Mystical Song Contest 35

The Mystical Song Contest #35 (also known as MSC 35) is the thirty-fifth edition of the Mystical Song Contest. It took place in Baku, 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan after Ilkay Sencan ft. Arash & Era Istrefi won in Ottawa, 🇨🇦 Canada.

It was confirmed that 48 countries participated in the 35th edition. No countries debuted, 🇸🇬 Singapore withdrew and 🇱🇻 Latvia returned.

The top 6 of last edition 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan, 🇮🇹 Italy, 🇳🇴 Norway, 🇷🇺 Russia, 🇧🇷 Brazil and 🇸🇮 Slovenia 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.

Baku
Baku (/bəˈkuː, bɑːˈkuː, ˈbɑːkuː, ˈbækuː/; Azerbaijani: Bakı, IPA: [bɑˈcɯ]) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located 28 metres (92 ft) below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world and also the largest city in the world located below sea level. Baku lies on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, alongside the Bay of Baku. At the beginning of 2009, Baku's urban population was estimated at just over two million people. Officially, about 25% of all inhabitants of the country live in Baku's metropolitan area. Baku is the sole metropolis in Azerbaijan.

Baku is divided into twelve administrative raions and 48 townships. Among these are the townships on the islands of the Baku Archipelago, and the town of Oil Rocks built on stilts in the Caspian Sea, 60 kilometres (37 miles) away from Baku. The Inner City of Baku, along with the Shirvanshah's Palace and Maiden Tower, were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. According to the Lonely Planet's ranking, Baku is also among the world's top ten destinations for urban nightlife.

The city is the scientific, cultural, and industrial center of Azerbaijan. Many sizeable Azerbaijani institutions have their headquarters there. The Baku International Sea Trade Port is capable of handling two million tons of general and dry bulk cargoes per year. In recent years, Baku has become an important venue for international events. It hosted the 57th Eurovision Song Contest in 2012, the 2015 European Games, 4th Islamic Solidarity Games, the F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix since 2016, hosted the final of the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League, and will be one of the host cities for UEFA Euro 2020.

The city is renowned for its harsh winds, which is reflected in its nickname, the "City of Winds".

Baku is long attested under the Perso-Arabic name باکو (Bākū). Early Arabic sources also refer to the city as Bākuh and Bākuya, all of which seem to come from a Persian name. The further etymology is unclear.

A popular etymology in the 19th century considered it to be derived from Persian بادکوبه (Bâd-kube, meaning "wind-pounded city", a compound of bād, "wind", and kube, which is rooted in the verb کوبیدن kubidan, "to pound", thus referring to a place where wind would be strong and pounding, as is the case of Baku, which is known to experience fierce winter snow storms and harsh winds). This popular name (Badkubə in modern Azerbaijani script) actually gained currency as a nickname for the city by the 19th century (e.g., it is used in Akinchi, volume 1, issue 1, p. 1), and is also reflected in the city's modern nickname as the "City of Winds" (Azerbaijani: Küləklər şəhəri). Another and even less probable folk etymology explains the name as deriving from Baghkuy, meaning "God's town".

Host of the show
On April 27, 2020 it was announced that Chingiz Mustafayev was the host of Mystical Song Contest 35.

Chingiz Mustafayev (Azerbaijani: Çingiz Mustafayev; born 11 March 1991) is a Russian-born Azerbaijani singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He represented Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the song "Truth", finishing eighth.

Mustafayev was born in Moscow and moved to his parents' native Qazax, Azerbaijan when he was six years old. He learned to play the guitar and started composing his own songs while still a young boy.

At age 13, he moved with his mother and his brother to Baku where he auditioned for the Azerbaijani version of Pop Idol in 2007. Mustafayev won the competition, and soon became a rising star in the Azerbaijani music industry. In 2013, he represented Azerbaijan internationally in the New Wave competition in Jūrmala, Latvia. He placed 11th overall and sang along with Polina Gagarina..

Three years later, Mustafayev auditioned for the sixth season of The Voice of Ukraine, however he was eliminated in the subsequent Battle Round. Since then, Chingiz has performed with his group Palmas, which meld traditional Azerbaijani and Turkish folk sounds with flamenco guitar, rock, and pop twists. In early 2019, Chingiz released the single "Tənha gəzən".

On 8 March 2019, it was confirmed that Chingiz would represent Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the song "Truth". He performed in the second semi-final on 16 May 2019 in Tel Aviv, Israel as 18th, closing the semi-final. He placed 5th with 224 points, thus qualifying for the grand final on 18 May 2019. In the final, he placed 8th in a field of 26 participants with 302 points. This was Azerbaijan's best result, and the first time in the top 10, since 2013.

Debuting/Withdrawing
On April 26, 2020 it was announced that 1 country won't participate in the 35th edition.


 * 🇸🇬 Singapore : MediaCorp TV stated that the country won't participate because the debt of the broadcaster after hosting the contest in the 32nd edition was too high. The last participation of the country was in the 34th edition.

Returning Artists
Here is the list of the returning artists for the 35th edition.

Semi Finals
On April 27, 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 21 countries competed in each semi final and 10 countries qualified in both.

Semi Final 1
In this semi final 🇮🇹 Italy, 🇳🇴 Norway and 🇷🇺 Russia had to vote.

Semi Final 2
In this semi final 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan, 🇧🇷 Brazil and 🇸🇮 Slovenia had to vote.

Grand Final
On May 6, 2020 the supervisor of the contest ESC Thømås revealed the running order of the Grand Final.