Asiavision Song Contest 2020

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The Asiavision Song Contest 2020 is the 2nd edition of the annual Asiavision Song Contest. It will take place in Jericho, Palestine, following Adham Nabulsi's victory at the 2019 contest with the song "Howeh el hob". The contest will consist of two semi-finals and a grand final. 50 countries initially confirmed their participation, performer(s) and song, however only 49 actually participated. The contest saw the debut of Cyprus, Egypt, North Korea, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. Armenia, Israel, Japan, Myanmar, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan all withdrew as they did not recognise the State of Palestine at the time of the contest. After announcing that Sandra Pires would represent the country with her song "Comandante supremo", East Timor withdrew from the contest on 28th January with no further explanation. On 31st January, the country stated that the singer had decided that she didn't think it would be appropriate to represent 'a country the other side of the world' that she had not visited or even heard of and thus would not represent East Timor. Although, the small island nation made it very clear that they encouraged entries from the Portuguese and Indonesian speaking worlds as they want East Timor to become 'a regular participant without feeling the need to keep sending the same artists over and over again.' The country also stated that they would put in all efforts necessary to return in 2021 and that it was 'a bitter shame' to withdraw for the 2020 edition.

The contest was won by Vietnamese-American singer Binz with his song ‘OK’ for Vietnam with 567 points. Vietnam won the televote with 446 points. Turkey finished second in the televote and second overall with 495 points ahead of Northern Cyprus who placed third both in the televote and overall with 429 points. The jury winner, Kyrgyzstan finished 7th, with the jury runner up, Uzbekistan placing 9th. Iran came third with the juries and finished 12th with 206 points. This was the second consecutive edition where the televote top 3 were the final top 4, with the fourth place going to Syria with 322 points. The top 5 was rounded off with Philippines with 295 points. The host country, Palestine finished last with 89 points. The contest also saw the first ever non-qualifications for Iraq, Oman and Sri Lanka, all of which placed in the top 10 in 2019.

Location
The contest took place in Jericho, Palestine at the Jericho International Stadium.

Jericho is a Palestinian city in the West Bank. It is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It is the administrative seat of the Jericho Governorate, and is governed by the Palestinian National Authority. In 2007, it had a population of 18,346. The city was annexed and ruled by Jordan from 1949 to 1967, and has been held under Israeli occupation since 1967; administrative control was handed over to the Palestinian Authority in 1994. It is believed to be one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world and the city with the oldest known protective wall in the world. It was thought to have the oldest stone tower in the world as well, but excavations at Tell Qaramel in Syria have discovered stone towers that are even older.

Archaeologists have unearthed the remains of more than 20 successive settlements in Jericho, the first of which dates back 11,000 years (9000 BCE), almost to the very beginning of the Holocene epoch of the Earth's history.

Copious springs in and around the city have attracted human habitation for thousands of years. Jericho is described in the Hebrew Bible as the "city of palm trees".

Semi-Final 1
21 countries took part in semi-final 1 with China, Indonesia and Turkey voting as well. 10 countries qualified and advanced to the Grand Final.

Semi-Final 2
22 countries took part in semi-final 1 with India, United Arab Emirates and host country Palestine voting as well. 10 countries qualified and advanced to the Grand Final.

Grand Final
26 countries performed in the Grand Final, the ‘Big 5’ (China, India, Indonesia, Turkey and United Arab Emirates) and host country of Palestine automatically qualified for the final. 10 countries qualified from each semi-final. All participating countries were able to vote.

Other Countries

 * Armenia does not recognise the State of Palestine, therefore the country announced it's withdrawal from the 2020 edition, having last participated in 2019.
 * Despite announcing that Sandra Pires would represent the country with her song "Comandante supremo", East Timor withdrew from the contest on 28th January with no further explanation. On 31st January, the country stated that the singer had decided that she didn't think it would be appropriate to represent 'a country the other side of the world' that she had not visited or even heard of and thus would not represent East Timor. Although, the small island nation made it very clear that they encouraged entries from the Portuguese and Indonesian speaking worlds as they want East Timor to become 'a regular participant without feeling the need to keep sending the same artists over and over again.' The country also stated that they would put in all efforts necessary to return in 2021 and that it was 'a bitter shame' to withdraw for the 2020 edition, after palcing 11th in 2019.
 * Israel does not recognise the State of Palestine and due to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict did not consider Palestine hosting the 2020 edition legitimate, therefore the country announced it's withdrawal from the 2020 edition, having last participated in 2019.
 * Japan does not recognise the State of Palestine, therefore the country announced it's withdrawal from the 2020 edition, having last participated in 2019.
 * Myanmar does not recognise the State of Palestine, therefore the country announced it's withdrawal from the 2020 edition, having last participated in 2019.
 * Singapore does not recognise the State of Palestine, therefore the country announced it's withdrawal from the 2020 edition, having last participated in 2019.
 * South Korea does not recognise the State of Palestine, therefore the country announced it's withdrawal from the 2020 edition, having last participated in 2019.
 * Taiwan does not recognise the State of Palestine, therefore the country announced it's withdrawal from the 2020 edition, having last participated in 2019.