Mystical Song Contest 5

The Mystical Song Contest #5 (also known as MSC 5) was the fifth edition of the Mystical Song Contest. It took place in Oslo, 🇳🇴 Norway after Amanda Delara won in Helsinki, 🇫🇮 Finland.

It was confirmed that 48 countries participated in the 5th edition. 🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 🇩🇰 Denmark returned while 🇯🇵 Japan, 🇲🇽 Mexico 🇲🇦 Morocco and 🇸🇲 San Marino withdrew.

The top 6 of last edition 🇳🇴 Norway, 🇨🇦 Canada, 🇸🇪 Sweden, 🇺🇸 United States, 🇲🇪 Montenegro and 🇭🇺 Hungary were automatically pre qualified for the Grand Final of this edition. The 42 other countries that participated were split into 2 semi finals.

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

Oslo
Oslo (/ˈɒzloʊ/ OZ-loh, also US: /ˈɒsloʊ/ OSS-loh, Norwegian: [ˇʊʂlʊ] (listen), rarely [ˇʊslʊ, ˈʊʂlʊ]; Southern Sami: Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. Founded in the year 1040 as Ánslo, and established as a kaupstad or trading place in 1048 by Harald Hardrada, the city was elevated to a bishopric in 1070 and a capital under Haakon V of Norway around 1300. Personal unions with Denmark from 1397 to 1523 and again from 1536 to 1814 reduced its influence. After being destroyed by a fire in 1624, during the reign of King Christian IV, a new city was built closer to Akershus Fortress and named Christiania in the king's honour. It was established as a municipality (formannskapsdistrikt) on 1 January 1838. The city functioned as a co-official capital during the 1814 to 1905 Union between Sweden and Norway. In 1877, the city's name was respelled Kristiania in accordance with an official spelling reform – a change that was taken over by the municipal authorities only in 1897. In 1925 the city, after incorporating the village retaining its former name, was renamed Oslo.

Oslo is the economic and governmental centre of Norway. The city is also a hub of Norwegian trade, banking, industry and shipping. It is an important centre for maritime industries and maritime trade in Europe. The city is home to many companies within the maritime sector, some of which are among the world's largest shipping companies, shipbrokers and maritime insurance brokers. Oslo is a pilot city of the Council of Europe and the European Commission intercultural cities programme.

Oslo is considered a global city and was ranked "Beta World City" in studies carried out by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group and Network in 2008. It was ranked number one in terms of quality of life among European large cities in the European Cities of the Future 2012 report by fDi magazine. A survey conducted by ECA International in 2011 placed Oslo as the second most expensive city in the world for living expenses after Tokyo. In 2013 Oslo tied with the Australian city of Melbourne as the fourth most expensive city in the world, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)'s Worldwide Cost of Living study.

Oslo has hosted the Eurovision Song Contest twice, in 1996 and 2010.

Host of the show
On June 25, 2018 it was announced that Alan Walker was the host of Mystical Song Contest 5.

Alan Olav Walker (born 24 August 1997) is a British-born Norwegian DJ and record producer. He is best known for his 2015 single "Faded" which received diamond certifications in Germany and Poland and multi-platinum certifications in over 10 countries including the US and the UK. He released his debut studio album, Different World, in 2018. He was ranked 36th on DJ Mag 's Top 100 DJs list of 2018.

Alan Walker is the son of Hilde Omdal Walker, a Norwegian, and Philip Alan Walker, an Englishman. By birth, he was granted dual citizenship, both in Norway and the United Kingdom on the basis of his parental origin. At the age of two, he moved to Bergen, Norway, with his parents and siblings. Walker grew up with two siblings, an older sister, Camilla, born in England, and a younger brother, Andreas, born in Norway.

Growing up in the digital era, Walker found an early interest in computers, which later turned into a fascination for programming and graphic design. He initially had no musical background; however, he later taught himself by watching tutorials on YouTube based on music production.

In 2012, Walker was listening to a song by Italian DJ David Whistle (also known as DJ Ness) and reached out to him to find out how he produced his music. He was inspired by EDM producers K-391 and Ahrix, and by film composers like Hans Zimmer and Steve Jablonsky.

He started producing his music on his laptop using FL Studio. In July 2012, with the help and feedback from his fans online, he began pursuing his music production career and slowly began posting his music to YouTube and SoundCloud.

Started as a bedroom producer, he was better known as DJ Walkzz before signing a record deal and releasing his debut single in 2014.

Walker released the track "Fade" on 17 August 2014. The track gained attention after its re-release via the record label NoCopyrightSounds on 19 November. Walker stated that the creation of the track was inspired by K-391 and Ahrix, whose tracks were also picked up by the record label.

The track has over 370 million views on YouTube, 79 million plays on Spotify, and 35 million streams on SoundCloud. The tracks "Spectre" and "Force" followed in 2015.

Debuting/Withdrawing
On June 24, 2018 it was announced that 4 countries won't participate in the 5th edition.


 * 🇯🇵 Japan : NHK stated that the country wanted to take a break. The last participation of the country was in the 4th edition.


 * 🇲🇽 Mexico : Mexico was forced to withdraw since the country didn't have full MBU member status. The last participation of the country was in the 4th edition.
 * 🇲🇦 Morocco : SNRT stated that the country wanted to take a break. The last participation of the country was in the 4th edition.


 * 🇸🇲 San Marino : No information was given by the broadcaster. The last participation of the country was in the 4th edition.

Returning Artists
Here is the list of the returning artists for the 5th edition.

Semi Finals
On June 25, 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 21 countries competed in each semi final and 10 countries qualified in both.

Semi Final 1
In this semi final 🇨🇦 Canada, 🇸🇪 Sweden and 🇲🇪 Montenegro had to vote.

Semi Final 2
In this semi final 🇳🇴 Norway, 🇺🇸 United States and 🇭🇺 Hungary had to vote.

Grand Final
On July 11, 2018 the supervisor of the contest ESC Thømås revealed the running order of the Grand Final.