Mystical Song Contest 60

The Mystical Song Contest #60 (also known as MSC 60) was the sixtieth edition of the Mystical Song Contest. It took place in Sumgait, 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan after Aygün Kazımova won in Gyumri, 🇦🇲 Armenia.

The 60th edition was a special edition where contestants had to send an entry which already competed for their country from editions 1-59. The previous Big 6 members can't send their song of edition 59.

It was confirmed that 44 countries participated in the 60th edition. 🇦🇷 Argentina, 🇧🇬 Bulgaria, 🇱🇻 Latvia, 🇲🇽 Mexico, 🇲🇦 Morocco, 🇸🇮 Slovenia, 🇿🇦 South Africa and 🇹🇷 Turkey withdrew

The top 6 of last edition 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan, 🇺🇦 Ukraine, 🇫🇷 France, 🇨🇿 Czech Republic, 🇨🇦 Canada and 🇪🇸 Spain were automatically pre qualified for the Grand Final of this edition. The 38 others participating countries were split into 2 semi final.

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

Sumgait
Sumgait (/ˌsuːmɡɑːˈiːt/; Azerbaijani: Sumqayıt, Azerbaijani: [sumgɑˈjɯt] (listen)) is the second-largest city in Azerbaijan, located near the Caspian Sea, about 31 kilometres (19 miles) away from the capital, Baku. The city has a population of around 345,300, making it the second-largest city in Azerbaijan after the capital Baku.

The city has a territory of 83 square kilometres (32 sq mi). It was founded on November 22, 1949. Two settlements are within the city administration: Jorat and Haji Zeynalabdin; a settlement named after oil businessman and philanthropist Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev. It is home to Sumqayit State University.

According to the local folklore the city is named after the Sumgait river. In retrospect, the legend tells the tale of a hero by the name of "Sum", who is chosen by the community to fight a monster that was blocking the Sumgait River. Sum eventually manages to kill the monster, but when the river is released he is swept by the waters and never seen again. After that, his beloved, Jeyran, inconsolable by Sum's disappearance, would go to the river and cry "Sum qayıt!" (which means "Sum, come back!" in Azerbaijani). So the river became known as Sumgait, upon the city was named after.

According to historians, Medean tribes lived in the area. During the construction boom, when the foundation of the executive power building was being excavated, remains of an ancient caravanserai along with personal items and kitchenware was found at the site.

The first reports of settlements at the present site of Sumgait were in 1580, when English traveller H. Barrow mentioned Sumgait in his writings and in 1858, when Alexander Dumas wrote about the area in his memoirs Trip to Caucasus, although nothing substantial was created on the site until the Soviet Union gained control over the area in the 1920s.

Following the politics of glasnost, initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev, civil unrest and ethnic strife grew in various regions of the Soviet Union, including Nagorno-Karabakh, an autonomous region of the Azerbaijani SSR.

Sumgait pogrom against the local Armenian population on February 27 to 29, 1988, was one of the violent events in the beginning of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. It killed more than 30 people, wounded some 200, and produced thousands of refugees; most of the victims were Armenians who constituted a large minority of the population.

After the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, the city became home to a number of Azerbaijani refugees internally displaced persons, mainly from Qubadli and Zengilan regions. In 1994, Heydar Aliyev initiated a large-scale Free Economic Area project on the territory of the city.

Host of the show
On February 14, 2022 it was announced that Aygün Kazımova will be the host of Mystical Song Contest 60.

Aygun Alasgar gizi Kazimova (Azerbaijani: Aygün Ələsgər qızı Kazımova) (born 26 January 1971) is an Azerbaijani singer, songwriter, pop musician, and actress.

She is a well known singer in Azerbaijan, Turkey and Russia. Her 2006 and 2007 solo concerts in Moscow and Baku brought her fame. During 2002 – 2006 she was president of the "Best Model of Azerbaijan" competition. Her "Hayat Ona Guzel" single was the most popular in Turkey on iTunes. Kazimova wrote and sang the anthem of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup 2012. Her duet with Snoop Dogg Coffee from Colombia was a number one hit on the Azerbaijani, Turkish, Czech Republic, Colombian, Georgian and Russian charts. Kazimova has recorded ten albums.

Kazimova was the youngest of the family's four children. She revealed her musical talent at the time she was a middle school student. Along with amateur music, she was passionate about handball and was the captain of the school's female handball team. She abandoned sports upon graduating from high school and entering the Maarif Technicum of Arts, before dropping out in 1986. At the time she worked with the Gaya youth band.

Kazimova's professional solo career began in 1988, when she won the first prize at the Baki payizi-88 (Baku Autumn-88) music contest. In 1989 she won an award in the Yurmala music contest, and then in 1992 she won an award in "The Voice of Asia" music contest, in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Kazimova released her first album in 1997. The CD Sevgi Gulleri (Flowers of love) contained 14 tracks with most of them written by pop composer Vagif Gerayzade. She has released ten albums, with the most successful in sales being the CD Aygun which was released in October 2000 and contained multimedia files with videos and pictures. In 2002, she became 'Honorary Artist of Azerbaijan'.

Some of her awards include numerous Grand-Prix, Honoured Artist of Azerbaijan and other music awards. Along with singing, she is also deeply involved in charity work, giving free and benefit concerts for orphan children every year.

Kazimova is also an actress. In 2005, she played the title role in the musical Khari Bulbullar directed by Arif Gaziyev, the role of Sanam in the screen version of the play Meshadi Ibad. She has also hosted several television shows.

She has given concerts outside Azerbaijan, the most successful being held in Kremlin Palace, Moscow on 26 January 2006. On 20 June 2007 Aygun gave a solo concert at the T. Bakhramov stadium dedicated to the 20th anniversary of her pop music career in Azerbaijan.

She was president of the annual Best Model of Azerbaijan contest in 2002–2006.

In 2013, Kazimova collaborated with Snoop Dogg for the song 'Coffee From Columbia'. It was released by Dokuz Sekiz Müzik and included remixes by My Digital Enemy and Bimbo Jones.

Aygun Kazimova is considered the most successful female singer in the Azerbaijani music industry and has released the largest number of best-selling singles in the history of Azerbaijan. She is also known for innovative music videos and carefully prepared stage performances.

It was reported that on 1 November 2012, Kazimova was issued an Azerbaijani diplomatic passport.

In 1989, Kazimova married her long-time boyfriend Ibrahim Ibrahimov and in 1990 gave birth to daughter Ilgara. Ibrahimov and Kazimova divorced in 1991. In 1994 she married Rza Guliyev (nephew of Azerbaijan's ex-Speaker of the Parliament and current opposition member Rasul Guliyev), from whom she has been forcibly separated since Guliyev was taken into custody in 1996. From 2001 to 2002, she was in a relationship with Mert Kılıç. From 2004 to 2010, she was in a relationship with meykhana-singer Namiq Qaraçuxurlu.

Debuting/Withdrawing
On February 2, 2022 it was announced that 8 countries won't participate in the 60th edition.
 * 🇦🇷 Argentina : Telefe, the Argentinian broadcaster, stated that the country won't participate in the 60th edition because no good enough results were achieved in the small participation time of Argentina to compete in the special edition. The last participation of the country was in the 59th edition.
 * 🇧🇬 Bulgaria : BNT, the Bulgarian broadcaster, stated that the country won't participate in the 60th edition because of financial difficulties and no interest from Bulgarians singers to represent their country again in the special edition. The last participation of the country was in the 59th edition.
 * 🇱🇻 Latvia : LTV, the Latvian broadcaster, stated that the country won't participate in the 60th edition to take an edition break from the contest. The last participation of the country was in the 59th edition.
 * 🇲🇽 Mexico : Televisa, the Mexican broadcaster, stated that the country won't participate in the 60th edition due to a previous non qualification in the 50th edition. The last participation of the country was in the 59th edition.
 * 🇲🇦 Morocco : SNRT, the Moroccan broadcaster, stated that the country won't participate in the 60th edition because the format of special edition wasn't interesting Moroccan viewers. The last participation of the country was in the 59th edition.
 * 🇸🇮 Slovenia : RTV Slovenija, the Slovenian broadcaster, stated that the country won't participate in the 60th edition because since the creation of the contest Slovenia has been struggling to find the perfect songs which led to multiple withdrawal of the country and financial difficulties. The last participation of the country was in the 59th edition.
 * 🇿🇦 South Africa : SABC, the South African broadcaster, stated that the country won't participate in the 60th edition because South Africa just came back to the contest some editions ago and taking part in this special edition would be just a waste of money but plan on returning in edition 61. The last participation of the country was in the 59th edition.
 * 🇹🇷 Turkey : TRT, the Turkish broadcaster, stated that the country won't participate in the 60th edition because like Slovenia, Turkey has been struggling to find the perfect songs which led to multiple withdrawal of the country and financial difficulties. A possible return in edition 61 might be possible. The last participation of the country was in the 59th edition.

Returning Artists
As edition 60 was a special edition with songs and artists which already took part in the contest, all the countries had a returning artist.

Semi Finals
On February 14, 2022 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 19 countries competed in each semi final and 10 countries qualified in both.

Semi Final 1
In this semi final 🇫🇷 France, 🇨🇿 Czech Republic and 🇪🇸 Spain had to vote.

Semi Final 2
In this semi final 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan, 🇺🇦 Ukraine and 🇨🇦 Canada had to vote.

Grand Final
On June 7, 2022 the supervisor of the contest ESC Thømås revealed the running order of the Grand Final.