Mystical Song Contest 16

The Mystical Song Contest #16 (also known as MSC 16) was the sixteenth edition of the Mystical Song Contest. It took place in Canberra, 🇦🇺 Australia after Electric Fields won in Marseille, 🇫🇷 France.

It was confirmed that 42 countries participated in the 16th edition. 🇨🇳 China debuted and 🇹🇷 Turkey withdrew.

The top 6 of last edition 🇦🇺 Australia, 🇩🇪 Germany, 🇳🇿 New Zealand, 🇦🇱 Albania, Vietnam and 🇸🇪 Sweden were automatically pre qualified for the Grand Final of this edition. The 36 other countries that participated were split into 2 semi finals.

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

Canberra
Canberra (/ˈkænbərə/ (listen)) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory; 280 km (170 mi) south-west of Sydney and 660 km (410 mi) north-east of Melbourne.

On 1 January 1901, federation of the colonies of Australia was achieved. Section 125 of the new Australian Constitution provided that land, situated in New South Wales and at least 100 miles (160 km) from Sydney, would be ceded to the new federal government. Following discussion and exploration of various areas within New South Wales, the Seat of Government Act 1908 was passed in 1908 which specified a capital in the Yass-Canberra region. The land was transferred to the Commonwealth by New South Wales in 1911, creating the Australian Capital Territory, two years prior to the capital city being founded and formally named as Canberra in 1913.

It is unusual among Australian cities, being an entirely planned city outside of any state, similar to Washington, D.C. in the United States or Brasília in Brazil. Following an international contest for the city's design, a blueprint by American architects Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin was selected and construction commenced in 1913. The Griffins' plan featured geometric motifs such as circles, hexagons and triangles, and was centred on axes aligned with significant topographical landmarks in the Australian Capital Territory. The city's design was influenced by the garden city movement and incorporates significant areas of natural vegetation.

As the seat of the government of Australia, Canberra is home to many important institutions of the federal government, national monuments and museums. This includes Parliament House, the official residence of the monarch's representative the Governor-General, the High Court and numerous government departments and agencies. It is also the location of many social and cultural institutions of national significance such as the Australian War Memorial, the Australian National University, the Royal Australian Mint, the Australian Institute of Sport, the National Gallery, the National Museum and the National Library. The city is also home to many important institutions of the Australian Defence Force including the Royal Military College Duntroon and the Australian Defence Force Academy. It also hosts the majority of foreign embassies in Australia as well as regional headquarters of many international organisations, not-for-profit groups, lobbying groups and professional associations.

Canberra does not have a local council or city government like other Australian cities. The Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly performs the roles of both a city council for the city and a territory government for the rest of the Australian Capital Territory. The vast majority of the population of the Territory reside in Canberra though and the city is therefore the primary focus of the ACT Government. However, the federal government maintains authority over the Territory and may overturn local laws. It still maintains control over the area known as the Parliamentary Triangle through the National Capital Authority.

Host of the show
On March 15, 2019 it was announced that Sia was the host of Mystical Song Contest 16.

Sia Kate Isobelle Furler (/ˈsiːə/ SEE-ə; born 18 December 1975) is an Australian singer, songwriter, voice actress and music video director. She started her career as a singer in the acid jazz band Crisp in the mid-1990s in Adelaide. In 1997, when Crisp disbanded, she released her debut studio album titled OnlySee in Australia. She moved to London, England, and provided lead vocals for the British duo Zero 7. In 2000, Sia released her second studio album, Healing Is Difficult, on the Columbia label the following year, and her third studio album, Colour the Small One, in 2004, but all of these struggled to connect with a mainstream audience.

Sia relocated to New York City in 2005 and toured in the United States. Her fourth and fifth studio albums, Some People Have Real Problems and We Are Born, were released in 2008 and 2010, respectively. Each was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association and attracted wider notice than her earlier albums. Uncomfortable with her growing fame, Sia took a hiatus from performing, during which she focused on songwriting for other artists, producing successful collaborations Titanium (with David Guetta), Diamonds (with Rihanna) and Wild Ones (with Flo Rida).

In 2014, Sia finally broke through as a solo recording artist when her sixth studio album, 1000 Forms of Fear, debuted at No 1 in the U.S. Billboard 200 and generated the top-ten single Chandelier and a trilogy of music videos starring child dancer Maddie Ziegler. In 2016, she released her seventh studio album This Is Acting, which spawned her first Billboard Hot 100 number one single, Cheap Thrills. The same year, Sia gave her Nostalgic for the Present Tour, which incorporated dancing by Ziegler and others and other performance art elements. Sia wears a wig that obscures her face to protect her privacy. Among the accolades received by Sia are ARIA Awards and an MTV Video Music Award. Her eighth studio album, first Christmas album, and debut album with Atlantic Records was released in 2017. It was titled Everyday Is Christmas and was preceded by the single Santa's Coming for Us. The album was reissued in 2018 with three bonus tracks.

Sia, who is vegan, participated in an advertisement for PETA Asia-Pacific, with her dog, Pantera, to encourage pet neutering. Sia has also joined other publicly known figures for the Oscar's Law campaign, in protest against large-scale pet breeding. Other advocates include singers Jon Stevens, Paul Dempsey, Rachael Leahcar and Missy Higgins. She is also a supporter of the Beagle Freedom Project, performing I'm in Here live at the Beagle Freedom Project Gala on 9 September 2013. For her 2016 Nostalgic for the Present Tour, Sia partnered with various rescue organizations to conduct a dog adoption fair at each of her concerts. Sia was nominated for a 2016 Libby Award for Best Voice for Animals. The video for her 2016 single The Greatest was a pro-LGBT tribute to the 49 people killed in the Pulse Orlando Shooting.

Debuting/Withdrawing
On March 15, 2019 it was announced that 1 country withdrew in the 16th edition.


 * 🇹🇷 Turkey : TNT has stated that due to very bad results, the country withdrew. The last participation of the country was in the 15th edition.

On March 15, 2019 it was also announced that 1 country replaced Turkey :


 * 🇨🇳 China : SBS, the Australian Broadcaster, invited China to debut.

Returning Artists
Here is the list of the returning artists for the 16th edition.

Semi Finals
On March 19, 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 18 countries competed in each semi final and 10 countries qualified in both.

Semi Final 1
In this semi final 🇦🇺 Australia, 🇩🇪 Germany and 🇳🇿 New Zealand had to vote.

Semi Final 2
In this semi final 🇦🇱 Albania, Vietnam and 🇸🇪 Sweden had to vote.

Grand Final
On March 22, 2019 the supervisor of the contest ESC Thømås revealed the running order of the grand final.