Mystical Song Contest 4

The Mystical Song Contest #4 (also known as MSC 4) was the fourth edition of the Mystical Song Contest. It took place in Helsinki, 🇫🇮 Finland after Saara Aalto won in Zagreb, 🇭🇷 Croatia.

It was confirmed that 50 countries participated in the 4th edition. 🇯🇵 Japan and 🇲🇽 Mexico debuted while 🇧🇬 Bulgaria and      🇩🇰 Denmark withdrew.

The top 6 of last edition 🇫🇮 Finland, 🇰🇷 South Korea, 🇷🇴 Romania, 🇧🇪 Belgium, 🇬🇷 Greece and 🇭🇺 Hungary were automatically pre qualified for the Grand Final of this edition. The 44 others participating countries were split into 2 semi finals.

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

Helsinki
Helsinki (/ˈhɛlsɪŋki/ HEL-sink-ee or /hɛlˈsɪŋki/ (listen) hel-SINK-ee, Finnish: [ˈhelsiŋki] (listen); Swedish: Helsingfors [helsiŋˈforsː] (listen)) is the capital and most populous city 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 650,058. The city's urban area has a population of 1,268,296, 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 300 km (190 mi) west of Saint Petersburg, Russia. It has close historical ties with these three cities.

Together with the cities of Espoo, Vantaa, and Kauniainen, and surrounding commuter towns, Helsinki forms the Greater Helsinki metropolitan area, which has a population of nearly 1.5 million. Often considered to be Finland's only metropolis, it is the world's northernmost metro area with over one million people as well as the northernmost capital of an EU member state. After Stockholm and Oslo, Helsinki is the third largest municipality in the Nordic countries. The city is served by the international Helsinki Airport, located in the neighboring city of Vantaa, with frequent service to many destinations in Europe and Asia.

Helsinki was the World Design Capital for 2012, the venue for the 1952 Summer Olympics, and the host of the 52nd Eurovision Song Contest in 2007.

Helsinki has one of the highest urban standards of living in the world. In 2011, the British magazine Monocle ranked Helsinki the world's most liveable city in its liveable cities index. In the Economist Intelligence Unit's 2016 liveability survey, Helsinki was ranked ninth among 140 cities.

Host of the show
On June 8, 2018 it was announced that Robin Packalen was the host of the Mystical Song Contest 4.

Robin Packalen (born 24 August 1998), better known by his stage name Robin, is a Finnish singer and teen pop artist. During his career, Robin's certified albums and singles have sold over 370,000 copies, which makes him one of the 70 best-selling artists of all-time in his country.

In 2008, Robin won the Finnish nationwide singing contest for youth, Staraskaba, when he was just 10.

In 2009, he represented Finland at the New Wave Junior Contest in Moscow, which was followed by about 100 million viewers.

On 16 January 2012, Robin, described as "The Justin Bieber of Finland" by his label, released his first official single "Frontside Ollie".

It received instant success, huge following online, and based on digital downloads debuted at number five on the Finnish Singles Chart before reaching the top position.

On 22 February 2012, Koodi, the debut album of Robin was released. It sold over 100,000 records in Finland, earning quintuple platinum.

On 5 October 2012, Robin released his second studio album Chillaa. The album topped the Finnish Albums Chart in its first week of release.

On 30 August 2013 Robin released "Boom Kah", featuring Mikael Gabriel and Uniikki, as the lead single from his third studio album Boom Kah.

The song peaked at number four on the Finnish Singles Chart.

On 2 October 2013 he released the album Boom Kah, which also topped the Finnish Albums Chart. The chart topping second single, "Erilaiset", was released on 16 October 2013.

Robin released his fourth studio album 16 on 22 September 2014.

Robin went on a hiatus in 2018 to serve in the military, which is mandatory for every Finnish male citizen.

On 2 February, during the Emma Gaala awards ceremony, Robin announced his comeback with a live performance of "I'll Be with You".

Debuting/Withdrawing
On June 5, 2018 it was announced that 2 countries won't participate in the 4th edition.


 * 🇧🇬 Bulgaria : The broadcaster BNT had confirmed that due to bad results in the contest in the first 3 editions (3 non qualifications in a row) and financial problems the country won't be present in the 4th edition of the contest. However, the Bulgarian broadcaster said it would only be temporary. The last participation of the country was in the 2nd edition.


 * 🇩🇰 Denmark : DR the Danish broadcaster, had claimed that the country won't compete in the 4th edition due to bad results in the first 3 editions. The last participation of the country was in the 2nd edition.

However on June 5, 2018 it was announced that 2 countries will replace Bulgaria and Denmark in the 4th edition.


 * 🇯🇵 Japan : NHK had stated that the country was invited by the MBU to join the contest as a guest country, the broadcaster accepted the invitation.
 * 🇲🇽 Mexico : Televisa had stated that the country was invited by the MBU to join the contest as a guest country, the broadcaster accepted the invitation.

Returning Artists
Here is the list of the returning artists for the 4th edition.

Semi Finals
On June 8, 2018 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 22 countries competed in each semi final and 10 countries qualified in both.

Semi Final 1
In this semi final 🇫🇮 Finland, 🇧🇪 Belgium and 🇭🇺 Hungary had to vote.

Semi Final 2
In this semi final 🇰🇷 South Korea, 🇷🇴 Romania, 🇬🇷 Greece had to vote.

Grand Final
On June 19, 2018 the supervisor of the contest ESC Thømås revealed the running order of the Grand Final.