Mystical Song Contest 46

The Mystical Song Contest #46 (also known as MSC 46) was the forty-sixth edition of the Mystical Song Contest. It took place in Beirut, 🇱🇧 Lebanon after Now United ft. R3HAB won in Cluj-Napoca, 🇷🇴 Romania.

It was confirmed that 48 countries participated in the 45th edition. No withdrawing, returning or debuting.

The top 6 of last edition 🇱🇧 Lebanon, 🇮🇹 Italy, 🇧🇾 Belarus, 🇪🇸 Spain, 🇦🇹 Austria and 🇳🇿 New Zealand were automatically pre qualified for the Grand Final of this edition. The 42 others participating countries were split into 2 semi final.

The running orders were made by the supervisor of the contest ESC Thømås.

Beirut
Beirut (/beɪˈruːt/ bay-ROOT; Arabic: بيروت‎, romanized: Bayrūt; French: Beyrouth, pronounced [bɛʁut]) is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. As of 2014, Greater Beirut has a population of 2.2 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region and the thirteenth-largest in the Arab world. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coast. Beirut has been inhabited for more than 5,000 years, making it one of the oldest cities in the world. The first historical mention of Beirut is found in the Amarna letters from the New Kingdom of Egypt, which date to the 15th century BC.

Beirut is Lebanon's seat of government and plays a central role in the Lebanese economy, with many banks and corporations based in the city. Beirut is an important seaport for the country and region, and rated a Beta + World City by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. Beirut was severely damaged by the Lebanese Civil War, and its cultural landscape underwent major reconstruction.

The English name Beirut is an early transcription of the Arabic name Bayrūt (بيروت). The same name's transcription into French is Beyrouth, which was sometimes used during Lebanon's French occupation. The Arabic name derives from Phoenician Berot or Birut (𐤁𐤓𐤕‎ Brt). This was a modification of the Canaanite and Phoenician word be'rot, meaning "the wells", in reference to the site's accessible water table. The name is first attested in the 15th century BC, when it was mentioned in three Akkadian cuneiform tablets of the Amarna letters, letters sent by King Ammunira of Biruta to Amenhotep III or Amenhotep IV of Egypt. Biruta was also mentioned in the Amarna letters from King Rib-Hadda of Byblos.

The Greeks hellenised the name as Bērytós (Ancient Greek: Βηρυτός), which the Romans latinised as Berytus. When it attained the status of a Roman colony, it was notionally refounded and its official name was emended to Colonia Iulia Augusta Felix Berytus to include its imperial sponsors.

Beirut was settled more than 5,000 years ago and the area had been inhabited for far longer. Several prehistoric archaeological sites have been discovered within the urban area of Beirut, revealing flint tools of sequential periods dating from the Middle Palaeolithic and Upper Paleolithic through the Neolithic to the Bronze Age.

Beirut I (Minet el-Hosn) was listed as "the town of Beirut" (French: Beyrouth ville) by Louis Burkhalter and said to be on the beach near the Orient and Bassoul hotels on the Avenue des Français in central Beirut. The site was discovered by Lortet in 1894 and discussed by Godefroy Zumoffen in 1900. The flint industry from the site was described as Mousterian and is held by the Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon.

Beirut II (Umm el-Khatib) was suggested by Burkhalter to have been south of Tarik el Jedideh, where P.E. Gigues discovered a Copper Age flint industry at around 100 metres (328 feet) above sea level. The site had been built on and destroyed by 1948.

Host of the show
On December 20, 2020 it was announced that Haifa Wehbe will be the host of Mystical Song Contest 46.

Haifa Wehbe (Arabic: هيفاء وهبي‎ Hayfāʼ Wahbī) is a Lebanese singer and actress. She has released seven studio albums, and made her acting debut in the 2008 Pepsi-produced film Sea of Stars. In 2006, Wehbe was on People Magazine 's 50 most beautiful people list.

Wehbe won the title of Miss South Lebanon at the age of sixteen, and was a runner-up at the Miss Lebanon competition, which was revoked after it was discovered that she was ineligible because she had been married and had a child.

Wehbe released her second studio album Baddi Aech (Arabic: بدي عيش, English: "I Want to Live") in early 2005, following the success of lead single "Ya Hayat Albi." Released after the assassination of Lebanese politician Rafik Hariri, the title single of the album is about "freedom, considered to be among the most basic of human rights". Follow-up single "Aana Haifa" (Arabic: أنا هيفاء, English: "I Am Haifa") became her biggest hit to date. In Summer 2005, she participated as a guest in Al Wadi, a local version of The Farm.

In 2006, she released "Bus al-Wawa" (Arabic: بوس الواوا, English: "Kiss the Booboo"), the song was later used in a Pepsi advertisement. It was also voted Song of the Year in 2006 by Radio Scope and Sawt Al Musika.

Wehbe released a children's album titled Babe Haifa in March 2010 under Rotana Records.

In September 2018, Haifa released her seventh studio album, Hawwa. The album features 15 songs, and debuted at No. 1 on iTunes charts. The album was produced independently by Wehbe herself, without a record label. In 2020, she accused her ex-business manager, Mohamed al-Waziry, of stealing $4m from her bank account, including also her fees from producers and party organizers.

In the 1990s, Wehbe married her cousin Nasr Fayyad when she was 18 and traveled with him to Nigeria where he worked. During her pregnancy, she returned to Lebanon and separated from Fayyad, with whom she had one daughter, Zeinab.

On June 25, 2007, Wehbe survived an accident while filming a music video for the song "Hasa Ma Bena" in Lebanon. In the video, a single engine airplane was to chase Wehbe as she drove a car. However, the airplane inadvertently hit the car, taking off the front windshield of the convertible she was driving. Despite the severity of the accident, Wehbe suffered only minor cuts and bruises.

Wehbe married Egyptian businessman Ahmed Abou Hashima on April 24, 2009 in Beirut. Among the guests at the wedding party were singer Anastacia, Carmen Electra, Sean Combs, Googoosh, Nawal Al Zoghbi, Najwa Karam, Ragheb Alama, and Sherine.

It was announced that Wehbe and Ahmed Abou Hashima had split in November 2012. Haifa Wehbe is a Shiite Muslim.

Debuting/Withdrawing
No countries withdrew or debuted.

Returning Artists
Here is the list of the returning artists for the 46th edition.

Semi Finals
On December 20, 2020 the supervisor of the contest ESC Thømås revealed the running order of both semi finals.

The big 6 members were assigned to a semi final where they had to vote.

A total of 21 countries competed in each semi final and 10 countries qualified in both.

Semi Final 1
In this semi final 🇱🇧 Lebanon, 🇮🇹 Italy and 🇦🇹 Austria had to vote.

Semi Final 2
In this semi final 🇧🇾 Belarus, 🇪🇸 Spain and 🇳🇿 New Zealand had to vote.

Grand Final
On January 2, 2021 the supervisor of the contest ESC Thømås revealed the running order of the Grand Final.