Zendari Song Contest 8

Zendari Song Contest 8 is the eighth edition of Zendari Song Contest. It will be hosted in Junker, the winning country from the previous edition. The contest will consist of two semi-finals and a final.

41 countries participated in this edition, with 6 countries competing for the first time, 1 country returning to the contest and 9 countries withdrawing from Zendari Song Contest.

Location
On the 16th of August 2018, a list of venues interested in hosting the seventh edition of Zendari Song Contest was revealed.

Bidding phase
Four venues have been announced to have shown interest in hosting the contest. The ZBA announced the conditions under which cities and venues could announce their interest in hosting the contest.


 * The host city has to be near a major airport.
 * The venue must have good connections to public transport.
 * The venue must be available for at least six weeks before the contest and one week after the conclusion of the contest.
 * The venue must not be open-air, but an air-conditioned building with a capacity of at least 10,000 and a minimum ceiling height of 15 metres (49 ft), insulated for sound and light.
 * The green room must be located as close to the arena as possible (or within it), with a capacity of 300.

Host venue

Participating countries
To join Zendari Song Contest, please visit the Joining Zendari Song Contest page for more info.

All countries have until the 25th of August 23:59 CEST to reveal their song!

Other countries
Eligibility for potential participation in Zendari Song Contest requires a national broadcaster with an active ZBA membership that is be able to broadcast the contest. All countries with an active ZBA membership have been given an invitation to join this edition.

Active ZBA countries

 * - On the 31st of July 2018, The Aquazian delegation announced that they would be withdrawing from the contest due to time constraints, but that they have not ruled out a return in the future. However, on the 6th of August, they retracted their withdrawal.
 * - On the 8th of August 2018, Colleagues Is Lovingly Fantastic announced that they are contemplating withdrawing from the 8th edition due to bad results, despite originally confirming their participation earlier.
 * - On 31st July, Cyanaise delagation announced that they "have no chance to win", that's why they decide to withdraw from this contest. On the 7th of August, they retracted their withdrawal.
 * - On the 16th of August 2018, the TV of Light and Dark (L&D) delegation announced their withdrawal from edition 8 of Zendari Song Contest due to scheduling conflicts. A return in edition 9 is very likely.
 * - On July 31, a representative of RTNP informed the ZBA that Nuevo Province will not participate in any further ZBA organised events due to information being leaked regarding ZBA officials tampering with votes to eliminate from qualifying via the international jury. RTNP does not support such actions and therefore withdraws from the ZBA all together in support of their close ally Xobrania. The budget allocated to the ZBA will be used to enroll in the EBS and RTNP encourages all countries to follow suit.
 * - On 16 August, TVPO announced that they will be withdrawing from ZSC8 due to financial issues. A return in Edition 9 has not been ruled out.
 * - On 31st July, NPCB made an statement about their participation in the 8th edition of Zendari, stating that they wouldn't participate in this edition and that they would withdraw indefinitly. The reason for this decision was "the huge amount of drama that has happened in the last days, as well as a huge amount of corruption in the voting in the semifinals,as well as the bad results of our artists in the main contest, as well as in the spin-offs. Another factor that makes us take this decisions is that our citzens want to boycott the contest, as they feel like the ZBA hasn't treated right to some countries and, as far as we are concerned, there has been inequality when it comes to making some decisions." However, on the 1st August 2018, Purple Country confirmed their participation.
 * - On 30th July 2018, Sosij announced it would be withdrawing from the contest in solidarity with geopolitical allies Wo Xi and Xaliqtyva. The country's elders voted unanimously to withdraw from the contest after a public survey of the 168 citizens voted by 93-7% to hold an elder vote. Sosij is noted as having a large Wo Xi community on the island. Participation beyond the 8th edition is also in doubt, with further votes to be held. Sosi spokesperson Mr Blobby said in an interview with ZSC Radio that he hopes "the country never returns until the status of our great ally Wo Xi is fully reinstated and that bias within the heads of the contest ceased to exist". Mr. Blobby went on to further explain that "such a committee cannot make such rash decisions, especially when they're lathered with personal vendettas by some members of the organizing committee. If you cannot make an unbiased personal opinion as part of an unbiased, non-personal committee, you need to get out of the kitchen. However, despite this announcement, they retracted their withdrawal on the 7th of August.
 * - After conflicts with the ZBA regarding the organization of the contest, RVB thought it was necessary to withdraw from the contest to support their allies, , and . A return in the future has not been ruled out, but is unlikely. However, on the 8th of August, Vasseau confirmed participation in the eighth edition following an Automatic Qualification in the 7th edition.
 * - On the 29th of July 2018, the management team issued a final warning towards Wo Xi, as they did not agree with the behaviour of their head of delegation. However, before this final warning was issued, had organised an unethical ban on Wo Xi despite not being in violation of any contest rules. When this scandal was leaked, the head of delegation attempted to improve relations with Titonüi and the ZBA council, however the Titonian head of delegation was unwilling to co-operate and ignored any offers for peace. Despite this, Wo Xi was eventually voted to be issued a final warning instead of a ban, with only Titonüi and  aiming to ban Wo Xi (the latter simply over a matter of a lack of votes from Wo Xi to Campre). Wo Xi announces its withdrawal from the contest on July 29, citing corruption and an incredible lack of respect towards the contest’s members and its managers, particularly  and  who revealed that they had received no appraisal for their contributions to the contest.  was also in favour of Wo Xi’s withdrawal upon the revelation of the vote rigging scandal, which has been rumoured to have caused Wo Xi to score 2nd for two editions of the contest. Wo Xi was also disqualified from the final in edition 7, despite not facing a ban, which the Titonian delegation claimed to be due to cuts to communication between the two nations, with Wo Xi being at fault. It was later revealed that Wo Xi did not cut communications with Titonüi, and that the disqualification was, in fact, a boycott against Wo Xi. Titonüi was later revealed to have been the one cutting communications with the Wo Xi’i head of delegation. A statement from the Wo Xi’i head of delegation revealed that “the Titonian head of delegation has been incredibly corrupt in running this contest,” and that “this is not the first time something like this has happened, he will soon apologise for something that he will claim to be out of his power or unintentional, but this is all a façade to keep viewing numbers and ZBA membership numbers high.” It is likely that Wo Xi will not return to the contest for the foreseeable future.
 * - On the 30th of July 2018, after a scandal concerning vote rigging accusations towards the ZBA, the Wallican government has taken the decision to boycott indefinitely the contest from edition #8 and onwards. "If awful songs sent by countries favoured by the ZBA are rigged into the final over serious efforts for the sake of meme-ing and high ratings, we do not believe the contest is here to serve quality", said the president of the national broadcaster. The government has also discontinued all cooperation with the ZBA concerning the 7th edition, hosted in the country. Moreover, the communiqué also depicted the ZBA as a "travesty of democracy" and clearly denounced "unfounded" sanctions towards the countries of Wo Xi and Xaliqtyva, with whom Wallica "stands in solidarity", as well as with the "victim country of Xobrania, a great ally".
 * - Shortly before the grand final of the previous edition started, it was revealed that the head of delegation of Wåri had revealed their votes in edition 6 prior to them not being publicly available. They had previously received a final warning regarding this, and as a result, the management team saw no other choice but to ban them from the competition indefinitely.
 * - On the 29th of July 2018, Xaliqtyva released a statement explaining that they had successfully gained government approval for a national boycott of the contest. A cabinet spokesperson, when asked for comment, stated that the country "would not be competing in the eighth edition due to an increasingly arbitrary level of bureaucracy in the contest", adding "the ZBA is not fit for purpose".
 * - Due to lack of public interest and lack of funds received from the Supreme Leader and his government, the national broadcaster: Broadcasting of the Democratic Republic of the Zarélands (BDRZ) has announced they have no other option but to once again withdraw indefinitely.

Inactive ZBA countries

 * - Although invited to join the contest, Kaken Republic failed to accept or decline the invitation to join this edition of Zendari Song Contest.
 * - Although invited to join the contest, Liberland declined the invitation to join this edition of Zendari Song Contest due to time constraints and scheduling conflicts.
 * - Although invited to join the contest, Putslopistan failed to accept or decline the invitation to join this edition of Zendari Song Contest.