
 Debuting
 Winner

**WorldVision Song Contest 144**, often referred to as **WV 144**, was the one hundred forty-four edition of the WorldVision Song Contest. It was the eighth time that Italy hosted the contest, having previously done so in WV 13, 14, 23, 38, 40, 60, 106 and 123. After Rome, Savona, Venice, Palermo, Florence, Torino, Sanremo and Bergamo, it was time for Bologna to shine and showcase the rich Italian culture. Organised by Krishoes, with the help of co-host AshleyWright and the host broadcaster Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI), the contest was held at TBA, and consisted of two semi-finals, and the final on 15 August 2021.

Fifty countries and regions participated in the contest, with one juror participating for the first time. Some countries and regions returned to the contest, some said goodbye for now and some failed to send an entry for this edition, such as  Uzbekistan,  Ukraine,  Australia and  Sydney who no doubt will return next edition.  China and  Småland announced that they won't be present in Bologna, having to take a short break.  Ghana left the contest, as the juror moved to  Albania since it became free with the departure of Zonne147.  New York was also rejoined the archive, as the juror Arion moved to the bigger region of  Northeastern USA.

The winner was  Iceland with the song "Only Love" performed by Eivør Pálsdóttir and Ásgeir and written by Eivør, Alex Enki, David Hopkins, Ásgeir & Tróndur Bogason. The track is featured on Eivør's new album Segl released last year in September on BFD/The Orchard/Kobalt. The video for "Only Love" was shot on location in Iceland and directed by Icelandic artist Anna Maggý. Speaking about the process, Eivør says, "I wrote the lyrics with David Hopkins and when this song was written I thought about "love" and all the things it makes us do. I will never get tired of writing about this subject. It's the most complex and yet the most basic of all things. It has so many shapes and shades and on this life journey it takes us through the whole palette of emotions. It's both strong and fragile at once. It breaks us and makes us whole. Sometimes we have to lose it first to find it and when we find it we are afraid of losing it. I believe that everyone we ever loved will always be a part of us somehow deep within. Even when the love didn't last. I find much beauty in that." Speaking about their collaboration on the track, Ásgeir adds, "I got to know Eivør when I sang with her on her Christmas shows in Reykjavik in 2018 and we got along really well and I enjoyed working with her and her band. Later on Eivør sent me the track 'Only Love' and I was honored that she asked me to sing with her on this song."

 Iceland's victory in the edition marked the fifth victory for the country and third for the juror JamieBrown. The top 3 was completed by  London with the song "To Build A Home" performed by Cinema Orchestra that got 171 points and  Southern USA with the song "Heavy is The Crown" performed by Daughtry that received 153 points. The host entry "Se telefonando" performed by the Italian singer Mina ended on the 8th position with a score of 122 points.

The Italian hosts also decided to divide the results based on the WorldVision pots during the reveal of the results.  Serbia was the winner of the Pot A and B votings,  South Korea won the hearts of Pot C voters,  London was the favourite of Pot D voters, Pot E went with the host entry of  Italy and Pot F was a big fan of the other PQ entry,  Corsica. The two jurors of pot N elected  London as their favourite. While the winning country was not the favourite of any pot, they scored well with several of them, such as Pot C (5th), Pot D (2nd) and Pot F (6th).

## Format

### Semi-final allocation draw

The draw to determine the allocation of the participating countries and regions into their respective semi-finals took place on 07 August 2021.  Italy and  Corsica were pre-qualified.

The semi-finalists were allocated into seven pots (the six big pots and the Newcomer pot), based on their voting similarities.

Pot N consisted of:  Dalmatia and  Austria.

The six big pots were the following:

* Sudogwon
* Hungary
* Germany
* Belgium
* Mid-Atlantic States
* Southern USA
* Western USA
* North Rhine-Westphalia
* Seoul
* South Korea
* Spain
* The Netherlands
* Turkey
* Uzbekistan
* Chūbu
* Croatia
* England
* France
* Northeastern USA
* New Zealand
* Østlandet
* Stockholm
* Sweden
* Sydney
 Pot D
 * Götaland
* Iceland
* Iran
* Japan
* Kantō
* Poland
* Scotland
* United Kingdom
* Canada
* Central Canada
* Albania
* Italy
* Southeast Brazil
* South East England
* United States
* Cyprus
* Finland
* Greece
* Latvia
* London
* Norway
* Småland
* Svealand

## Other details

*Further information: List of participants in the WorldVision Song Contest*
### National Selections

National selections refer to the processes in which the jurors of the countries and regions participating in the monthly WorldVision select the artist and song that will represent them in the contest.

* Austria - Unser Lied für Alf
* Belgium - Last Belgian NF

### Other WV countries/regions

* **China** and  **Småland** - The jurors are taking a break for one edition, due to time constraints and other reasons.
* **Østlandet** - failed to vote in the previous edition and thus was banned from taking part in WorldVision 144.
* **Australia** - failed to send an entry
* **Uzbekistan** - failed to send an entry
* **Ukraine** - failed to send an entry
* **Sydney** - failed to send an entry

### Incidents

* **England** and  **Denmark** failed to vote in the final.
* The winner of the edition  **Iceland** and its subsequent head of delegation JamieBrown decided to withdraw from the contest, citing a loss of motivation and will to continue playing for now, being contest to finish on a high note.

## External links

* Forum

1. ↑ https://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwmusic/article/Eivr-Shares-Video-For-Only-Love-Featuring-sgeir-20201211