Mystical Song Contest 10

The Mystical Song Contest #10 (also known as MSC 10) was the tenth edition of the Mystical Song Contest. It took place in Valletta, 🇲🇹 Malta after Oyo ft. Temple won in Astana, 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan.

The 10th edition was a special edition where contestants had to send an entry which already competed for their country from editions 1-9. The previous Big 6 members can't send their song of edition 9.

It was confirmed that 50 countries participated in the 10th edition. 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan, 🇨🇿 Czech Republic, 🇮🇸 Iceland 🇲🇽 Mexico and 🇰🇵 North Korea returned while 🇦🇩 Andorra, 🇮🇳 India, 🇮🇩 Indonesia and 🇲🇦 Morocco withdrew.

The top 6 of last edition 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan, 🇰🇷 South Korea, 🇭🇺 Hungary, 🇭🇷 Croatia, 🇵🇱 Poland and The Netherlands were automatically pre qualified for the Grand Final of this edition. The 44 other countries that participated were split into 2 semi finals.

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

Valletta
Valletta (/vəˈlɛtə/, Maltese: il-Belt Valletta, Maltese pronunciation: [ˈvɐlɛ.tɐ]) is the capital city of Malta. Located in the South Eastern Region of the main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, its population in 2014 was 6,444, while the metropolitan area around it has a population of 393,938. Valletta is the southernmost capital of Europe, and at just 0.8 square kilometres, it is the European Union's smallest capital city.

Valletta's 16th-century buildings were constructed by the Knights Hospitaller. The city was named after Jean Parisot de Valette, who succeeded in defending the island from an Ottoman invasion in 1565.The city is Baroque in character, with elements of Mannerist, Neo-Classical and Modern architecture, though the Second World War left major scars on the city, particularly the destruction of the Royal Opera House. The city was officially recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1980.

The city's fortifications, consisting of bastions, curtains and cavaliers, along with the beauty of its Baroque palaces, gardens and churches, led the ruling houses of Europe to give the city its nickname Superbissima – Latin for Proudest.

The peninsula was previously called Xagħret Mewwija (Mu' awiya – Meuia; named during the Arab period) or Ħal Newwija. Mewwija refers to a sheltered place. The extreme end of the peninsula was known as Xebb ir-Ras (Sheb point), of which name origins from the lighthouse on site. A family which surely owned land became known as Sceberras, now a Maltese surname as Sciberras. At one point the entire peninsula became known as Sceberras.In 1552, the Aragonite watchtower was demolished and the larger Fort Saint Elmo was built in its place.

In the Great Siege of 1565, Fort Saint Elmo fell to the Ottomans, but the Order eventually won the siege with the help of Sicilian reinforcements. The victorious Grand Master, Jean de Valette, immediately set out to build a new fortified city on the Sciberras Peninsula to fortify the Order's position in Malta and bind the Knights to the island. The city took his name and was called La Valletta.

The Grand Master asked the European kings and princes for help, and he received a lot of assistance, due to the increased fame of the Order after their victory in the Great Siege. Pope Pius V sent his military architect, Francesco Laparelli, to design the new city, while Philip II of Spain sent substantial monetary aid. The foundation stone of the city was laid by Grand Master de Valette on 28 March 1566. He placed the first stone in what later became Our Lady of Victories Church.

In his book Dell’Istoria della Sacra Religione et Illustrissima Militia di San Giovanni Gierosolimitano (English: The History of the Sacred Religion and Illustrious Militia of St John of Jerusalem), written between 1594 and 1602, Giacomo Bosio writes that when the cornerstone of Valletta was placed, a group of Maltese elders said: Iegi zimen en fel wardia col sceber raba iesue uquie (Which in modern Maltese reads, Jiġi żmien li fil-Wardija [l-Għolja Sciberras] kull xiber raba’ jiswa uqija, and in English, There will come a time when every piece of land on Sciberras Hill will be worth its weight in gold).

De Valette died from a stroke on 21 August 1568 at age 74 and never saw the completion of his city. Originally interred in the church of Our Lady of the Victories, his remains now rest in St. John's Co-Cathedral among the tombs of other Grand Masters of the Knights of Malta.

Host of the show
On October 13, 2018 it was announced that Ira Losco was the host of Mystical Song Contest 10.

Ira Losco M.Q.R. (born 31 July 1981) is a Maltese singer and songwriter. Her career breakthrough came in 2002, when she represented Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 with the song 7th Wonder. She placed second in the competition, Malta's best ever result. Fourteen years later, she returned and represented Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song Walk on Water, placing twelfth. Losco has released six studio albums so far in her career, and is one of the most successful Maltese musicians of all-time. In 2018, she served as a judge on the inaugural season of X Factor Malta, she returned to serve as judge and in 2019

To date Losco has performed in over 15 countries and has won more than 20 music awards. She has appeared in front of audiences ranging from 1,000 to 80,000, and has played alongside renowned international acts such as Elton John, Katie Melua, Maroon 5, Akon, Mel C, Ronan Keating, Bob Geldof, Tokio Hotel and Gigi D'Alessio.

Losco started her career with a college band called Tiara but they split up a few months after Losco represented her country in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 which was held in Tallinn. She placed second with the song 7th Wonder.

In 2003, she was chosen to perform the song Reaching Higher, which was the official song of the Xth Games of the Small States of Europe Malta 2003. Losco was awarded the Midalja għall-Qadi tar-Repubblika in 2008.

Losco has been involved in advertising in her country, including for Guess, McDonald's Salad Plus, and Vodafone's Music Jam Campaign.

Losco won the Maltese national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 on 23 January, with the song Walk On Water. On 31 July 2018, it was announced that Losco will be a judge on Malta's version of The X Factor.

Losco represented Malta at the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 with the song “7th Wonder”. She finished runner up, just 12 points behind eventual winner Marie N, which was Malta’s highest result ever in the competition until it was equaled in 2005.

In December 2015, it was revealed that Losco had submitted two songs for the Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2016, the country’s national selection process. Her entries Chameleon and That’s why I love you were both shortlisted for the semifinal, with Chameleon qualifying for the final. On 23 January, Losco won the national selection with over 40% of the votes cast by the Maltese public.

Following Losco's win at the Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2016, she stated that she was open to the idea of performing a song other than Chameleon at Eurovision, should it improve Malta's chances of winning. The national final rules, set by PBS, allow for the winning song to be partially modified or completely changed. On 19 February 2016, PBS announced that an international jury consisting of representatives from ten countries, along with local experts from Malta, would be presented with several songs, including a revamped version of Chameleon, and would determine which song Losco would perform at the contest. On 14 March it was announced that she would perform the song Walk on Water. The song and video were released on 17 March 2016.

The dress she wore for the contest was by Alex Zabotto-Bentley, who has also designed for Lady Gaga, Prince and Kylie Minogue. In order to increase the chances of winning the contest, the budget was increased drastically, from minimum €200,000 in a previous given year to an approximate maximum of €1,500,000 during Losco's participation in 2016. In the first semi-final, on 10 May 2016, Walk on Water qualified for the Eurovision final. In the final on Saturday 14 May 2016, she placed 12th out of 26 countries.

Debuting/Withdrawing
On October 13, 2018 it was announced that 5 countries won't participate in the 10th edition.


 * 🇦🇩 Andorra : As Andorra doesn't have full MBU membership yet, they weren't allowed to compete in the 10th edition. The last participation of the country was in the 9th edition.
 * 🇮🇳 India : As India doesn't have full MBU membership yet, they weren't allowed to compete in the 10th edition. The last participation of the country was in the 9th edition.
 * 🇮🇩 Indonesia : As India doesn't have full MBU membership yet, they weren't allowed to compete in the 10th edition. The last participation of the country was in the 9th edition.
 * 🇯🇲 Jamaica : As Jamaica doesn't have full MBU membership yet, they weren't allowed to compete in the 10th edition. The last participation of the country was in the 9th edition.
 * 🇲🇦 Morocco : Morocco withdrew from the contest due to bad results. The last participation of the country was in the 9th edition.

Returning Artists
As edition 10 is a special edition with songs and artists which already took part in the contest, all the countries had a returning artist.

Semi Finals
On October 18, 2018 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 22 countries competed in each semi final and 10 countries qualified in both.

Semi Final 1
In this semi final 🇲🇹 Malta, 🇮🇱 Israel and 🇦🇹 Austria had to vote.

Semi Final 2
In this semi final 🇦🇺 Australia, 🇧🇷 Brazil and The Netherlands have to vote.

Grand Final
On October 26, 2018 the supervisor of the contest ESC Thømås revealed the running order of the grand final.