Mystical Song Contest 22

The Mystical Song Contest #22 (also known as MSC 22) was the twenty-second edition of the Mystical Song Contest. It took place in Tallinn, 🇪🇪 Estonia after Elina Nechayeva won in Jerusalem, 🇮🇱 Israel.

It was confirmed that 48 countries participated in the 22nd edition. No one debuted, returned or withdrew.

The top 6 of last edition 🇪🇪 Estonia, 🇭🇺 Hungary, 🇲🇰 North Macedonia, 🇨🇭 Switzerland, 🇵🇹 Portugal and 🇮🇸 Iceland were automatically pre qualified for the Grand Final of this edition. The 42 other countries that participated were split into 2 semi finals.

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

Tallinn
Tallinn (/ˈtɑːlɪn, ˈtælɪn/; Estonian: [ˈtɑlʲˑinˑ]; names in other languages) is the capital, primate and the most populous city of Estonia. Located in the northern part of the country, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of 434,562. Administratively a part of Harju maakond (county), Tallinn is the main financial, industrial, cultural, educational and research centre of Estonia. Tallinn is located 80 kilometres (50 mi) south of Helsinki, Finland, 320 kilometres (200 mi) west of Saint Petersburg, Russia, and 380 kilometres (240 mi) east of Stockholm, Sweden. It has close historical ties with these three cities. From the 13th century until the first half of the 20th century Tallinn was known in most of the world by its historical German name Reval.

Tallinn, first mentioned in 1219, received city rights in 1248, but the earliest human settlements date back 5,000 years. The first recorded claim over the land was laid by Denmark in 1219, after a successful raid of Lyndanisse led by king Valdemar II, followed by a period of alternating Scandinavian and Teutonic rulers. Due to its strategic location, the city became a major trade hub, especially from the 14th to the 16th century, when it grew in importance as part of the Hanseatic League. Tallinn's Old Town is one of the best preserved medieval cities in Europe and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Tallinn has the highest number of start-ups per person among European countries and is a birthplace of many international high technology companies, including Skype and Transferwise. The city is to house the headquarters of the European Union's IT agency. Providing to the global cybersecurity it is the home to the NATO Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence. Tallinn is ranked as a global city and has been listed among the top ten digital cities in the world. The city was a European Capital of Culture for 2011, along with Turku in Finland.

In 1154, a town called قلون (Qlwn or Qalaven, possibly derivations of Kalevan or Kolyvan) was put on the world map of the Almoravid by the Arab cartographer Muhammad al-Idrisi, who described it as a small town like a large castle among the towns of 'Astlanda'. It was suggested that Quwri may have denoted a predecessor of the modern city. Another possibly one of the earliest name of Tallinn is Kolyvan (Russian: Колывань), which has been discovered from East Slavic chronicles and may somehow be connected to the Estonian mythical hero Kalev. However, a number of modern historians have considered connecting al-Idrisi placename(s) with Tallinn unfounded and erroneous.

Hosts of the show
On July 3, 2019 it was announced that Jüri Pootsmann & Elina Born were the hosts of Mystical Song Contest 22.

Jüri Pootsmann (born 1 July 1994), is an Estonian singer. He won the sixth season of Eesti otsib superstaari, and represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song Play. He is signed to Universal Music Baltics.

On February 2015, Pootsmann took part in the sixth season of Eesti otsib superstaari, an Estonian version of Pop Idol airing on TV3. He won the show on 31 May 2015 when his debut single Torm was released. It peaked at number seven in the Estonian Airplay Chart. On 15 November 2015 he released the single Aga Siis, peaking at number one in the Estonian Airplay Chart. On 20 November 2015, he released his debut self-titled extended play.

In 2016, Pootsmann was announced as one of the candidates in the Estonian national selection, Eesti Laul 2016, for the Eurovision Song Contest 2016. On 20 February 2016 Pootsmann performed his song Play during the second semi-final of the selection at the Estonian Television studios in Tallinn, and he progressed to the final. The final took place on 5 March 2016 at the Saku Suurhall in Tallinn, hosted by Ott Sepp and Märt Avandi. He reached the Super Final and won the national selection with 32,394 televotes.

During the Eurovision Song Contest, Estonia was drawn into the first semi-final. Pootsmann placed last (18th), Estonia's worst result to date at the contest, and failed to qualify to the final.

Elina Born (born 29 June 1994) is an Estonian singer. She represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 along with Stig Rästa with the song Goodbye to Yesterday. She previously attempted to represent Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2013 with the song Enough, and attempted to represent Estonia at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2017 finishing last in the final. She was the runner-up of the fifth season of Eesti otsib superstaari.

Elina Born was born on 29 June 1994 in Lehtse, Estonia. Stig Rästa discovered Elina Born on YouTube, she was singing Cruz by Christina Aguilera, he said I was completely charmed by her musicality. Elina was at school when a message from Stig appeared on her Facebook. On the experience, Born stated To be honest, I started crying. It took me a couple of days to gather the courage to write back.

In 2012, Elina Born took part on Estonian reality-competition gameshow Eesti otsib superstaari (Estonia is Searching for a Superstar). The program seeks to discover the best singer in Estonia through a series of nationwide auditions. She made it through the audition, theatre round, studio round and final. She reached the Super Final but finished runner-up to Rasmus Rändvee.

Elina Born took part on Eesti Laul 2015 with Stig Rästa, organised by the Estonian broadcaster Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR). They took part in Semi-final 2 of Eesti Laul 2015 with the song Goodbye to Yesterday which took place on 14 February 2015, they progressed to the Final which took place on 21 February 2015, they progressed to the Superfinal along with two other songs and were chosen to represent Estonia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. Elina and Stig took 7th place in the final with the total of 106 points.

Debuting/Withdrawing
On July 3, 2019 it was announced that no countries withdrew/debuted in the 22nd edition.

Returning Artists
Here is the list of the returning artists for the 22nd edition.

Semi Finals
On July 3, 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 21 countries competed in each semi final and 10 countries qualified in both.

Semi Final 1
In this semi final 🇪🇪 Estonia, 🇨🇭 Switzerland and 🇵🇹 Portugal had to vote.

Semi Final 2
In this semi final 🇭🇺 Hungary, 🇲🇰 North Macedonia and 🇮🇸 Iceland had to vote.

Grand Final
On July 12, 2019 the supervisor of the contest ESC Thømås revealed the running order of the grand final.