Mystical Song Contest 34

The Mystical Song Contest #34 (also known as MSC 34) is the thirty-fourth edition of the Mystical Song Contest. It takes place in Ottawa, 🇨🇦 Canada after The Weeknd won in New York, 🇺🇸 United States.

It was confirmed that 48 countries will participate in the 34th edition. No debuting, returning or withdrawing countries.

The top 6 of last edition 🇨🇦 Canada, 🇵🇹 Portugal, 🇷🇴 Romania, 🇧🇾 Belarus, 🇸🇪 Sweden and 🇮🇪 Ireland were automatically pre qualified for the Grand Final of this edition. The 42 others participating countries were split into 2 semi finals.

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

Ottawa
Ottawa (/ˈɒtəwə/ (listen), /ˈɒtəwɑː/; French pronunciation: ​[ɔtawa]) is the capital city of Canada. It stands on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of southern Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core of the Ottawa–Gatineau census metropolitan area (CMA) and the National Capital Region (NCR). As of 2016, Ottawa had a city population of 934,243 and a metropolitan population of 1,323,783 making it the fourth-largest city and the fifth-largest CMA in Canada. In June 2019, the City of Ottawa estimated it had surpassed a population of a million.

Founded in 1826 as Bytown, and incorporated as Ottawa in 1855, the city has evolved into the political centre of Canada. Its original boundaries were expanded through numerous annexations and were ultimately replaced by a new city incorporation and amalgamation in 2001 which significantly increased its land area. The city name "Ottawa" was chosen in reference to the Ottawa River, the name of which is derived from the Algonquin Odawa, meaning "to trade".

Ottawa has the most educated population among Canadian cities and is home to a number of post-secondary, research, and cultural institutions, including the National Arts Centre, the National Gallery, and numerous national museums.

With the draining of the Champlain Sea around ten thousand years ago, the Ottawa Valley became habitable. Local populations used the area for wild edible harvesting, hunting, fishing, trade, travel, and camps for over 6500 years. The Ottawa river valley has archeological sites with arrow heads, pottery, and stone tools. Three major rivers meet within Ottawa, making it an important trade and travel area for thousands of years. The Algonquins called the Ottawa River Kichi Sibi or Kichissippi meaning "Great River" or "Grand River".

Étienne Brûlé, widely regarded as the first European to travel up the Ottawa River, passed by Ottawa in 1610 on his way to the Great Lakes. Three years later, Samuel de Champlain wrote about the waterfalls in the area and about his encounters with the Algonquins, who had been using the Ottawa River for centuries. Many missionaries would follow the early explorers and traders. The first maps of the area used the word Ottawa, derived from the Algonquin word adawe ("to trade", used in reference to the area's importance to First Nations traders), to name the river. Philemon Wright, a New Englander, created the first European settlement in the area on 7 March 1800 on the north side of the river, across from the present-day city of Ottawa in Hull. He, with five other families and twenty-five labourers, set about to create an agricultural community called Wrightsville. Wright pioneered the Ottawa Valley timber trade (soon to be the area's most significant economic activity) by transporting timber by river from the Ottawa Valley to Quebec City. Bytown, Ottawa's original name, was founded as a community in 1826 when hundreds of land speculators were attracted to the south side of the river when news spread that British authorities were immediately constructing the northerly end of the Rideau Canal military project at that location. The following year, the town was named after British military engineer Colonel John By who was responsible for the entire Rideau Waterway construction project.

Host of the show
On April 15, 2020 it was announced that The Weeknd will be the host of the Mystical Song Contest 34.

Ariana Grande-Butera (/ˌɑːriˈɑːnə ˈɡrɑːndeɪ/; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Born in Boca Raton, Florida, Grande began her career in the 2008 Broadway musical 13 and rose to prominence for her role as Cat Valentine in the Nickelodeon television series Victorious (2010–2013), and in its spin-off, Sam & Cat (2013–2014). After she grew interested in pursuing a music career, Grande recorded songs for the soundtrack of Victorious, and signed with Republic Records in 2011 after the label's executives discovered videos of her covering songs that she uploaded onto YouTube. She released her debut album, Yours Truly (2013). A 1950s doo-wop-influenced pop and R&B album, it debuted atop the US Billboard 200 and spawned her first US Billboard Hot 100 top-ten single, "The Way".

Grande's second studio album, My Everything (2014), continued the pop-R&B sound of its predecessor and incorporated EDM elements. It topped the Billboard 200 and featured four US top-ten singles: "Problem", "Break Free", "Bang Bang", and "Love Me Harder", the most of any artist that year. Grande's third studio album, Dangerous Woman (2016) became her first of three consecutive number-one albums in the UK, and included the top-five single "Side to Side". Grande began experimenting with trap on her next albums, Sweetener (2018) and Thank U, Next (2019), while maintaining her characteristic pop-R&B tones. Both debuted at number one in several countries and were acclaimed by music critics. The former won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album and spawned the international top-three single "No Tears Left to Cry", while the latter was nominated for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards and broke several streaming records upon release. With the release of the singles "Thank U, Next", "7 Rings" and "Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored", Grande became the first solo artist to hold the top three spots on the Billboard Hot 100 simultaneously and the first female artist to succeed herself at number one on the UK Singles Chart. Additionally, she is the only artist to have the lead singles from each of their first five studio albums debut within the top ten in the US.

Grande has received various accolades, including one Grammy Award, one Brit Award, two Billboard Music Awards, three American Music Awards, and eight Guinness World Records. All five of Grande's full-length albums have been certified Platinum or higher by the RIAA. As one of the leading streaming pioneers in the world, she has amassed over 50 billion streams on platforms like YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music. She is the most followed female on the former two, while being the most listened to female on the latter two. An influential figure on social media, she is an outspoken feminist and supporter for LGBT rights. In February 2019, she became the most followed woman on Instagram. Forbes ranked her amongst the highest-paid celebrities in 2019, while Time named Grande as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2016 and 2019. Billboard recognized her as the "Woman of the Year" in 2018, and declared her the most accomplished female artist to debut in the 2010s.

Debuting/Withdrawing
No countries withdrew or debuted.

Returning Artists
Here is the list of the returning artists for the 34th edition.

Semi Finals
On April 16, 2020 the supervisor of the contest ESC Thømås has revealed the running order of both semi finals.

The big 6 members are assigned to a semi final where they have to vote.

A total of 21 countries compete in each semi final and 10 countries qualify in both.

Semi Final 1
In this semi final 🇨🇦 Canada, 🇷🇴 Romania and 🇸🇪 Sweden have to vote.

Semi Final 2
In this semi final 🇵🇹 Portugal, 🇧🇾 Belarus and 🇮🇪 Ireland have to vote.

Grand Final
On TBA, 2020 the supervisor of the contest ESC Thømås will reveal the running order of the Grand Final.