Zendari Song Contest 13

Zendari Song Contest 13 is the thirteenth edition of Zendari Song Contest. It was hosted in Xobrania, the winning country of the previous edition. The contest consisted of two semi-finals and a final.

On the 29th of May 2019, it was revealed that Xaliqtyva had won the contest for the first time, with the song "High Lights" by Charlotte Adigéry. She received 159 points.

45 countries participated in this edition, with 1 country competing for the first time, 2 countries returning and 8 countries withdrawing from Zendari Song Contest.

Format
There are no changes to the format of the contest this edition.

Location
A list of venues interested in hosting the thirteenth edition of Zendari Song Contest was revealed.

Bidding phase
5 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

Pots
Pots for the Zendari Song Contest are based off of voting patterns and voting similarities. The pots will be used for semi final allocations for the 13th edition of Zendari Song Contest.

Automatic Qualifiers
Although these countries are automatic qualifiers for this edition, each country has still been assigned a pot.


 * would have been in Pot A.
 * would have been in Pot B.
 * would have been in Pot C.
 * and would both have been in Pot D.
 * would both have been in Pot F.

Semi Final 1
Rosalina and Yuvia were randomly drawn to vote in this semi-final.

A playlist can be found here, and a recap can be found here.

* - Diversia and Teardrop Islands failed to vote in the first semi-final, and as a result, they were disqualified and automatically placed last. * - Violía received the highest amount of points amongst the international jurors and was picked as the 11th qualifier.

Semi Final 2
Omiina, Saint Vitus and Roch and Xobrania were randomly drawn to vote in this semi-final.

A playlist can be found here, and a recap can be found here.

* - Skandinavisk Kingdom and Sakao failed to vote in the second semi-final, and as a result, they were disqualified and automatically placed last. * - Hexia received the highest amount of points amongst the international jurors and was picked as the 11th qualifier.

Grand Final
A playlist can be found here, and a recap can be found here.

* - As the hosts of the contest, Xobrania were randomly drawn to perform 6th.

International broadcasts and voting
The contest will be broadcasted in over 60 countries.

Spokespersons

 * Katie Price
 * Dr. Younan Nowzaradan
 * Shauna Sand
 * Dr. Younan Nowzaradan
 * Shauna Sand
 * Dr. Younan Nowzaradan
 * Shauna Sand


 * Arnold Oysterprejudice
 * Malou Prytz
 * Mariah Carey
 * Alison Hammond
 * Mariah Carey
 * Alison Hammond
 * Mariah Carey
 * Alison Hammond
 * Alison Hammond


 * Bella Thorne
 * Sam Fender
 * Bella Thorne
 * Sam Fender
 * Sam Fender
 * Sam Fender
 * Sam Fender
 * Sam Fender
 * Sam Fender
 * Sam Fender

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

 * - Despite originally confirming their participation, National Television of Chattahoochee (NTC) announced that they would be withdrawing from edition #13 on the 29th of March 2019, with no reason behind the withdrawal. However, on the 4th of April 2019, they retracted their withdrawal.
 * - Colleagues Is Lovingly Fantastic (CILF) announced on the 29th of March 2019 that they were currently contemplating returning to the thirteenth edition of Zendari Song Contest.
 * - On 28 February 2019, during the previous edition, an intern at the ZBA accidently closed the song submission deadline 24 hours before the intended time. At the time, two nations had not submitted any songs, one of them being Éimi. The intern had also submitted invitations to two countries on the waiting list, which would result in an overfilled edition. After the error was noticed, Éimi had chosen to withdraw in order to not make the edition overfill, and were told that they would be prioritized in returning to the contest the following edition if they wished to return. On the 10th of April 2019, they announced that they wouldn't compete in the thirteenth edition of Zendari Song Contest due to focusing on other projects, but that a return in the future was very likely.
 * - Televisione di Fiorenza (TVF) announced on the 10th of April 2019 that they would be withdrawing from Zendari Song Contest, and that their participation in the future was uncertain. No reason behind the action was given.
 * - TBA
 * - KDZ:TELEBACHENYA announced on the 18th of March 2019 that they would be withdrawing for one edition, in order to solve some issues within the broadcasting company. They also announced that they would try to vote in the grand final.
 * - On the 21st of March 2019, Laigheann's broadcaster Laigheach Radio and Television (LRT) announced the country and broadcaster's immediate, permanent withdrawal from Zendari Song Contest 13 and all Zendari Song Contest related events in the future. When asked for a comment on why this decision was made, a spokesperson for the broadcaster said the withdrawal was caused by 'a serious breach of trust between the broadcaster and the Zendari Broadcasting Union, as well as a total lack of respect shown by the ZBU to any of Laigheann's allies,' and stated that Laigheann would only return if the entire organisation was overhauled and more effort was made. It was also stated that another contributing factor to this decision was 'the glorified cliquish attitude in the contest, which includes the incredible amounts of bloc voting that takes place, edition in and edition out, between the exact same people goes completely under the radar to the blissfully ignorant broadcasters, who are more than happy just to sit and ignore it rather than actually doing something about these issues.' However, five minutes later, Laigheann confirmed their participation for the edition.
 * - After ONT had decided to withdraw from the Zendari Song Contest and Channel Uh! had been ready to take its place for Offriano, the Offrian government announced that due to legislation issues the government wouldn't be able to finance the channel's participation by the start of the 13th edition of the contest. Therefore, Channel Uh! decided not to take part in this edition and debut in the 14th edition when the broadcaster found enough sponsors and received the government funds to finance their participation in the contest. On 2nd April, there was published an additional comment that Offriano wouldn't compete in the 14th edition if won the 13th edition of the contest.
 * - On the 16th of April 2019, it was revealed that Putslopistan was not on the final list of participants.
 * - On the 29th of March 2019, Sutruc National Radio and Television (SNRTV) announced that they were interested in returning to edition #13. However, they were asked to wait before being able to return, in order to see if any countries will withdraw. On the 2nd of April 2019, they received the offer to return, which they accepted.
 * - Despite originally confirming participation and selecting Stray Kids as their entrant, they withdrew from the contest on the 24th of April.
 * - Despite originally confirming participation and selecting Alida as their entrant, they withdrew from the contest on the 24th of April.
 * - The national broadcaster radio•wallica confirmed that the nation's withdrawal is not due to Meg Mac's failure to qualify in the previous edition, but rather due to a general restructuring of the channel's programming and overall priorities. A return in the near future, however, is not ruled out :broken_heart:
 * - Despite originally confirming the Xaliq participation in the thirteen edition of the contest, on 27 March 2019, Xaliqtyva Muzyka Viaščaĺnik (XMV) announced that Xaliqtyva would take a one-edition break from the contest due to scheduling conflicts and financial difficulties. A spokesperson for the broadcaster confirmed that a return in the fourteenth edition was "extremely likely". However, on 29 March 2019, following the results of the grand final, XMV retracted Xaliqtyva's withdrawal and confirmed that Charlotte Adigéry would represent the country.

Inactive ZBA countries

 * - Carlamastian Broadcasting Association (CBA) received an invitation to join the contest on the 12th of April 2019. They responded right away, where they accepted the invitation. Following the incident on the 24th of April, they retracted their debut. Withdrawing their previously selected entrant, Lennon Stella with her song "Fortress"
 * - Hexian National Media	(HNM) received an invitation to join the contest on the 10th of April 2019. They responded on the 11th of April 2019, where they accepted the invitation.
 * - On 17 March 2019, NeoTV repeated once again in an official statement that they wish to debut, and appealed to the Zendari Broadcasting Association to allow this to happen. The ZBA responded to their request on the 10th of April 2019, thanking them for repeatedly showing interest to join, but that they were not currently allowing anyone to skip over the waiting list, and that they are sadly forced to wait in order to join the contest.
 * - In a press release on the 16th of March 2019, Ølkensk Natjonalkringkaste (ØNK) announced that they were currently in discussions with the ZBA to return to the contest, but that they were asked to wait before being able to return, in order to see if any countries will withdraw. They were also told that countries who withdrew in edition 12 will be prioritized to return, but that Olkenland would be next in line. On the 5th of April 2019, they were invited to return to the contest.
 * - On 16 March 2019, Voval Television & Radio (VTVR) expressed their desire to debut in the thirdteenth edition of Zendari Song Contest, but was promptly declined with the statement "sadly, the contest is currently full, but we will invite countries on the waiting list whenever we have the capacity to do so". They were also thanked for showing interest in debuting in the contest.