Mystical Song Contest 48

The Mystical Song Contest #48 (also known as MSC 48) was the forty-eighth edition of the Mystical Song Contest. It took place in Yerevan, 🇦🇲 Armenia after Artem Valter won in Bratislava, 🇸🇰 Slovakia.

It was confirmed that 48 countries participate in the 48th edition. No withdrawing, returning or debuting.

The top 6 of last edition 🇦🇲 Armenia, 🇸🇪 Sweden, 🇳🇿 New Zealand, 🇮🇹 Italy, 🇩🇪 Germany and 🇧🇪 Belgium were automatically pre qualified for the Grand Final of this edition. The 42 others participating countries were split into 2 semi final.

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

Yerevan
Yerevan ( UK: /ˌjɛrəˈvæn/ YERR-ə-VAN, US: /-ˈvɑːn/ -⁠VAHN, Armenian: Երևան [jɛɾɛˈvɑn] (listen), sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country. It has been the capital since 1918, the fourteenth in the history of Armenia and the seventh located in or around the Ararat plain. The city also serves as the seat of the Araratian Pontifical Diocese; the largest diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church and one of the oldest dioceses in the world.

The history of Yerevan dates back to the 8th century BC, with the founding of the fortress of Erebuni in 782 BC by King Argishti I at the western extreme of the Ararat plain. Erebuni was "designed as a great administrative and religious centre, a fully royal capital." By the late ancient Armenian Kingdom, new capital cities were established and Yerevan declined in importance. Under Iranian and Russian rule, it was the center of the Erivan Khanate from 1736 to 1828 and the Erivan Governorate from 1850 to 1917, respectively. After World War I, Yerevan became the capital of the First Republic of Armenia as thousands of survivors of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire arrived in the area. The city expanded rapidly during the 20th century as Armenia became part of the Soviet Union. In a few decades, Yerevan was transformed from a provincial town within the Russian Empire to Armenia's principal cultural, artistic, and industrial center, as well as becoming the seat of national government.

With the growth of the Armenian economy, Yerevan has undergone major transformation. Much construction has been done throughout the city since the early 2000s, and retail outlets such as restaurants, shops, and street cafés, which were rare during Soviet times, have multiplied. As of 2011, the population of Yerevan was 1,060,138, just over 35% of Armenia's total population. According to the official estimate of 2016, the current population of the city is 1,073,700. Yerevan was named the 2012 World Book Capital by UNESCO. Yerevan is an associate member of Eurocities.

Of the notable landmarks of Yerevan, Erebuni Fortress is considered to be the birthplace of the city, the Katoghike Tsiranavor church is the oldest surviving church of Yerevan and Saint Gregory Cathedral is the largest Armenian cathedral in the world, Tsitsernakaberd is the official memorial to the victims of the Armenian Genocide, and several opera houses, theatres, museums, libraries, and other cultural institutions. Yerevan Opera Theatre is the main spectacle hall of the Armenian capital, the National Gallery of Armenia is the largest art museum in Armenia and shares a building with the History Museum of Armenia, and the Matenadaran repository contains one of the largest depositories of ancient books and manuscripts in the world.

Host of the show
On February 1, 2021 it was announced that Kim Kardashian will be the host of Mystical Song Contest 48.

Kimberly Noel Kardashian West (born October 21, 1980) is an American media personality, socialite, model, businesswoman, producer, and actress. Kardashian first gained media attention as a friend and stylist of Paris Hilton but received wider notice after a 2002 sex tape, Kim Kardashian, Superstar, with her then-boyfriend Ray J was released in 2007. Later that year, she and her family began to appear in the E! reality television series Keeping Up with the Kardashians (2007–2021). Its success soon led to the creation of the spin-off series Kourtney and Kim Take New York (2011–2012) and Kourtney and Kim Take Miami (2009–2013).

Kardashian has developed an online and social media presence, including hundreds of millions of followers on Twitter and Instagram. She has released a variety of products tied to her name, including the 2014 mobile game Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, a variety of clothing and products, the 2015 photo book Selfish and her eponymous personal app. Her relationship with rapper Kanye West has also received significant media coverage; the couple married in 2014 and have four children together. As an actress, Kardashian has appeared in the films Disaster Movie (2008), Deep in the Valley (2009), and Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor (2013).

In recent years, Kardashian has focused on her own businesses by founding KKW Beauty and KKW Fragrance in 2017. In 2019, she launched shapewear company Skims, which was previously called "Kimono" but changed its name due to immediate backlash. Kardashian has also become more politically active by lobbying president Donald Trump for prison reform and lobbying for Alice Marie Johnson to be granted clemency. She is also planning to become a lawyer by doing a four-year law apprenticeship that is supervised by the legal nonprofit #cut50 which was co-founded by Van Jones.

Time magazine included Kardashian on their list of 2015's 100 most influential people. Both critics and admirers have described her as exemplifying the notion of being famous for being famous. She was reported to be the highest-paid reality television personality of 2015, with her estimated total earnings exceeding US$53 million.

Kim Kardashian was born on October 21, 1980, in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Robert and Kris (née Houghton). She has an older sister, Kourtney, a younger sister, Khloé, and a younger brother, Rob. Their mother is of Dutch, English, Irish, and Scottish ancestry, while their father was a third-generation Armenian-American. After their parents divorced in 1991, her mother married again that year, to Bruce Jenner, the 1976 Summer Olympics decathlon winner. Through their marriage, Kim Kardashian gained step-brothers Burton "Burt", Brandon, and Brody; step-sister Casey; and half-sisters Kendall and Kylie Jenner.

She attended Marymount High School, a Roman Catholic all-girls school in Los Angeles. In 1994, her father represented football player O. J. Simpson during his murder trial. Simpson is Kardashian's godfather. Kardashian's father died in 2003 of cancer. In her 20s, Kardashian was the close friend and stylist of socialite Paris Hilton, through whom she first garnered media attention.

Kardashian has expressed pride in her Armenian and Scottish ancestry. She is not a citizen of either country and does not speak Armenian. She has advocated for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide on numerous occasions and encouraged President Barack Obama and the United States government to consider its acknowledgement. In April 2015, Kardashian traveled to Armenia with her husband, her sister Khloé, and her daughter North and visited the Armenian Genocide memorial Tsitsernakaberd in Yerevan. In April 2016, Kardashian wrote an article on her website condemning The Wall Street Journal for running an advertisement denying the Armenian Genocide. During her visit to Armenia in 2019, she stated that she "talk[s] about it [the Armenian Genocide] with people internally at the White House." However, she added that she "haven't had a private conversation" with President Donald Trump about it. In 2020, Kardashian condemned the actions of Azerbaijan in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and expressed her support to Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh.

Debuting/Withdrawing
No countries withdrew or debuted.

Returning Artists
Here is the list of the returning artists for the 48th edition.

Semi Finals
On February 1, 2021 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 🇦🇲 Armenia, 🇮🇹 Italy and 🇧🇪 Belgium had to vote.

Semi Final 2
In this semi final 🇸🇪 Sweden, 🇳🇿 New Zealand and 🇩🇪 Germany had to vote.

Grand Final
On February 11, 2021 the supervisor of the contest ESC Thømås revealed the running order of the Grand Final.