Mystical Song Contest 12

The Mystical Song Contest #12 (also known as MSC 12) was the twelveth edition of the Mystical Song Contest. It took place in Seoul, 🇰🇷 South Korea after Blackpink ft. Dua Lipa won in Pyongyang, 🇰🇵 North Korea.

It was confirmed that 50 countries will participate in the 12th edition. 🇱🇻 Latvia, 🇱🇹 Lithuania, 🇸🇮 Slovenia and 🇨🇭 Switzerland returned while Kosovo, 🇲🇽 Mexico, 🇰🇵 North Korea and 🇿🇦 South Africa withdrew.

The top 6 of last edition 🇰🇷 South Korea, 🇷🇴 Romania, 🇭🇺 Hungary, 🇵🇭 The Philippines, 🇨🇾 Cyprus and 🇲🇰 North Macedonia were automatically pre qualified for the Grand Final of this edition. The 44 others participating countries were split into 2 semi finals.

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

Seoul
Seoul (/soʊl/, like soul; Korean: 서울 [sʌ.ul] (listen); lit.  "Capital"), officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. With surrounding Incheon metropolis and Gyeonggi province, Seoul forms the heart of the Seoul Capital Area. Ranked as an alpha world city, Seoul was the world's 4th largest metropolitan economy with a GDP of US$635 billion in 2014 after Tokyo, New York City and Los Angeles. International visitors generally reach Seoul via AREX from the Incheon International Airport, notable for having been rated the best airport for nine consecutive years (2005–2013) by the Airports Council International. In 2015, it was rated Asia's most livable city with the second highest quality of life globally by Arcadis, with the GDP per capita (PPP) in Seoul being around $40,000. In 2017, the cost of living in Seoul was ranked 6th globally. In 2018, Seoul's real estate market was ranked 5th in the world for the price of apartments in the downtown center.

With major technology hubs centered in Gangnam and Digital Media City, the Seoul Capital Area is home to the headquarters of 15 Fortune Global 500 companies, including Samsung, LG, and Hyundai. Ranked seventh in the Global Power City Index and Global Financial Centres Index, the metropolis exerts a major influence in global affairs as one of the five leading hosts of global conferences. Seoul has hosted the 1986 Asian Games, 1988 Summer Olympics, 2002 FIFA World Cup, and more recently the 2010 G-20 Seoul summit.

Seoul was the capital of various Korean kingdoms, including Baekje, Joseon, and the Korean Empire and served as the secondary capital of Goryeo. Strategically located along the Han River, Seoul's history could stretch back over two thousand years, when it was founded in 18 BCE by the people of Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. The city was later designated the capital of Korea under the Joseon dynasty. Seoul is surrounded by a mountainous and hilly landscape, with Bukhan Mountain located on the northern edge of the city. As with its long history, the Seoul Capital Area contains five UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Changdeok Palace, Hwaseong Fortress, Jongmyo Shrine, Namhansanseong and the Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty. More recently, Seoul has been a major site of modern architectural construction – major modern landmarks include the N Seoul Tower, the 63 Building, the Lotte World Tower, the Dongdaemun Design Plaza, Lotte World, Trade Tower, COEX, and the IFC Seoul. Seoul was named the 2010 World Design Capital. As the birthplace of K-pop and the Korean Wave, Seoul received over 10 million international visitors in 2014, making it the world's 9th most visited city and 4th largest earner in tourism.

Host of the show
On November 25, 2018 it was announced that Blackpink will be the host of the Mystical Song Contest 12.

Blackpink (Hangul: 블랙핑크; commonly stylized as BLACKPINK or BLΛƆKPIИK) is a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment, consisting of members Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa. The group debuted on August 8, 2016, with their single album Square One, which spawned "Whistle", their first number-one song in South Korea, as well as "Boombayah", their first number-one hit on the Billboard World Digital Songs chart. With the group's early commercial success, they were hailed as the New Artist of the Year at the 31st Golden Disc Awards and the 26th Seoul Music Awards.

As of 2019, Blackpink is the highest-charting female K-pop act on both Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard 200, peaking at number 41 with "Kill This Love", and peaking at number 24 with Kill This Love, respectively. They are also the first and only K-pop girl group to enter and top Billboard 's Emerging Artists chart. They are also the first female K-pop group to have four number-one singles on Billboard 's World Digital Song Sales chart. At the time of its release, "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du" was the most-viewed Korean music video in the first 24 hours on YouTube, and in January 2019, it became the most viewed music video by a K-pop group on the website. As of September 2019, Blackpink is the most-subscribed music group on YouTube.

Promotional preparations began in August 2016 with the release of teaser images and their participation in songs and advertisements. YG Entertainment revealed the final line-up and name of the group on June 29, 2016.

Blackpink was the first girl group to debut under YG Entertainment in six years after 2NE1, with their debut single album Square One, which was released on August 8, 2016. The two lead singles charted at number one and two on the Billboard World Digital Songs chart, and Blackpink is the fastest act to do so and the third Korean artist or group to hold the top two positions after label mates Psy and Big Bang. "Whistle" topped the digital, download, streaming, and mobile charts on Gaon in August 2016. They also reached number one on the weekly, popularity, music video, and K-pop music video charts of China's biggest music-streaming website QQ Music. Blackpink's first music show performance was aired on August 14, 2016 on SBS' Inkigayo. They won first place on Inkigayo 13 days after their debut, and broke the record for the shortest time for a girl group to win on a music program after their debut. They wrapped up their promotions for Square One on September 11, 2016 with another win on Inkigayo.

Debuting/Withdrawing
On November 25, 2018 it was announced that 4 countries won't participate in the 12th edition.


 * Kosovo : RTK states that Kosovo won't participate due to bad results. The last participation of the country was in the 11th edition.
 * 🇲🇽 Mexico : Mexico isn't a full MBU member, so Mexico was forced to withdraw. The last participation of the country was in the 11th edition.
 * 🇰🇵 North Korea : North Korea isn't a full MBU member, so North Korea was forced to withdraw. The last participation of the country was in the 11th edition.
 * 🇿🇦 South Africa : South Africa isn't a full MBU member, so South Africa was forced to withdraw. The last participation of the country was in the 11th edition.

Returning Artists
Here is the list of the returning artists for the 12th edition.

Semi Finals
On December 1, 2018 the supervisor of the contest ESC Thømås had 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 🇷🇴 Romania, 🇭🇺 Hungary and 🇨🇾 Cyprus have to vote.

Semi Final 2
In this semi final 🇰🇷 South Korea, 🇵🇭 The Philippines and 🇲🇰 North Macedonia have to vote.

Grand Final
On December 15, 2018 the supervisor of the contest ESC Thømås had revealed the running order of the grand final.