VIII PANAM Song Contest

Semi-finals
 Final
 Venue
 Executive producer
 Host broadcaster
 Number of entries
 Debuting countries
 Withdrawing countries
 Voting system
 Winning song

The **VIII** **Eurovision Americas Song Contest** was the 8th edition of the monthly Eurovision Americas Song Contest. It took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, following SIAMÉS' win at the seventh contest in Hamilton, Bermuda, with the song "*The Wolf*". This was the first time that Argentina hosts the contest, and the

second Eurovision Americas event overall since the I Junior Eurovision Americas Song Contest. The contest was held at the Movistar Arena and consisted of two semi-finals and the final on 6 May 2020. The winner of the contest was Andorra with the song "En El Aire", performed by Vega Almohalla and written by herself; this was Andorra's first win since the country debut, and the first non-american country to win the contest.

It is important to highlight that the execution of this edition of the contest was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic that affected the entire planet, causing, for example, the transfer of the Grand Final from April to May.

Forty-one countries participated in the contest. There were no returning countries and three countries and dependencies debuted in the contest: Antigua and Barbuda, Guatemala and Panama. Five other countries and dependencies withdrew: Barbados, Bolivia, Cuba, Haiti and Saint Lucia.

Twenty-six countries competed in the Grand Final; Guyana managed to qualify for the Final for the first time since the introduction of the Semi-finals in the third edition, while Chile and Peru failed to qualify from the semi-finals for the first time ever. In the final, Paraguay finished second, its best result so far; the Caribbean Netherlands, El Salvador, Guadeloupe, Jamaica and The Philippines also obtained their best results in the Final on this edition.

Canada completes the podium obtaining the third place in the Final, while Guadeloupe and Jamaica obtain the fourth and fifth places respectively, all becoming automatic qualifiers for the next edition in Antigua and Barbuda.

 Location

### **Host City**

*For more details on the host city, see Buenos Aires.*

[[file:Template:Location map Uruguay|175px|VIII PANAM Song Contest is located in Template:Location map Uruguay]]

**Buenos Aires** (*/ˌbweɪnəs ˈɛəriːz/ or /-ˈaɪrɪs/; Spanish pronunciation: [ˈbwenos ˈaiɾes]*) is the capital and largest city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the South American continent's southeastern coast. The Greater Buenos Aires conurbation, which also includes several Buenos Aires Province districts, constitutes the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas, with a population of around 15.6 million.

Buenos Aires is considered an 'alpha city' by the study GaWC5. Buenos Aires' quality of life was ranked 91st in the world, being one of the best in Latin America in 2018. It is the most visited city in South America, and the second-most visited city of Latin America (behind Mexico City). Buenos Aires is also a top tourist destination, and is known for its preserved Eclectic European architecture and rich cultural life. Buenos Aires held the 1st Pan American Games in 1951 as well as hosting two venues in the 1978 FIFA World Cup. Buenos Aires hosted the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics and the 2018 G20 summit.

Buenos Aires is a multicultural city, being home to multiple ethnic and religious groups. Several languages are spoken in the city in addition to Spanish, contributing to its culture and the dialect spoken in the city and in some other parts of the country. This is because in the last 151 years the city, and the country in general, has been a major recipient of millions of immigrants from all over the world, making it a melting pot where several ethnic groups live together and being considered one of the most diverse cities of the Americas.

### **Venue**

*For more details on the Venue, see Movistar Arena.*

Movistar Arena is a multipurpose covered stadium located in Buenos Aires, Argentina with a capacity for 15,000 people. The enclosure will be prepared for different configurations, from 4,000 to a maximum of 11,500 people seated or 15,000 if the field is without a seat.

The construction of the stadium began in 2014. The company in charge at that time was Lugones Center and could not continue due to lack of funds. The work was paralyzed in 2015, leaving a half-finished concrete structure abandoned. Buenos Aires Arena SA resumed the project at the end of 2017. In order for the property to have a level of operation and experienced services and an international level, the international firm ASM Global was contracted, which manages more than 300 arenas worldwide including the O2 Arena (London), Staples Center and the Mercedes-Benz Arena (Berlin). 4 On the other hand, the acoustics of the place have one of the best audio equipment L-Acustics (French brand), to cover the most demanding requirement of artists and producers.

####  Bidding phase

During the week before the Contest, the Radio y Televisión Argentina (TPA) made a list of potential cities and venues in Argentina to host the Contest. The final list was formed by different stadiums and fair centres in the country.

On 18 February 2019, TPA announced the capital city, Buenos Aires, as the host, with the Movistar Arena as the selected venue for the contest. The city previously hosted the I Junior Eurovision Americas Song Contest in the Directv Arena.

 Participants

The following countries have expressed their provisional interest in participating in the contest or confirmed that their expected national selection process would take place:

 The Contest

### **Semi-finals**

#### Allocation draw

The draw to determine the allocation of the participating countries into their respective semi-finals took place on 7 March 2020. The thirty-six semi-finalists had been allocated into six pots, based on historical voting patterns. 36 countries participated in both of each semi-finals.

Drawing from different pots helps to reduce the chance of so-called neighbourly voting and increases suspense in the semi-finals. The draw also determined the semi-final that each of the five automatic finalist countries (host country Argentina and the previous edition top 5 countries United States, Lucayan Archipelago, Greenland and Curaçao) would broadcast and vote in.

A Wildcard round was also celebrated between the eleventh places of each of the Semi-finals. This idea was provided by the ASBU to achieve that, in the Grand Final, a total of 26 entities compete, as in the Eurovision Song Contest.

• Bermuda
•  Cayman Islands
•  Mexico
•  Puerto Rico
•  U.S. Virgin Islands
•  Costa Rica
• Paraguay
•  Peru
•  Uruguay
•  Venezuela
•  Brazil
•  French Guiana
•  Guadeloupe
•  Martinique
•  Saint Pierre & Miquelon
• Dominican Republic
• Ecuador
• El Salvador
•  Guatemala
•  Nicaragua
•  Colombia
•  Equatorial Guinea
•  Panama
•  Portugal
•  Spain
• Carib. Netherlands
•  Guyana
•  Jamaica
•  The Philippines
•  Trinidad & Tobago

####  Semi-final 1

In the first semi-final, eighteen countries participated. The highlighted countries qualified for the final. Paraguay won the first semi-final, followed by Bermuda and Antigua and Barbuda.

The country of Dominican Republic competed in the Wildcard Round since it got the eleventh place on its Semi-final. The country competed against Uruguay, obtaining the victory and qualifying to the Grand Final.

#### Semi-final 2

In the second semi-final, seventeen countries participated; the highlighted countries qualified for the final. Canada won this semi-final, followed by Guadeloupe and Venezuela.

The country of Uruguay competed in the Wildcard Round since it got the eleventh place on its Semi-final. The country competed against the Dominican Republic, but loses the round.

### **Final**

The final took place on May 6th, 2020, following the both semi-finals where a total of 21 countries qualified, plus the automatic qualifiers.

### **Breakdown**

####  12 points

Below is a summary of the maximum 12 points awarded by each country's professional jury in the final: