Horizon Song Contest 02

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Horizon Song Contest 02

**Horizon Song Contest 02,** often referred to as **HZSC 02** , was the 2nd edition of the Horizon Song Contest. The contest was hosted in Zagreb, Croatia, the birth country of the excecutive producer, Ado Skbo. The show was hosted by Finnish singer and performer Saara Aalto.

The winner was  Russia with the song ''Ukhodi'' performed by Sonya. This was Russia's first win. The runner-up,  Spain achieved its best result ever as well as the first top 3 result and first automatic qualification whilst the third place  Ukraine.  Poland which placed fourth, being the best resultfor this country. Fifth place   Lithuania gained its first automatic qualification spot.  France's Lisandro Cuxi took the last place of the Big 6 with his song ''Danser''. The host, Finland, ended 17th in the final while  Kazakhstan came last with 39 points.

 Participating countries

48 countries participated in the edition, making it one of the editions with the least amount of participants, after the 9th & 5th edition. The 48 countries were split into two Semi finals with 21 countries in each Semi final, and the Big 6 countries it puts together 26 countries in the Grand Final.

 Theme art & theme

The theme art was designed by excecutive producer Ado Skbo and the theme song (slogan) was Deep in your heart, the slogan and theme were chosen on 30th June, 2018.

 Location

**Hartwall Arena** (previously known until 19 March 2014 as **Hartwall Areena**, called **Helsinki Areena**, **Helsingin Areena** or **Helsingforsarenan** ('The Helsinki Arena') by the national broadcaster Yle) is a large multi-functional indoor arena located in Helsinki, Finland. Opened in 1997, the arena gets its name from its largest sponsor, the beverage company Hartwall, also based in Helsinki.

 Bidding phase

YLE (Yleisradio Oy) announced the conditions under which cities and venues had announced their interest in hosting the 1st edition of the contest:

* The host city must be able to provide a certain number of hotels and hotel rooms to be found in the vicinity of the stadium.
* The arena must able to offer lodges adjacent to the stadium.
* A press centre must be available at the stadium that will have a specific size.
* YLE must have access to the host venue at least 4–6 weeks before the broadcasts, in order to build the stage, rigging lights and all the technology.
* The host city must be close to a major airport.

The following cities are interested in hosting the 1st edition.
The following cities are interested in hosting the 1st edition.

 Espoo

## Host city

**Helsinki** (/ˈhɛlsɪŋki, hɛlˈsɪŋki/;[7][8] Finnish: [ˈhelsiŋki] ( listen); Swedish: *Helsingfors* [hɛlsɪŋˈfɔʂː] ( listen)) is the capital city and most populous municipality of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of 648,650.[3] The city's urban area has a population of 1,268,296,[9] making it by far the most populous urban area in Finland as well as the country's most important center for politics, education, finance, culture, and research. Helsinki is located 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Tallinn, Estonia, 400 km (250 mi) east of Stockholm, Sweden, and 390 km (240 mi) west of Saint Petersburg, Russia. It has close historical ties with these three cities.

## Format

### **Semi-final Allocation Draw**

The allocation draw of the Semi finals took part on 31st of June, 2018.

The participating countries (excluding the big 6) will be placed into 6 pots, they were calculated and are as follows:

* Moldova
* Kosovo
* Romania
* Serbia
* Slovenia
* Turkey
* Finland
* Greece
* Latvia
* Ireland
* Norway
* Sweden
* Lithuania
* Azerbaijan
* Belarus
* Georgia
* Kazakhstan
* Russia
 Pot 4
 * China
* Belgium
* Iceland
* Japan
* Netherlands
* Bulgaria
* South Korea
* Cyprus
* Czech Republic
* Hungary
* F.Y.R Macedonia
* Poland
* Slovakia
* Switzerland
* Portugal
* Brazil
* Israel
* New Zealand
* Malta
* Morocco
* United States
* Canada

23 countries were allocated into the first Semi final, and 24 into the second semi final.  Italy,  United Kingdom and  Germany voted in the first Semi final, whilist  Spain,  Croatia and  France voted in the second Semi final.