Wonderful Song Contest 35

Wonderful Song Contest 35 will be the thirty-fifth edition of the Wonderful Song Contest. The contest took place in Ljubljana after Slovenian victory in the 34th edition. A total of 46 countries competed in Wonderful Song Contest 33. The top 6 from the last edition, , , , and  are directly qualified to the final, while the other competing countries are split into two semi finals. The Semi Final allocation draw took place on 30 September 2019 in the WBU headquarters in Prague, where the other competing countries were split into two semi finals. The running order was announced on 04 October 2019.

Hosting Information


On 22 September 2019 it was announced that Ljubljana will serve as the host city of the Wonderful Song Contest 35.

Host City
Ljubljana (UK: /ˌljuːbˈljɑːnə, ˌlʊbliˈɑːnə/,[7][8][9] US: /ˌljuːbliˈɑːnə, liˌuː-/,[8][9][10][11][12] Slovene: [ljuˈbljàːna] (About this soundlisten),[13] locally also [luˈblàːna]; also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia.[14][15] It has been the cultural, educational, economic, political, and administrative centre of independent Slovenia since 1991.

During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the area.[16] Ljubljana itself was first mentioned in the first half of the 12th century. Situated at the middle of a trade route between the northern Adriatic Sea and the Danube region, it was the historical capital of Carniola,[17] one of the Slovene-inhabited parts of the Habsburg Monarchy.[14] It was under Habsburg rule from the Middle Ages until the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918. After World War II, Ljubljana became the capital of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia, part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It retained this status until Slovenia became independent in 1991 and Ljubljana became the capital of the newly formed state.

The origin of name of the city, Ljubljana, is unclear. In the Middle Ages, both the river and the town were also known by the German name Laibach. This name was in official use as an endonym until 1918, and it remains frequent as a German exonym, both in common speech and official use. The city is alternatively named Lublana in many English language documents.[19] The city is called Lublana in Silesian, Lubiana in Italian, in Latin: Labacum and anciently Aemona.[20]

For most scholars, the problem has been in how to connect the Slovene and the German names. The origin from the Slavic ljub- "to love, like" was in 2007 supported as the most probable by the linguist Tijmen Pronk, a specialist in comparative Indo-European linguistics and Slovene dialectology, from the University of Leiden.[21] He supported the thesis that the name of the river derived from the name of the settlement.[22] The linguist Silvo Torkar, who specialises in Slovene personal and place names,[23] argued at the same place for the thesis that the name Ljubljana derives from Ljubija, the original name of the Ljubljanica River flowing through it, itself derived from the Old Slavic male name Ljubovid, "the one of a lovely appearance". The name Laibach, he claimed, was actually a hybrid of German and Slovene and derived from the same personal name.[24]

The symbol of the city is the Ljubljana Dragon. It is depicted on the top of the tower of Ljubljana Castle in the Ljubljana coat of arms and on the Ljubljanica-crossing Dragon Bridge (Zmajski most).[25] It symbolises power, courage, and greatness.

There are several explanations on the origin of the Ljubljana Dragon. According to a Slavic myth, the slaying of a dragon releases the waters and ensures the fertility of the earth, and it is thought that the myth is tied to the Ljubljana Marshes, the expansive marshy area that periodically threatens Ljubljana with flooding.[26] According to the celebrated Greek legend, the Argonauts on their return home after having taken the Golden Fleece found a large lake surrounded by a marsh between the present-day towns of Vrhnika and Ljubljana. It was there that Jason struck down a monster. This monster has evolved into the dragon that today is present in the city coat of arms and flag.[27]

It is historically more believable that the dragon was adopted from Saint George, the patron of the Ljubljana Castle chapel built in the 15th century. In the legend of Saint George, the dragon represents the old ancestral paganism overcome by Christianity. According to another explanation, related to the second, the dragon was at first only a decoration above the city coat of arms. In the Baroque, it became part of the coat of arms, and in the 19th and especially the 20th century, it outstripped the tower and other elements in importance.

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
On 14 May 2019 it was announced that Gaja Prestor will be host of Wonderful Song Contest 35.