Mystical Song Contest 63

The Mystical Song Contest #62 (also known as MSC 62) was the sixty-second edition of the Mystical Song Contest. It took place in Toronto, 🇨🇦 Canada after Rêve won in Berlin, 🇩🇪 Germany.

It was confirmed that 52 countries participated in the 61st edition. No one debuted, withdrew or returned.

The top 6 of last edition 🇨🇦 Canada, 🇱🇹 Lithuania, 🇸🇪 Sweden, 🇩🇰 Denmark, 🇹🇷 Turkey and 🇺🇦 Ukraine were automatically pre qualified for the Grand Final of this edition. The 46 others participating countries were split into 2 semi final.

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

Toronto
Toronto (/təˈrɒntoʊ/ (listen) tə-RON-toh; locally [təˈɹɒɾ̃ə], [ˈtɹɒɾ̃ə]) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anchor of the Golden Horseshoe, an urban agglomeration of 9,765,188 people (as of 2021) surrounding the western end of Lake Ontario, while the Greater Toronto Area proper had a 2021 population of 6,712,341. Toronto is an international centre of business, finance, arts, sports and culture, and is recognized as one of the most multicultural and cosmopolitan cities in the world.

Indigenous peoples have travelled through and inhabited the Toronto area, located on a broad sloping plateau interspersed with rivers, deep ravines, and urban forest, for more than 10,000 years. After the broadly disputed Toronto Purchase, when the Mississauga surrendered the area to the British Crown, the British established the town of York in 1793 and later designated it as the capital of Upper Canada. During the War of 1812, the town was the site of the Battle of York and suffered heavy damage by American troops. York was renamed and incorporated in 1834 as the city of Toronto. It was designated as the capital of the province of Ontario in 1867 during Canadian Confederation. The city proper has since expanded past its original limits through both annexation and amalgamation to its current area of 630.2 km2 (243.3 sq mi).

The diverse population of Toronto reflects its current and historical role as an important destination for immigrants to Canada. More than 50 percent of residents belong to a visible minority population group, and over 200 distinct ethnic origins are represented among its inhabitants. While the majority of Torontonians speak English as their primary language, over 160 languages are spoken in the city. The mayor of Toronto is elected by direct popular vote to serve as the chief executive of the city. The Toronto City Council is a unicameral legislative body, comprising 25 councillors since the 2018 municipal election, representing geographical wards throughout the city.

Toronto is a prominent centre for music, theatre, motion picture production, and television production, and is home to the headquarters of Canada's major national broadcast networks and media outlets. Its varied cultural institutions, which include numerous museums and galleries, festivals and public events, entertainment districts, national historic sites, and sports activities, attract over 43 million tourists each year. Toronto is known for its many skyscrapers and high-rise buildings, in particular the tallest free-standing structure on land in the Western Hemisphere, the CN Tower.

The city is home to the Toronto Stock Exchange, the headquarters of Canada's five largest banks, and the headquarters of many large Canadian and multinational corporations. Its economy is highly diversified with strengths in technology, design, financial services, life sciences, education, arts, fashion, aerospace, environmental innovation, food services, and tourism. Toronto is the third-largest tech hub in North America after Silicon Valley and New York City, and the fastest growing.

Host of the show
On August 23, 2022 it was announced that The Weeknd will be the host of Mystical Song Contest 62.

Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (/ɑːbɛltɛsfeɪ/ AH-bell-tes-FAY; born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, actor and record producer. Known for his sonic versatility and dark lyricism, his music explores escapism, romance, and melancholia, and is often inspired by personal experiences. He has received numerous accolades, including four Grammy Awards, 20 Billboard Music Awards, 17 Juno Awards, six American Music Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards, and nominations for an Academy Award, a Latin Grammy Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award.

Born and raised in Toronto, Tesfaye began his career in 2009 by anonymously releasing music on YouTube. Two years later, he co-founded the XO record label and released the mixtapes House of Balloons, Thursday and Echoes of Silence, which gained recognition for his style of contemporary and alternative R&B and the mystique surrounding his identity. In 2012, he signed with Republic Records and rereleased the mixtapes in the compilation album Trilogy. He explored dark wave in his debut studio album Kiss Land (2013), which debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200. After its release, Tesfaye began contributing to film soundtracks, with his acclaimed single "Earned It" from Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) winning the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance, while also being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Tesfaye earned critical and commercial success with his pop-leaning second album Beauty Behind the Madness (2015). It became his first number-one project in the US, and is one of the year's best-selling albums. With the US Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping singles "Can't Feel My Face" and "The Hills", Beauty Behind the Madness won the Grammy Award for Best Urban Contemporary Album and was nominated for Album of the Year. His trap-infused third studio album Starboy (2016) saw similar commercial success and included the US number-one single of the same name. Like its predecessor, the album won the Grammy Award for Best Urban Contemporary Album. Tesfaye explored new wave and dream pop with his critically acclaimed fourth studio album After Hours (2020), which featured the chart record-setting single "Blinding Lights" and the US number-one singles "Heartless" and "Save Your Tears". His dance-pop inspired fifth studio album Dawn FM (2022) included the US top-ten single "Take My Breath", and "Sacrifice".

Among the world's best-selling music artists with over 75 million records sold, Tesfaye holds several streaming and Billboard chart records. He is the first artist to simultaneously debut on the top three on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, while "Blinding Lights" is the longest-charting song in Billboard history. Often considered as a prominent figure in contemporary popular music, Tesfaye was listed by Time magazine as one of the world's most influential people in 2020. An advocate for racial equality and food security, he was appointed a World Food Programme Goodwill Ambassador in 2021.

Abel Makkonen Tesfaye was born on February 16, 1990, in Toronto, Ontario. He is the only child of Ethiopian immigrants Makkonen Tesfaye and Samrawit Hailu, who separated shortly after his birth. He was brought up in the district of Scarborough by his mother and grandmother. He has an estranged relationship with his father, in which he explained to Rolling Stone, "I saw him vaguely when I was six, and then again when I was 11 or 12, and he had a new family and kids. I don't even know where he lived — I'd see him for, like, a night. I'm sure he's a great guy. I never judged him. He wasn't abusive, he wasn't an alcoholic, he wasn't an asshole. He just wasn't there."

Tesfaye was raised as an Ethiopian Orthodox. When asked whether or not he was still religious, he stated to Variety in 2020, "I dunno...everything is a test, and if you are religious or spiritual, you have to go through things." His native language is Amharic, which he learned through his grandmother. He later became fluent in French by attending a French-immersion school. He was further educated at West Hill Collegiate Institute and Birchmount Park Collegiate Institute.

When he was 17, Tesfaye dropped out of school and moved to an apartment in the neighbourhood of Parkdale with two friends; including his best friend and now creative director La Mar Taylor. He has described this period as being like the film Kids (1995) "without the AIDS", as they lived a hedonistic lifestyle. He has also experienced homelessness and was incarcerated on several occasions during this time, which encouraged him to "smarten up, to focus."

Tesfaye often used drugs and abused illegal substances such as ketamine, cocaine, MDMA, magic mushrooms, and cough syrup. In December 2013, he stated that drugs were a "crutch" for him when it came to writing music. In August 2021, during a cover story with GQ, he described himself as being "sober lite", meaning that he has stopped using drugs with the exception of marijuana. He also noted that he drinks alcohol occasionally, stating: "I'm not a heavy drinker, as much as I used to be. The romance of drinking isn't there."

Debuting/Withdrawing
No countries withdrew or debuted.

Returning Artists
Here is the list of the returning artists for the 62nd edition.

Semi Finals
On August 23, 2022 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 23 countries competed in each semi final and 10 countries qualified in both.

Semi Final 1
In this semi final 🇸🇪 Sweden, 🇩🇰 Denmark and 🇺🇦 Ukraine had to vote.

Semi Final 2
In this semi final 🇨🇦 Canada, 🇱🇹 Lithuania and 🇹🇷 Turkey had to vote.

Grand Final
On October 13, 2022 the supervisor of the contest ESC Thømås revealed the running order of the Grand Final.