Wonderful Song Contest 69

Wonderful Song Contest 69 will be the sixty-ninth edition of the Wonderful Song Contest. The contest took place in Beirut after the Lebanese victory in the 68th edition. A total of 46 countries competed in Wonderful Song Contest 68. The 68th edition was won by and their song "TiTi" by Mayssa, which got a total of 356 points. Prequalified countries for this edition are:, , , ,  and. They are directly qualified to the final, while the other competing countries are split into two semifinals. The Semi Final allocation draw took place on TBA 2022 at the WBU headquarters in Prague.

Information


On 3 October 2022 it was announced that Beirut will serve as the host city of the Wonderful Song Contest 69.

Host City
Beirut[a] is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. As of 2014, Greater Beirut has a population of 2.4 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coast. Beirut has been inhabited for more than 5,000 years, and was one of Phoenicia's most prominent city states, making it one of the oldest cities in the world (see Berytus). The first historical mention of Beirut is found in the Amarna letters from the New Kingdom of Egypt, which date to the 14th century BC.

Beirut is Lebanon's seat of government and plays a central role in the Lebanese economy, with many banks and corporations based in the city. Beirut is an important seaport for the country and region, and rated a Beta + World City by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. Beirut was severely damaged by the Lebanese Civil War and the massive explosion in the Port of Beirut. Its cultural landscape underwent major reconstruction.

The English name Beirut is an early transcription of the Arabic name Bayrūt (بيروت). The same name's transcription into French is Beyrouth, which was sometimes used during Lebanon's French occupation. The Arabic name derives from Phoenician bēʾrūt (𐤁𐤀‏𐤓𐤕‎ bʾrt). This was a modification of the Canaanite and Phoenician word bīʾrōt later bēʾrūt, meaning "wells", in reference to the site's accessible water table. The name is first attested in the 14th century BC, when it was mentioned in three Akkadian cuneiform tablets of the Amarna letters,[11] letters sent by King Ammunira of Biruta to Amenhotep III or Amenhotep IV of Egypt. Biruta was also mentioned in the Amarna letters from King Rib-Hadda of Byblos.

The Greeks hellenised the name as Bērytós (Ancient Greek: Βηρυτός), which the Romans latinised as Berytus. When it attained the status of a Roman colony, it was notionally refounded and its official name was emended to Colonia Iulia Augusta Felix Berytus to include its imperial sponsors. At the time of the crusades, the city was known in French as Barut or Baruth.

Beirut sits on a peninsula extending westward into the Mediterranean Sea.[84] It is flanked by the Lebanon Mountains and has taken on a triangular shape, largely influenced by its situation between and atop two hills: Al-Ashrafieh and Al-Musaytibah. The Beirut Governorate occupies 18 square kilometres (6.9 sq mi), and the city's metropolitan area 67 square kilometres (26 sq mi). The coast is rather diverse, with rocky beaches, sandy shores and cliffs situated beside one another.

Bidding phase
Only one main venue was announced as possible venue for the competition to be held. It has a capacity of 20,000 and several big concerts and sport events take place here.
 * The host city had to be near a major airport.
 * 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.

Presenter(s)
On 3 October 2022 it was announced that Dalida Khalil, Lukas Abdul & Mayssa Karaa will be presenter of the Wonderful Song Contest 69.

Dalida Antoine Khalil[1] (Arabic: داليدا أنطوان خليل; born 16 February 1987) is a Lebanese actress and singer. Her acting career started in 2007 when she participated in a Lebanese series called Fifty-Fifty. Since then, she has performed in more than twenty series. She received the Murex d'Or Award for Best Rising Actress in 2012.[2] She would later star a musical career and release her debut single "Wardi W Wardi" in 2018.

Her career began in 2006 in the Fifty Fifty series written by Nabil Assaf and Giscard Lahoud and directed by Elie ghorayeb. After that, Khalil[4] participated in many series such as Al Ta’er Al Maksour (The Broken Bird) in 2008, Souad and Nouhad in 2009, Li’annaho Al Hob (Because of Love) in 2009, Maitre Nada in 2009 written by Samia Chemaly, directed by Ghada D. Akl and produced by Marwa Group, Ajyal in 2010 written by Claudia Marchelian and directed by Philip Asmar, Dakkit Aleb in 2010, Zikra in 2011, Awwal Marra (The First Time) in 2012, Helwe W Kezzabe (Beautiful Liar) in 2012 written by Carine Rizcallah and directed by Saif al-Sheikh Najib, Al ‘Ishk Al Majnoun (The Crazy Love) in 2013, Habib Mira in 2014 written by Claude Saliba and directed by Cesar Hajj Khalil, and Dawa’er Hob (The Circles of Love) in 2015 written by Sawsan Kabsi and Mahmoud Dasouki and directed by Eyad Al Kzouz.

Dalida Khalil was also the guest of honor in the series Al- ‘Arrab (The Godfather) along with the singer Assi El Hellani. The series was written by Hazem Sleiman and directed by Muthna Sobh and was showing during Ramadan 2015. Moreover, Dalida Khalil acted with Ramy Ayach in series Amir El Leil in 2016–2017. The series was written by Mona Tayeh, directed first by Fadi Haddad then by Elie Berbary. Dalida Khalil also participated and was first runner up in the show Dancing With The Stars in its 3rd season with the Syrian dancer Abdo Dalloul and was able to reach the finals where she competed with her singer colleague Anthony Touma who ended up winning the trophy. Khalil won the Arabic version of Celebrity Duets in 2018 after competing with 12 other celebrities. North Autism Center was the NGO that Khalil chose, who received the final winner prize which is an amount of $30,000.

Mayssa Karaa, also known professionally as Mayssa (born in Beirut, Lebanon), is a Lebanese American singer-songwriter currently based in Los Angeles, California. She was the featured vocalist on the Arabic version of "White Rabbit" on the American Hustle soundtrack which was nominated to the Grammy Awards as "Best Compilation Soundtrack" for Visual Media in 2015. Her song "Hayati" produced by Oscar-winner AR Rahman hit No. 1 on Apple music India while being featured on the soundtrack of the Indian film Chekka Chivantha Vaanam (directed by Mani Ratnam). She launched her first single, "Call Me a Stranger", and music video from her full-length English solo debut, Simple Cure, in June 2019. Mayssa Karaa was born in Beirut, Lebanon during a time of civil unrest in 1989, she is the daughter of Andre Karaa, a civil engineer and Najwa Karaa, who works with numerous charitable organizations to help people in need. Mayssa has a younger sister named Rayya.

Mayssa began singing at the age of seven. She attended the French Jesuit Catholic school "College Notre Dame do Jamhour". It was here that her love of performing blossomed when her choir director selected her out of 100 voices to solo at the year-end concert. Karaa went on to attend the Conservatory of Beirut, studying vocal performance, piano, and music theory. During this time, she also performed across Beirut, singing at events for non-profit charities, including Lions Club, UNESCO, the Red Cross and The Lebanese School of the Blind and Deaf.

In 2006, Lebanon was again engaged in conflict, and Karaa and her family moved to Boston, Massachusetts. In Boston, Mayssa followed in her father's footsteps and studied civil engineering. But, on the eve of graduating, her father encouraged her to pursue her vocal talent. In 2008, she enrolled in the Berklee College of Music where she delved into different genres of music including pop, rock, middle Eastern, Eastern European music and classical opera. As a result, Mayssa performs in multiple languages including English, Arabic, Persian, Italian, French, Serbian, Bulgarian and Greek.



Provisitation list of Participants

 * Countries are in Prequalification Round next edition
 * Countries qualified to the grand final or semifinal
 * Country have won current edition
 * Country have finished on second place current edition
 * Country have finished on third place current edition
 * Country have finished on last place current editions final
 * Country have been disqualified from current editions final or semifinal
 * Country have in the final qualified to the semifinals or final

All Songs
All countries had to present their songs until 8th October 2022 at 22:00 CEST.

First Semifinal
The deadline to vote in semifinals is TBA. TBA, TBA and TBA have to vote in this semifinal.

Second Semifinal
The deadline to vote in semifinals is TBA. TBA, TBA and TBA have to vote in this semifinal.