Mystical Song Contest 18

The Mystical Song Contest #18 (also known as MSC 18) was the eighteenth edition of the Mystical Song Contest. It took place in Plovdiv, 🇧🇬 Bulgaria after Nadia won in Sofia, 🇧🇬 Bulgaria.

It was confirmed that 42 countries participated in the 18th edition. 🇱🇹 Lithuania returned while 🇯🇲 Jamaica withdrew.

The top 6 of last edition 🇧🇬 Bulgaria, 🇮🇪 Ireland, 🇲🇹 Malta, 🇰🇷 South Korea, 🇨🇳 China and 🇧🇪 Belgium were automatically pre qualified for the Grand Final of this edition. The 36 other countries that participated were split into 2 semi finals.

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

Plovdiv
Plovdiv (Bulgarian: Пловдив, pronounced [ˈpɫɔvdif]) is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia, with a city population of 346,893 as of 2018 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the culture capital of Bulgaria. It is an important economic, transport, cultural, and educational center. There is evidence of habitation in Plovdiv dating back to the 6th millennium BCE, when the first Neolithic settlements were established. It has been considered to be one of the oldest cities in the world.

During most of its recorded history, Plovdiv was known in the West by the name Philippopolis (Greek: Φιλιππούπολη; Turkish: Filibe; Philip's Town) after Philip II of Macedon conquered the city in the 4th century BCE. The city was originally a Thracian settlement and subsequently was invaded by Persians, Greeks, Celts, Romans, Goths, Huns, Bulgars, Slavs, Rus people, Crusaders, and Turks. On 4 January 1878, at the end of the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878), Plovdiv was taken away from Ottoman rule by the Russian army. It remained within the borders of Bulgaria until July of the same year, when it became the capital of the autonomous Ottoman region of Eastern Rumelia. In 1885, Plovdiv and Eastern Rumelia joined Bulgaria.

Plovdiv is situated in a fertile region of south-central Bulgaria on the two banks of the Maritsa River. The city has historically developed on seven syenite hills, some of which are 250 metres (820 feet) high. Because of these hills, Plovdiv is often referred to in Bulgaria as The City of the Seven Hills.

Plovdiv is host to a huge variety of cultural events such as the International Fair Plovdiv, the international theatrical festival A stage on a crossroad, the TV festival The golden chest, and many more novel festivals, such as Night/Plovdiv in September, Kapana Fest, and Opera Open. There are many preserved ruins such as the ancient Plovdiv Roman theatre, a Roman odeon, a Roman aqueduct, the Plovdiv Roman Stadium, the archaeological complex Eirene, and others.

The oldest American educational institution outside the United States, the American College of Sofia, was founded in Plovdiv in 1860 and later moved to Sofia.

On 5 September 2014, Plovdiv was selected as the Bulgarian host of the European Capital of Culture 2019 alongside the Italian city of Matera. This happened with the help of the Municipal Foundation Plovdiv 2019″, a non-government organization, which was established in 2011 by Plovdiv's City Council whose main objectives were to develop and to prepare Plovdiv's bid book for European Capital of Culture in 2019.

Host of the show
On April 13, 2019 it was announced that Nina Dobrev was again the host, this time for Mystical Song Contest 18.

Nikolina Kamenova Dobreva ( pronounced [ˈnikolinɐ ˈdɔbrɛvɐ]; born January 9, 1989), known professionally as Nina Dobrev (/ˈdoʊbrɛv/ DOH-brev), is a Canadian actress. Her first acting role was as Mia Jones in the drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation. She later became known for portraying Elena Gilbert and Katherine Pierce on The CW's supernatural drama series The Vampire Diaries.

Dobrev has also appeared in several feature films, including the 2012 coming-of-age drama The Perks of Being a Wallflower, the 2014 action comedy Let's Be Cops, the 2015 horror comedy The Final Girls, the 2017 action thriller XXX: Return of Xander Cage, and the 2017 science-fiction drama Flatliners.

She was born in Bulgaria but immigrated with her family to Canada at age two and grew up in Toronto. She studied sociology at Ryerson University, but left early to pursue her acting career. Dobrev lives in Los Angeles.

Dobrev was born Nikolina Kamenova Dobreva in Sofia, Bulgaria, and moved to Canada at age two, where she was raised in Toronto, Ontario. She has an older brother, Aleksandar Dobrev. Her father, Kamen Dobrev, is a computer specialist and her mother, Michaela Dobreva (née Radeva), is an artist.

Dobrev attended Vradenburg Junior Public School and J. B. Tyrrell Sr. Public School, where she started ballet and jazz classes and competed in rhythmic gymnastics. She took acting classes at Armstrong Acting Studios in Toronto. Dobrev subsequently attended the arts program at Wexford Collegiate School for the Arts in Scarborough until her graduating year.

Dobrev entered post-secondary studies at Ryerson University in Toronto, majoring in Sociology, though her pursuit of an acting career prevented her from graduating.

Dobrev speaks English, French and Bulgarian. While filming The Vampire Diaries, Dobrev lived in Atlanta, but moved to Los Angeles after leaving the series in 2015.

Dobrev's first major acting role was as Mia on the teen drama television series Degrassi: The Next Generation, a role she played for three seasons starting in 2006. She appeared in several feature films in the mid-2000s, including Fugitive Pieces and Away from Her. Dobrev also headlined a number of television films, including Sci Fi Channel's Never Cry Werewolf, MTV's The American Mall, and two Lifetime original movies. In 2007 she appeared in the music video of You Got That Light performed by Wade Allain-Marcus and David Baum.

Debuting/Withdrawing
On April 13, 2019 it was announced that 1 country withdrew in the 18th edition.


 * 🇯🇲 Jamaica : TVJ stated that Jamaica withdrew without giving any more information. The last participation of the country was in the 17th edition.

Returning Artists
Here is the list of the returning artists for the 18th edition.

Semi Finals
On April 14, 2019 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 18 countries competed in each semi final and 10 countries qualified in both.

Semi Final 1
In this semi final 🇧🇬 Bulgaria, 🇰🇷 South Korea and 🇧🇪 Belgium had to vote.

Semi Final 2
In this semi final 🇮🇪 Ireland, 🇲🇹 Malta and 🇨🇳 China had to vote.

Grand Final
On April 18, 2019 the supervisor of the contest ESC Thømås revealed the running order of the grand final.