Mystical Song Contest 13

The Mystical Song Contest #13 (also known as MSC 13) was the thirteenth edition of the Mystical Song Contest. It took place in Stockholm, 🇸🇪 Sweden after JRL won in Seoul, 🇰🇷 South Korea.

It was confirmed that 44 countries participated in the 13th edition. No one debuted or returned while 🇱🇻 Latvia, 🇱🇹 Lithuania, 🇲🇩 Moldova 🇲🇪 Montenegro, 🇵🇭 The Philippines and 🇸🇮 Slovenia withdrew.

The top 6 of last edition 🇸🇪 Sweden, The Netherlands, 🇮🇪 Ireland, 🇦🇲 Armenia, 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan and 🇨🇭 Switzerland were automatically pre qualified for the Grand Final of this edition. The 38 other countries that participated were split into 2 semi finals.

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

Stockholm
Stockholm ( Swedish pronunciation: [ˇstɔkː(h)ɔlm] (listen)) is the capital and most populous urban area of Sweden and Scandinavia. 972,647 people live in the municipality, approximately 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropolitan area. The city stretches across fourteen islands where Lake Mälaren flows into the Baltic Sea. Outside the city to the east, and along the coast, is the island chain of the Stockholm archipelago. The area has been settled since the Stone Age, in the 6th millennium BC, and was founded as a city in 1252 by Swedish statesman Birger Jarl. It is also the county seat of Stockholm County.

Stockholm is the cultural, media, political, and economic centre of Sweden. The Stockholm region alone accounts for over a third of the country's GDP, and is among the top 10 regions in Europe by GDP per capita. It is an important global city, and the main centre for corporate headquarters in the Nordic region. The city is home to some of Europe's top ranking universities, such as the Stockholm School of Economics, Karolinska Institute and KTH Royal Institute of Technology. It hosts the annual Nobel Prize ceremonies and banquet at the Stockholm Concert Hall and Stockholm City Hall. One of the city's most prized museums, the Vasa Museum, is the most visited non-art museum in Scandinavia. The Stockholm metro, opened in 1950, is well known for the decor of its stations; it has been called the longest art gallery in the world. Sweden's national football arena is located north of the city centre, in Solna. Ericsson Globe, the national indoor arena, is in the southern part of the city. The city was the host of the 1912 Summer Olympics, and hosted the equestrian portion of the 1956 Summer Olympics otherwise held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Stockholm is the seat of the Swedish government and most of its agencies, including the highest courts in the judiciary, and the official residencies of the Swedish monarch and the Prime Minister. The government has its seat in the Rosenbad building, the Riksdag (Swedish parliament) is seated in the Parliament House, and the Prime Minister's residence is adjacent at Sager House. Stockholm Palace is the official residence and principal workplace of the Swedish monarch, while Drottningholm Palace, a World Heritage Site on the outskirts of Stockholm, serves as the Royal Family's private residence.

After the Ice Age, around 8,000 BC, there were already many people living in what is today the Stockholm area, but as temperatures dropped, inhabitants moved south. Thousands of years later, as the ground thawed, the climate became tolerable and the lands became fertile, people began to migrate back to the North. At the intersection of the Baltic Sea and lake Mälaren is an archipelago site where the Old Town of Stockholm was first built from about 1000 CE by Vikings. They had a positive trade impact on the area because of the trade routes they created.

Stockholm's location appears in Norse sagas as Agnafit, and in Heimskringla in connection with the legendary king Agne. The earliest written mention of the name Stockholm dates from 1252, by which time the mines in Bergslagen made it an important site in the iron trade. The first part of the name (stock) means log in Swedish, although it may also be connected to an old German word (Stock) meaning fortification. The second part of the name (holm) means islet, and is thought to refer to the islet Helgeandsholmen in central Stockholm. According to the Eric Chronicles the city is said to have been founded by Birger Jarl to protect Sweden from sea invasions made by Karelians after the pillage of Sigtuna on Lake Mälaren in the summer of 1187.

Stockholm's core, the present Old Town (Gamla Stan) was built on the central island next to Helgeandsholmen from the mid-13th century onward. The city originally rose to prominence as a result of the Baltic trade of the Hanseatic League. Stockholm developed strong economic and cultural linkages with Lübeck, Hamburg, Gdańsk, Visby, Reval, and Riga during this time. Between 1296 and 1478 Stockholm's City Council was made up of 24 members, half of whom were selected from the town's German-speaking burghers.

Host of the show
On December 28, 2018 it was announced that Petra Mede was the host of Mystical Song Contest 13.

Petra Maria Mede (born 7 March 1970) is a Swedish comedian, dancer, actress and television presenter. She was born in Stockholm, and grew up in Gothenburg. Mede is known for her several roles in comic shows and as a television presenter. She is best known outside of Sweden for hosting the Eurovision Song Contest in 2013 and co-hosting in 2016.

In 2009,she hosted Melodifestivalen 2009, where the Swedish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 was chosen and was voted Sweden's best female comedian the same year.

In May 2013, Petra hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö, Sweden after Loreen's win in Baku in the previous year's competition. Her performance was widely acclaimed by TV critics and journalists around Europe and she performed an interval act during the Grand Final. She was the first solo presenter in nearly 20 years after Mary Kennedy hosted solo in Dublin back in 1995.

In 2015, Mede, along with Graham Norton, hosted the Eurovision's Greatest Hits EBU/BBC 60th anniversary concert show recorded on 31 March at the Eventim Apollo, in Hammersmith, London and broadcast in 27 countries.

In 2016, Mede was the co-host the first semi-final of the Swedish Melodifestivalen 2016 with Gina Dirawi at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg.

On 14 December 2015, SVT announced in a press conference that Mede and Måns Zelmerlöw would co-host the Eurovision Song Contest 2016. It was Mede's second time hosting the contest, joining Katie Boyle and Jacqueline Joubert as the only people to host the contest more than once.

Mede speaks Swedish, English, Spanish, Italian and French. Together with her former partner Mattias Günther, she has a daughter born in 2012. However in 2015, it was confirmed that she and Günther had split.

Debuting/Withdrawing
On December 28, 2018 it was announced that 4 countries won't participate in the 13th edition.


 * 🇱🇻 Latvia : Due to bad results in the past, Latvia withdrew. The last participation of the country was in the 12th edition.
 * 🇱🇹 Lithuania : Lithuania returned last edition, but their financial problems are too big, so Lithuania decided to withdraw for some editions. The last participation of the country was in the 12th edition.
 * 🇲🇩 Moldova : The Broadcaster stated that Moldova will withdraw from the contest due to a weak interest from the Moldovans for the contest. The last participation of the country was in the 12th edition.
 * 🇲🇪 Montenegro : Due to bad results and no more interest for the contest, Montenegro withdrew. The last participation of the country was in the 12th edition.
 * 🇵🇭 The Philippines : The Philippines aren't a full MBU member, so they were forced to withdraw. The last participation of the country was in the 12th edition.
 * 🇸🇮 Slovenia : Due to bad results overall, Slovenia withdrew. The last participation of the country was in the 12th edition.

Returning Artists
Here is the list of the returning artists for the 13th edition.

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

Semi Final 1
In this semi final The Netherlands, 🇮🇪 Ireland and 🇨🇭 Switzerland have to vote.

Semi Final 2
In this semi final 🇸🇪 Sweden, 🇦🇲 Armenia and 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan have to vote.

Grand Final
On January 20, 2019 the supervisor of the contest ESC Thømås revealed the running order of the grand final.