Mystical Song Contest 21

The Mystical Song Contest #21 (also known as MSC 21) was the twenty-first edition of the Mystical Song Contest. It took place in Jerusalem, 🇮🇱 Israel after Anna Zak won in Bucharest, 🇷🇴 Romania.

It was confirmed that 48 countries will participate in the 21st edition. No one debuted or withdrew while 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan, 🇧🇾 Belarus, 🇮🇸 Iceland, 🇸🇮 Slovenia, 🇨🇭 Switzerland and 🇹🇷 Turkey returned.

The top 6 of last edition 🇮🇱 Israel, 🇦🇺 Australia, Vietnam, 🇦🇹 Austria, 🇮🇹 Italy and 🇵🇱 Poland were automatically pre qualified for the Grand Final of this edition. The 42 others participating countries were split into 2 semi finals.

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

Jerusalem
Jerusalem (/dʒəˈruːsələm/; Hebrew: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם 'Yerushaláyim' ; Arabic: القُدس‎ 'al-Quds' or Bayt al-Maqdis, also spelled Baitul Muqaddas ) is a city in the Middle East, located on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the oldest cities in the world, and is considered holy to the three major Abrahamic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Both Israel and the Palestinian Authority claim Jerusalem as their capital, as Israel maintains its primary governmental institutions there and the State of Palestine ultimately foresees it as its seat of power; however, neither claim is widely recognized internationally.

During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed at least twice, besieged 23 times, captured and recaptured 44 times, and attacked 52 times. The part of Jerusalem called the City of David shows first signs of settlement in the 4th millennium BCE, in the shape of encampments of nomadic shepherds. Jerusalem was named as Urusalim on ancient Egyptian tablets, probably meaning "City of Shalem" after a Canaanite deity, during the Canaanite period (14th century BCE). During the Israelite period, significant construction activity in Jerusalem began in the 9th century BCE (Iron Age II), and in the 8th century the city developed into the religious and administrative center of the Kingdom of Judah. In 1538, the city walls were rebuilt for a last time around Jerusalem under Suleiman the Magnificent. Today those walls define the Old City, which has been traditionally divided into four quarters—known since the early 19th century as the Armenian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Quarters. The Old City became a World Heritage Site in 1981, and is on the List of World Heritage in Danger. Since 1860 Jerusalem has grown far beyond the Old City's boundaries. In 2015, Jerusalem had a population of some 850,000 residents, comprising approximately 200,000 secular Jewish Israelis, 350,000 Haredi Jews and 300,000 Palestinians. In 2016, the population was 882,700, of which Jews comprised 536,600 (60.8%), Muslims 319,800 (36.2%), Christians 15,800 (1.8%), and 10,300 unclassified (1.2%).

According to the Bible, King David conquered the city from the Jebusites and established it as the capital of the united kingdom of Israel, and his son, King Solomon, commissioned the building of the First Temple. Modern scholars argue that Jews branched out of the Canaanite peoples and culture through the development of a distinct monolatrous — and later monotheistic — religion centered on El/Yahweh, one of the Ancient Canaanite deities. These foundational events, straddling the dawn of the 1st millennium BCE, assumed central symbolic importance for the Jewish people. The sobriquet of holy city (עיר הקודש, transliterated 'ir haqodesh) was probably attached to Jerusalem in post-exilic times. The holiness of Jerusalem in Christianity, conserved in the Septuagint which Christians adopted as their own authority, was reinforced by the New Testament account of Jesus's crucifixion there. In Sunni Islam, Jerusalem is the third-holiest city, after Mecca and Medina. In Islamic tradition, in 610 CE it became the first qibla, the focal point for Muslim prayer (salat), and Muhammad made his Night Journey there ten years later, ascending to heaven where he speaks to God, according to the Quran. As a result, despite having an area of only 0.9 square kilometres (0.35 sq mi), the Old City is home to many sites of seminal religious importance, among them the Temple Mount with its Western Wall, Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Outside the Old City stands the Garden Tomb.

Host of the show
On June 7, 2019 it was announced that Anna Zak will be the host of the Mystical Song Contest 21.

Anna Kuzenkov (Hebrew: אנה קוזנקוב‎, Russian: Анна Кузенков; born 12 March 2001), known professionally as Anna Zak (Hebrew: אנה זק‎), is an Israeli Internet personality, model, and singer. Her following consists of 4 million followers on Tiktok and over 1 million followers on Instagram, becoming famous on social media both in Israel and internationally.

She is regarded as one of the most influential Israelis on the internet. She was ranked by Nana 10 as number 1 on the list of Israeli youth influencing Instagram in 2017. As of 2017, she ranks as the number 1 most influential Israeli Instagrammer, ahead of Bar Refaeli, according to the Israeli Internet Association. She works as a host of Music 24's show 'To be a singer'.

Anna Kuzenkov was born in Sochi, Russia, to Natalia and Denis Kuzenkov. Her family immigrated to Israel in 2010 when she was nine years old with her parents, her sister, and her grandparents. The family settled in the city of Ashdod, and in a short time Zak was speaking Hebrew well. Her parents later separated, and her father, left Israel, and returned to Russia, working on the Sochi Olympics, while her older sister is a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces. Zak studies at the Mekif Hey High school in Ashdod. The surname "Zak" she uses was selected as a short catchy stage name. Her father is Jewish, whereas her mother is not.

She began her career in 2014 on Israeli kids reality show The Boys And The Girls.

In 2016, she was chosen to be the face of Scoop shoes, earning a NIS 50,000 contract at the age of 15, considered to be a large sum for her age. She has also led a global campaign for hair removal brand Veet. She says that at her highschool, some of her teachers do not know about her social media career. While still in ninth grade, her monthly income from her social media profile was at least NIS 10,000 excluding her sponsorship deals.

Her large income at her age has raised eyebrows, but she told Israel Channel 2 that her career is being supported by her family.

In 2017, she became the host of Music 24's show 'To be a singer'. She also collaborates on social media with model Neta Alchimister.

In 2017, she became the most influential person on Israeli Instagram, according to the Israeli Internet Association, ahead of Bar Refaeli. She was also ranked by Nana 10 as the most influential Israeli youth influencing Instagram in 2017.

In June 2017, she was chosen to be the face of Office Depot's back to school campaign in Israel. In 2018, she modeled alongside Yael Shelbia and Neta Alchimister in the Fix brand campaign.

Debuting/Withdrawing
On June 7, 2019 it was announced that no countries will withdraw/debut in the 21st edition.

Returning Artists
Here is the list of the returning artists for the 21st edition.

Semi Finals
On June 9, 2019 the supervisor of the contest ESC Thømås had 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 🇦🇺 Australia, 🇮🇹 Italy and 🇵🇱 Poland had to vote.

Semi Final 2
In this semi final 🇮🇱 Israel, Vietnam and 🇦🇹 Austria had to vote.

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