Wonderful Song Contest 76

Wonderful Song Contest 76 will be the seventy sixth edition of the Wonderful Song Contest. The contest will take place in Portugal after the Portuguese victory in the 75th edition. A total of 50 countries competed in Wonderful Song Contest 75. The 75th edition was won by and their song "Level Up" by MO XO, which got a total of 316 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 May 2023 at the WBU headquarters in Prague.

Information


On 25th May 2023 it was announced that Lisbon will serve as the host city of the Wonderful Song Contest 76.

Host City
Lisbon is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits with a population of around 2.7 million people, being the 11th-most populous urban area in the European Union. About 3 million people live in the Lisbon metropolitan area, making it the third largest metropolitan area in the Iberian Peninsula, after Madrid and Barcelona. It represents approximately 27% of the country's population. It is mainland Europe's westernmost capital city and the only one along the Atlantic coast. Lisbon lies in the western Iberian Peninsula on the Atlantic Ocean and the River Tagus. The westernmost portions of its metro area, the Portuguese Riviera, form the westernmost point of Continental Europe, culminating at Cabo da Roca.

Lisbon is recognised as an alpha-level global city because of its importance in finance, commerce, fashion, media, entertainment, arts, international trade, education and tourism. Lisbon is one of two Portuguese cities (alongside Porto) to be recognised as a global city. Lisbon is home to three companies in the Global 2000. It is one of the major economic centres in Europe, with a growing financial sector and one of the largest container ports on Europe's Atlantic coast. Additionally, Humberto Delgado Airport served 31 million passengers in 2019, being the busiest airport in Portugal, the third busiest in the Iberian Peninsula and the 20th busiest in Europe. The motorway network and the high-speed rail system of Alfa Pendular link the main cities of Portugal to Lisbon. The city is the ninth-most-visited city in Southern Europe, after Istanbul, Rome, Barcelona, Milan, Athens, Venice, Madrid and Florence with 3,539,400 tourists in 2018. The Lisbon region has a higher GDP PPP per capita than any other region in Portugal. Its GDP amounts to US$110.3 billion and thus $39,434 per capita. The city occupies the 40th place of highest gross earnings in the world. Most of the headquarters of multinational corporations in Portugal are located in the Lisbon area. It is also the political centre of the country, as its seat of government and residence of the head of state.

Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world and the second-oldest European capital city (after Athens), predating other modern European capitals by centuries. Julius Caesar made it a municipium called Felicitas Julia, adding to the name Olissipo. After the fall of the Roman Empire it was ruled by a series of Germanic tribes from the 5th century; later it was captured by the Moors in the 8th century. In 1147 Afonso Henriques conquered the city and since then it has been the political, economic and cultural centre of Portugal.

The historical population of the city was around 35,000 in 1300 AD. Up to 60,000 in 1400 AD, and rising to 70,000 in 1500 AD. Between 1528 and 1590 the population went from 70,000 to 120,000. The population was about 150,000 in 1600 AD, and almost 200,000 in 1700 AD.

The Lisbon metropolitan area incorporates two NUTS III (European statistical subdivisions): Grande Lisboa (Greater Lisbon), along the northern bank of the Tagus River, and Península de Setúbal (Setúbal Peninsula), along the southern bank. These two subdivisions make for the Região de Lisboa (Lisbon Region). The population density of the city itself is 6,458/km2 (16,730/sq mi).

Lisbon has 544,851 inhabitants within the administrative center on the area of only 100.05 km2 Administratively defined cities that exist in the vicinity of the capital are in fact part of the metropolitan perimeter of Lisbon. The urban area has a population of 2,666,000 inhabitants, being the eleventh largest urban area in the European Union. The whole metropolis of Lisbon (metropolitan area) has about 3 million inhabitants. According to official government data, the Lisbon metropolitan area has 3,643,876 inhabitants.

Other sources also show a similar number, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development – 2,797,612 inhabitants; according to the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations – 2,890,000; according to the European Statistical Office Eurostat – 2,839,908; according to the Brookings Institution has 2,968,600 inhabitants.

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 25 May 2023 it was announced that Mimicat & Lemon will be presenters of the Wonderful Song Contest 76.

Marisa Isabel Lopes Mena (born 25 October 1984), known professionally as Mimicat, is a Portuguese pop and soul singer and songwriter. She represented Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 with the song "Ai coração". She had previously participated in Festival da Canção 2001 with the song "Mundo colorido" under the stage name Izamena, but did not advance beyond the semi-finals. Born in Coimbra, Mimicat participated in Festival da Canção 2001 with the song "Mundo colorido" under the name Izamena, aiming to represent Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 2001, but did not advance beyond the semi-finals. In 2009, she graduated from Escola Superior de Artes e Design [pt] with a degree in sound and image. In 2014, she joined the band The Casino Royal, for whom she was the lead singer and songwriter. In the same year, she released her first album as Mimicat, "For You". The lead single from the album, "Tell Me Why", was featured in the Portuguese telenovela Jardins Proibidos [pt]. Her stage name, Mimicat, is a combination of Mimi, a nickname for godmothers in her family, and Cat. She entered Festival da Cancao again in 2023 with the self-composed song "Ai coração". The song won both the jury and popular vote in the contest, earning the right to represent Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. She qualified from the first semi final for the final, in which she placed 23rd.



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 23rd April 2023 at 22:00 CEST.