Wonderful Song Contest 9

The Wonderful Song Contest 8 will be the eight edition of the Wonderful Song Contest. The contest took place in Helsinki, Finland after their victory in the 8th edition with the song Hula Hula by Robin and Nelli Matula. A total of 48 countries competed in Wonderful Song Contest 9. Nobody debuted in the contest, while Nobody returned to the contest. Aland Islands, Andorra, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Hong Kong, Japan, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, San Marino, Taiwan, Uzbekistan and Vatican City withdraw from the contest however some of them have not ruled out a return to the contest.

The top 6 from the last edition  Finland, Serbia and South Korea, Russia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Czech Republic are directly qualified to the final, while the other competing countries are split into three semi finals. The Semi Final allocation draw took place on 26 November 2017 in the WBU headquarters in Prague, where the other competing countries were split into two semi finals. The running order was announced on 26 November 2017.

The contest was won by Finland and the winning song was Hula Hula performed by Robin with Nelli Matula. After finishing Finland finally won the contest for the first time. Serbia and South Korea finished 2nd and 3rd respectively and they will be directly qualified to the final of the 9th edition which will take place in Georgia. A total of 0 countries failed to submit their votes in the final which means they won't be able to compete in the next edition.

Hosting Information
On 25 November 2017 it was announced that Helsinki will serve as the host city of the Wonderful Song Contest 09.

Bidding phase
Only one main venue was announced as possible venue for the competition to be held. It was Tba which is located in Helsinki. 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.

Presenters
On 25 November 2017 it was announced Nelli Matula and Evelina will be the hosts of Wonderful Song Contest 9

Rules and Voting.
 * The singer must have connection with the country.
 * The song can't be overused and worldchart.
 * The song can't be cover, instrumental or opera.
 * All competing countries are obliged to vote in their own semi final. Failing to do so will result in a disqualification of the entry and risk to lose their spot in the final.
 * The automically qualified countries were assigned one semi final they are obliged to vote in.
 * The competing countries are free to broadcast and vote in the other semi final if they wish to do so. Their votes will be counted towards with the international jury along with the votes from the finalists.
 * There will be 10 qualifiers from each semi final.