Mystical Song Contest 41

The Mystical Song Contest #41 (also known as MSC 41) was the forty-first edition of the Mystical Song Contest. It took place in Ankara, 🇹🇷 Turkey after Edis ft. Emina won in Bergen, 🇳🇴 Norway.

It was confirmed that 46 countries participated in the 41st edition. No debuted, Kosovo 🇮🇸 Iceland and 🇲🇹 Malta withdrew while 🇲🇦 Morocco returned.

The top 6 of last edition 🇹🇷 Turkey, 🇩🇰 Denmark, 🇧🇾 Belarus, 🇦🇹 Austria, 🇭🇺 Hungary and 🇨🇦 Canada were automatically pre qualified for the Grand Final of this edition. The 40 other countries that participated were split into 2 semi finals.

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

Ankara
Ankara (/ˈæŋkərə/, also US: /ˈɑːŋ-/, Turkish: [ˈaŋkaɾa] (listen)), historically known as Ancyra (/ænˈsaɪrə/) and Angora (/æŋˈɡɔːrə/, also  US: /ˈæŋɡərə/), is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city covers an area of 25,706 square kilometres (9,925 sq mi), and has a population of 4.5 million residents in the urban centre, and over 5.6 million residents in the Ankara Province, it is Turkey's second-largest city after Istanbul, having outranked İzmir in the 20th century.

On 23 April 1920 the Grand National Assembly of Turkey was established in Ankara, which became the headquarters of the Turkish National Movement during the Turkish War of Independence. Ankara became the new Turkish capital upon the establishment of the Republic on 29 October 1923, succeeding in this role the former Turkish capital Istanbul (Constantinople) following the fall of the Ottoman Empire. The government is a prominent employer, but Ankara is also an important commercial and industrial city, located at the centre of Turkey's road and railway networks. The city gave its name to the Angora wool shorn from Angora rabbits, the long-haired Angora goat (the source of mohair), and the Angora cat. The area is also known for its pears, honey and muscat grapes. Although situated in one of the driest regions of Turkey and surrounded mostly by steppe vegetation (except for the forested areas on the southern periphery), Ankara can be considered a green city in terms of green areas per inhabitant, at 72 square metres (775 square feet) per head.

Serving as the capital of the Celtic state of Galatia (280–64 BC), and later of the Roman province with the same name (25 BC–7th century), Ankara is a very old city with various Hittite, Phrygian, Hellenistic, Celtic, Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman archaeological sites. The historical center of town is a rocky hill rising 150 m (500 ft) over the left bank of the Ankara Çayı, a tributary of the Sakarya River, the ancient Sangarius. The hill remains crowned by the ruins of the old citadel. Although few of its outworks have survived, there are well-preserved examples of Roman and Ottoman architecture throughout the city, the most remarkable being the 20 bc Temple of Augustus and Rome that boasts the Monumentum Ancyranum, the inscription recording the Res Gestae Divi Augusti.

The orthography of the name Ankara has varied over the ages. It has been identified with the Hittite cult center Ankuwaš, although this remains a matter of debate. In classical antiquity and during the medieval period, the city was known as Ánkyra (Ἄγκυρα, lit  "anchor") in Greek and Ancyra in Latin; the Galatian Celtic name was probably a similar variant. Following its annexation by the Seljuk Turks in 1073, the city became known in many European languages as Angora; it was also known in Ottoman Turkish as Engürü. The form "Angora" is preserved in the names of breeds of many different kinds of animals, and in the names of several locations in the US (see Angora).

Host of the show
On September 4, 2020 it was announced that Edis Görgülü was the host of the Mystical Song Contest 41. Edis Görgülü (born 28 November 1990) is a Turkish singer and songwriter. He was born in London and raised in İzmir. While studying at high school and university, he passed music lessons. After enrolling in Galatasaray University Communication Faculty, he settled in Istanbul and immediately tried to contact various people to make an album, but he did not succeed. Meanwhile, he started acting and had roles in TV series Dinle Sevgili (2011–12) and Hayatımın Rolü (2012). In the years that he pursued a career in acting, he got an offer from his manager to make an album.

After releasing numerous singles, Edis released his first studio album Ân in March 2018. His first single "Benim Ol", which was released in March 2014, was a successful hit and ranked number two on Türkçe Top 20. His subsequent singles "Dudak" (2016) and "Çok Çok" (2017) also ranked number two on the charts followed by "Roman", which became a number-one hit. Music critics have praised Edis's style. To this day he has won numerous awards, including a Turkey Music Award, and has received various nominations.

Edis Görgülü was born on 28 November 1990 in London, England. Prior to his birth, his parents had moved to London to work and finish their studies. His mother worked in a café while his father got a job in BBC Radio. He is part Azerbaijani through his mother, who was born in Baku. While Edis was two years old, his parents decided to bring him up in Turkey and moved to İzmir. Edis took piano lessons at the age of four. After learning piano, he started to sing as well. He subsequently attended İzmir Özel Tevfik Fikret High School. In 2007 he got involved in a project on behalf of his school to promote İzmir as a candidate for Expo 2015. He then became a soloist in İzmir Kent Orchestra. He later told his family that he wanted to become a musician, but they told him that he needed to finish his studies first. After getting enrolled in Galatasaray University Communication Faculty, he settled in Istanbul. Meanwhile, he got a place in Istanbul University State Conservatory and pursued his studies there as well. As he was unable to handle studying at two schools, he left Istanbul University. In Istanbul he tried to contact various people to help him make an album, but he did not succeed. Eventually he started to work with acting agencies. In 2011–12, he portrayed the character of Barış in Fox TV's series Dinle Sevgili, followed by another role in 2012 as Uygar in Star TV's series Hayatımın Rolü. During his acting years, he went to a club with his friend and while he was singing to a song during a karaoke, he caught the attention of his manager and friends. The manager subsequently offered him to work on a new album. Through his manager Şebnem Özberk, he met with Kenan Doğulu for the first time and recorded various demos. He then met Ozan Çolakoğlu and Soner

Debuting/Withdrawing
On September 1, 2020 it was announced that 3 countries won't participate in the 41st edition.


 * 🇮🇸 Iceland : Iceland stated that the country didn't succeed with doing well in the contest. They decided to put the money for participation in the contest into a national show to promote Icelandic music. The last participation of the country was in the 40th edition.
 * Kosovo : MBU, the official broadcasting union of the contest, announced the withdrawal of Kosovo. The statement said MBU gave enough time for Kosovo to do well in the contest to prove that they deserve to stay. Sadly since it's return in edition 31, Kosovo has qualified only once. The last participation of the country was in the 40th edition.
 * 🇲🇹 Malta : Malta was again a guest country like in edition 30, the country had to withdraw. The last participation of the country was in the 40th edition.

Returning Artists
Here is the list of the returning artists for the 41st edition.

Semi Finals
On September 4, 2020 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 20 countries competed in each semi final and 10 countries qualified in both.

Semi Final 1
In this semi final 🇩🇰 Denmark, 🇧🇾 Belarus and 🇨🇦 Canada had to vote.

Semi Final 2
In this semi final 🇹🇷 Turkey, 🇦🇹 Austria and 🇭🇺 Hungary had to vote.

Grand Final
On September 20, 2020 the supervisor of the contest ESC Thømås revealed the running order of the Grand Final.