Wonderful Song Contest 56

Wonderful Song Contest 56 was the fifty-sixth edition of the Wonderful Song Contest.The contest took place in Melbourne after the Australian victory in the 55th edition. A total of 65 countries competed in Wonderful Song Contest 55. The 55th edition was win by and their song "Rewind" by Sammi Constantine, which got a total of 236 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. ,, , , , and  have withdrew from the contest due to coronavirus problems. and have returned to the contest after 1 edition break, while  wanted to return, but in the end they've decided to be away for one more edition thanks to Coronavirus.

Information


On 28 May 2021 it was announced that Melbourne will serve as the host city of the Wonderful Song Contest 56.

Host City
Melbourne (/ˈmɛlbərn/ (listen) MEL-bərn; Woiwurrung: Naarm) is the capital and most-populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in Australia and Oceania. Its name refers to an urban agglomeration of 9,993 km2 (3,858 sq mi), comprising a metropolitan area with 31 municipalities, and is also a common name for its city centre. The city occupies much of the coastline of Port Phillip bay and spreads into the Hinterland towards the Dandenong and Macedon ranges, Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Valley. It has a population of 5 million (19% of the population of Australia), and its inhabitants are commonly referred to as "Melburnians".

Home to Indigenous Australians for over 40,000 years, the Melbourne area served as a popular meeting place for local Kulin nation clans. A short-lived penal settlement was built at Port Phillip, then part of the British colony of New South Wales, in 1803, but it was not until 1835, with the arrival of free settlers from Van Diemen’s Land (modern-day Tasmania), that Melbourne was founded. It was incorporated as a Crown settlement in 1837, and named after the then British Prime Minister, William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne. In 1851, four years after Queen Victoria declared it a city, Melbourne became the capital of the new colony of Victoria. During the 1850s Victorian gold rush, the city entered a lengthy boom period that, by the late 1880s, had transformed it into one of the world's largest and wealthiest metropolises. After the federation of Australia in 1901, it served as the interim seat of government of the new nation until Canberra became the permanent capital in 1927. Today, it is a leading financial centre in the Asia-Pacific region and ranks 27th globally in the 2020 Global Financial Centres Index.

Melbourne is home to many of Australia's best-known landmarks, such as the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the National Gallery of Victoria and the World Heritage-listed Royal Exhibition Building. Noted for its cultural heritage, the city gave rise to Australian rules football, Australian impressionism and Australian cinema, and has more recently been recognised as a UNESCO City of Literature and a global centre for street art, live music and theatre. It hosts major annual international events, such as the Australian Grand Prix and the Australian Open, and also hosted the 1956 Summer Olympics and the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Melbourne consistently ranked as the world's most liveable city for much of the 2010s.

Melbourne Airport, also known as Tullamarine Airport, is the second busiest airport in Australia, and the city's port is the nation's busiest seaport. Its main metropolitan rail terminus is Flinders Street station and its main regional rail and road coach terminus is Southern Cross station. It also has Australia's most extensive freeway network and the largest urban tram network in the world. Melbourne is in the southeastern part of mainland Australia, within the state of Victoria. Geologically, it is built on the confluence of Quaternary lava flows to the west, Silurian mudstones to the east, and Holocene sand accumulation to the southeast along Port Phillip. The southeastern suburbs are situated on the Selwyn fault which transects Mount Martha and Cranbourne.

Melbourne extends along the Yarra River towards the Yarra Valley and the Dandenong Ranges to the east. It extends northward through the undulating bushland valleys of the Yarra's tributaries—Moonee Ponds Creek (toward Tullamarine Airport), Merri Creek, Darebin Creek and Plenty River—to the outer suburban growth corridors of Craigieburn and Whittlesea.

The city reaches southeast through Dandenong to the growth corridor of Pakenham towards West Gippsland, and southward through the Dandenong Creek valley and the city of Frankston. In the west, it extends along the Maribyrnong River and its tributaries north towards Sunbury and the foothills of the Macedon Ranges, and along the flat volcanic plain country towards Melton in the west, Werribee at the foothills of the You Yangs granite ridge south west of the CBD. The Little River, and the township of the same name, marks the border between Melbourne and neighbouring Geelong city.

Melbourne's major bayside beaches are in the various suburbs along the shores of Port Phillip Bay, in areas like Port Melbourne, Albert Park, St Kilda, Elwood, Brighton, Sandringham, Mentone, Frankston, Altona, Williamstown and Werribee South. The nearest surf beaches are 85 kilometres (53 mi) south of the Melbourne CBD in the back-beaches of Rye, Sorrento and Portsea.

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 28 May 2021 it was announced that Cyrus Villanueva will be presenter of the Wonderful Song Contest 55.

Cyrus Villanueva (born 20 June 1996), also known mononymously as Cyrus, is an Australian singer from Wollongong, New South Wales. He is best known for winning the seventh season of The X Factor Australia in 2015. His debut studio album Cyrus was released on 9 December 2015. Villanueva is of paternal Filipino and maternal Australian descent and comes from a musical family; his father is a retired professional entertainer. His father, Isagani Villanueva, is from Cotabato City, Philippines, and his mother, Tracie Villanueva, is Australian. Cyrus was inspired to sing by his father who is a professional singer. Prior to entering The X Factor, Villanueva was studying graphic design at the University of Wollongong and performing gigs in bars, cafés and at weddings during his spare time. Aside from singing, he also plays the guitar and piano.

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 withdrew from current edition due to COVID-19