Mystical Song Contest 40

The Mystical Song Contest #40 (also known as MSC 40) was the fortieth edition of the Mystical Song Contest. It took place in Bergen, 🇳🇴 Norway after Dagny ft. Steve Aoki won in Rotterdam,  The Netherlands.

The 40th edition was a special edition where contestants had to send an entry which already competed for their country from editions 1-39. The previous Big 6 members can't send their song of edition 39.

It was confirmed that 48 countries participated in the 40th edition. No one debuted, 🇲🇦 Morocco withdrew while 🇲🇹 Malta returned.

The top 6 of last edition 🇳🇴 Norway, 🇭🇺 Hungary, 🇰🇷 South Korea, 🇫🇷 France, 🇷🇺 Russia and 🇷🇸 Serbia 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.

Bergen
Bergen ( Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈbæ̀ɾɡn̩] (listen)), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. At the end of 2019, the municipality's population was 283,929. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers 465 square kilometres (180 sq mi) and is on the peninsula of Bergenshalvøyen. The city centre and northern neighbourhoods are on Byfjorden, 'the city fjord', and the city is surrounded by mountains; Bergen is known as the 'city of seven mountains'. Many of the extra-municipal suburbs are on islands. Bergen is the administrative centre of Vestland county. The city consists of eight boroughs: Arna, Bergenhus, Fana, Fyllingsdalen, Laksevåg, Ytrebygda, Årstad, and Åsane.

Trading in Bergen may have started as early as the 1020s. According to tradition, the city was founded in 1070 by king Olav Kyrre and was named Bjørgvin, 'the green meadow among the mountains'. It served as Norway's capital in the 13th century, and from the end of the 13th century became a bureau city of the Hanseatic League. Until 1789, Bergen enjoyed exclusive rights to mediate trade between Northern Norway and abroad and it was the largest city in Norway until the 1830s when it was overtaken by the capital, Christiania (now known as Oslo). What remains of the quays, Bryggen, is a World Heritage Site. The city was hit by numerous fires over the years. The Bergen School of Meteorology was developed at the Geophysical Institute starting in 1917, the Norwegian School of Economics was founded in 1936, and the University of Bergen in 1946. From 1831 to 1972, Bergen was its own county. In 1972 the municipality absorbed four surrounding municipalities and became a part of Hordaland county.

The city is an international center for aquaculture, shipping, the offshore petroleum industry and subsea technology, and a national centre for higher education, media, tourism and finance. Bergen Port is Norway's busiest in terms of both freight and passengers, with over 300 cruise ship calls a year bringing nearly a half a million passengers to Bergen, a number that has doubled in 10 years. Almost half of the passengers are German or British. The city's main football team is SK Brann and a unique tradition of the city is the buekorps. Natives speak a distinct dialect, known as 'Bergensk'. The city features Bergen Airport, Flesland and Bergen Light Rail, and is the terminus of the Bergen Line. Four large bridges connect Bergen to its suburban municipalities.

Bergen has a mild winter climate, though with a lot of precipitation. From December to March, Bergen can be, in rare cases, up to 20 °C warmer than Oslo, even though both cities are at about 60° North. The Gulf Stream keeps the sea relatively warm, considering the latitude, and the mountains protect the city from cold winds from the north, north-east and east.

The city of Bergen was traditionally thought to have been founded by king Olav Kyrre, son of Harald Hardråde in 1070 AD, four years after the Viking Age in England ended with the Battle of Stamford Bridge. Modern research has, however, discovered that a trading settlement had already been established in the 1020s or 1030s.

Bergen gradually assumed the function of capital of Norway in the early 13th century, as the first city where a rudimentary central administration was established. The city's cathedral was the site of the first royal coronation in Norway in the 1150s, and continued to host royal coronations throughout the 13th century. Bergenhus fortress dates from the 1240s and guards the entrance to the harbour in Bergen. The functions of the capital city were lost to Oslo during the reign of King Haakon V (1299-1319).

Host of the show
On August 9, 2020 it was announced that Julie Bergan was the host of the Mystical Song Contest 40.

Julie Bergan (born 12 April 1994) is a Norwegian singer and songwriter born in Skien, Norway.

Bergan started releasing covers on YouTube at the age of 16, eventually signing a record deal with Warner Music Norway in 2013.

In 2015 she attained mainstream success with her single All Hours, crossing borders to Denmark and Germany, before breaking though in her native Norway in 2016 with Arigato peaking at number one. Bergans major-label debut album Turn on the Light was released in 2018.

She returned to the number one spot in 2018 on VG-lista after collaborating with K-391, Alan Walker and Seungri on "Ignite".

In 2012 she recorded the song "Supernova" with Cir.Cuz, which peaked at number 5 on the Norwegian Singles Chart.

She participated in Melodi Grand Prix 2013, the national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with the song "Give a Little Something Back", which she wrote with Ben Adams and Sara Skjoldnes.

She did not qualify from the semi-final in Steinkjer.

In September 2013, she was signed by Warner Music Norway. In early 2014, she released her first single, "Younger".

After the release of her single she wrote and release a number of songs, but it was first after the release of her single "Arigato" she became known beyond national borders. The song reached number five in the Swedish singles chart, and was nominated at the Norwegian Grammys in 2016 for Song of the Year.

Debuting/Withdrawing
On August 7, 2020 it was announced that 1 country won't participate in the 40th edition.


 * 🇲🇦 Morocco : SNRT, the Moroccan broadcaster, stated that the country won't participate in the 40th edition because the country doesn't have enough good results to take part in the special edition, the country will be back in the 41st editon. The last participation of the country was in the 39th edition.

Returning Artists
As edition 40 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 August 9, 2020 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 🇳🇴 Norway, 🇰🇷 South Korea and 🇫🇷 France had to vote.

Semi Final 2
In this semi final 🇭🇺 Hungary, 🇷🇺 Russia and 🇷🇸 Serbia had to vote.

Grand Final
On August 2, 2020 the supervisor of the contest ESC Thømås revealed the running order of the Grand Final.