Mystical Song Contest 53

The Mystical Song Contest #53 (also known as MSC 53) was the fifty-third edition of the Mystical Song Contest. It took place in Maastricht,  The Netherlands after Robin Hustin ft. TobiMorrow & Jex won in Rabat, 🇲🇦 Morocco.

It was confirmed that 48 countries participated in the 53rd edition. 🇦🇷 Argentina debuted while 🇧🇷 Brazil and 🇧🇬 Bulgaria withdrew and Bosnia & Herzegovina returned.

The top 6 of last edition  The Netherlands, 🇦🇺 Australia, 🇩🇪 Germany, 🇱🇹 Lithuania, 🇸🇪 Sweden and 🇨🇾 Cyprus were automatically pre qualified for the Grand Final of this edition. The 42 other participating countries were split into 2 semi finals and a Pre-Qualification Round which consists of the countries which ended in the bottom 4 of each semi final of the previous edition.

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

Maastricht
Maastricht (/ˈmɑːstrɪxt/, US also /mɑːˈstrɪxt/, Dutch: [maːˈstrɪxt] (listen); Limburgish (incl. Maastrichtian): Mestreech [məˈstʀeˑx]; French: Maestricht (archaic); Spanish: Mastrique (archaic)) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the Meuse (Dutch: Maas), at the point where the Jeker joins it. It is adjacent to the border with Belgium.

Maastricht developed from a Roman settlement (Trajectum ad Mosam) to a medieval religious centre. In the 16th century it became a garrison town and in the 19th century an early industrial city. Today, the city is a thriving cultural and regional hub. It became well known through the Maastricht Treaty and as the birthplace of the euro. Maastricht has 1677 national heritage buildings (Rijksmonumenten), the second highest number in the Netherlands, after Amsterdam. The city is visited by tourists for shopping and recreation, and has a large international student population. Maastricht is part of the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion, which includes the nearby German and Belgian cities of Aachen, Eupen, Hasselt, Liège, and Tongeren. The Meuse-Rhine Euroregion is a metropolis with a population of about 3.9 million with several international universities.

Maastricht is mentioned in ancient documents as [Ad] Treiectinsem [urbem] ab. 575, Treiectensis in 634, Triecto, Triectu in 7th century, Triiect in 768–781, Traiecto in 945, Masetrieth in 1051.

The place name Maastricht is an Old Dutch compound Masa- (> Maas "the Meuse river") + Old Dutch *treiekt, itself borrowed from Gallo-Romance *TRA(I)ECTU cf. its Walloon name li trek, from Classical Latin trajectus ("ford, passage, place to cross a river") with the later addition of Maas "Meuse" to avoid the confusion with the -trecht of Utrecht having exactly the same original form and etymology. The Latin name first appears in medieval documents and it is not known whether *Trajectu(s) was Maastricht's name during Roman times. A resident of Maastricht is referred to as Maastrichtenaar whilst in the local dialect it is either Mestreechteneer or, colloquially, Sjeng (derived from the formerly popular French name Jean).

Neanderthal remains have been found to the west of Maastricht (Belvédère excavations). Of a later date are Palaeolithic remains, between 8,000 and 25,000 years old. Celts lived here around 500 BC, at a spot where the river Meuse was shallow and therefore easy to cross.

It is not known when the Romans arrived in Maastricht, or whether the settlement was founded by them. The Romans built a bridge across the Meuse in the 1st century AD, during the reign of Augustus Caesar. The bridge was an important link in the main road between Bavay and Cologne. Roman Maastricht was probably relatively small. Remains of the Roman road, the bridge, a religious shrine, a Roman bath, a granary, some houses and the 4th-century castrum walls and gates, have been excavated. Fragments of provincial Roman sculptures, as well as coins, jewellery, glass, pottery and other objects from Roman Maastricht are on display in the exhibition space of the city's public library (Centre Céramique).

According to legend, the Armenian-born Saint Servatius, Bishop of Tongeren, died in Maastricht in 384 where he was interred along the Roman road, outside the castrum. According to Gregory of Tours bishop Monulph was to have built around 570 the first stone church on the grave of Servatius, the present-day Basilica of Saint Servatius. The city remained an early Christian diocese until it lost the distinction to nearby Liège in the 8th or 9th century.

Host of the show
On June 1, 2021 it was announced that Nikkie de Jager will be the host of Mystical Song Contest 52.

Nikkie de Jager ( Dutch pronunciation: [ˈnɪki də ˈjaːɣər]; born 2 March 1994), better known by her YouTube channel name NikkieTutorials, is a Dutch makeup artist and beauty vlogger. She gained online popularity in 2015 after her YouTube video "The Power of Makeup" became popular and inspired many other videos of people showing their faces with and without makeup. As of January 2021, her YouTube channel has 13.8 million subscribers and over 1.4 billion video views.

De Jager first began uploading videos to YouTube in 2008, at the age of 14, after watching MTV's The Hills while sick and being inspired by Lauren Conrad's makeup. She then began searching YouTube for tutorials to recreate the look, and was inspired to begin creating her own. After uploading videos for about two years, she enrolled in makeup coursework at B Academy in Amsterdam. She then signed to Colourfool Agency in 2011, and began working as a professional makeup artist.

In the autumn of 2013, she became the head makeup artist for the RTL 5 show I Can Make You a Supermodel with Paul Fisher. De Jager left Colourfool Agency at the beginning of 2014 to work as a freelance hair and makeup artist.

Forbes magazine named De Jager one of the top ten beauty "influencers" in 2017. In 2017, she also won the award for "YouTube Guru" at the Shorty Awards and the award for "Choice Fashion/Beauty Web Star" at the Teen Choice Awards.

In 2017, De Jager uploaded a video reviewing a foundation produced by a Prague-based cosmetics brand and spoke about the company using her image, specifically a screenshot from her "The Power of Makeup" video, to sell their products on social media without her permission. She expressed disappointment in the company's actions, feeling they had lied to their followers as she was not wearing any of their products in the photo of her they had used to promote their company.

In January 2019, it was announced that De Jager would serve as the Global Beauty Adviser for Marc Jacobs Beauty. The brand stated in a press release that "in this newly created role, Nikkie will be integrated into the brand’s product development process, as well as share her incredible talent and expertise to expand unique content and artistry around the world on both Marc Jacobs Beauty and her own channels."

On 12 June 2020, it was announced that De Jager will be a goodwill ambassador at the United Nations.

On 10 February 2020, it was announced that De Jager would be the online host of the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, which was going to be held in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The event was later cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. De Jager later appeared as a co-host in the replacement show Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light, broadcast on 16 May 2020, where she reported the show's online content live to the public. On 18 September 2020, she was confirmed to return as a co-host of the 2021 contest, having been upgraded to a regular host from the previous year's role of online host. She was the first transgender person to host the contest.

On 13 January 2020, De Jager uploaded a video to her YouTube channel, titled "I'm Coming Out", in which she revealed that she is transgender and that she had been blackmailed by someone who threatened to make her assigned sex at birth public. She underwent her transition in her childhood and teens.

She is engaged; her fiancé, Dylan, proposed to her in August 2019, while the two were on holiday in Italy.

On 8 August 2020, De Jager and her fiancé were robbed at gunpoint in their house in Uden. Police reported one resident had superficial injuries. The police are currently investigating, and have stated there have been arrests made in the investigation.

Debuting/Withdrawing
On June 1, 2021 it was announced that 2 countries won't participate in the 53rd edition. It was also announced that 1 country debuted in the contest :
 * 🇧🇷 Brazil : Globo, the Brazilian broadcaster, announced the withdrawal of the country after Brazil was forced to withdraw due to MBU decision. The last participation of the country was in the 52nd edition.
 * 🇧🇬 Bulgaria : BNT, the Bulgarian broadcaster, was also forced to withdraw due to unpaid debts and bad results in the contest. The last participation of the country was in the 52nd edition.


 * 🇦🇷 Argentina : As a replacement of Brazil, Argentina was invited to debut in the contest.

Returning Artists
Here is the list of the returning artists for the 53rd edition.

Pre-Qualification Round
On June 1, 2021 the supervisor of the contest ESC Thømås revealed the running order of the Pre-Qualification round.

Semi Finals
On June 1, 2021 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 19 countries competed in each semi final and 10 countries qualified in both.

Semi Final 1
In this semi final The Netherlands, 🇩🇪 Germany and 🇨🇾 Cyprus had to vote.

Semi Final 2
In this semi final 🇦🇺 Australia, 🇱🇹 Lithuania and 🇸🇪 Sweden had to vote.

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