International Music Festival 37

International Music Festival 37
Dates
Semi-final 1 date	6th March 2017
Semi-final 2 date	13th March 2017
Final date	14th April 2017
Host
Venue	Sydney Opera House, Sydney
Presenter(s)	Lee Chin Chin
Broadcaster	SBS
Opening act	Grand Final: Dami Im - "Super Love"
Interval act	Grand Final: Hey Violet - "Break My Heart"
Participants
Entries	64
Debuting	Angola Bhutan Hong Kong Philippines Singapore
Returning	Argentina Brazil Canada China Colombia Japan Malaysia Mexico New Zealand South Korea Taiwan Thailand United States Uzbekistan
Withdrawing	Algeria Cyprus Egypt Faroe Islands Hungary Lebanon Luxembourg Portugal Slovakia
Voting
System	Each country awards two sets of 12, 10, 8–1 points to their 10 favourite songs: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting
Winner	"Worth It"
International Music Festival
◄ 36 38 ►

International Music Festival 37, often referred to as IMF 37, will be the thirty-seventh edition of the International Music Festival. The contest will be held in Australia, due to Sia's victory in the previous edition. Syndey will be hosting the conest for the first time in history. Belgium managed to become the winner of the contest with the song "Worth It" by Emma Bale. It is the first time that Belgium achieved to win the contest.

Location

Sydney /ˈsɪdni/ is the state capital of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds the world's largest natural harbour, and sprawls towards the Blue Mountains to the west. Residents of Sydney are known as "Sydneysiders". Sydney is the second official seat and second official residence of the Governor-General of Australia and the Prime Minister of Australia and many federal ministries maintain substantial presences in Sydney.

The Sydney area has been inhabited by indigenous Australians for at least 30,000 years. The first British settlers, led by Captain Arthur Phillip, arrived in 1788 to found Sydney as a penal colony, the first European settlement in Australia. Since convict transportation ended in the mid-19th century, the city has transformed from a colonial outpost into a major global cultural and economic centre. As at June 2015 Sydney's estimated population was 4.92 million. In the 2011 census, 34 percent of the population reported having been born overseas,[3] representing many different nationalities and making Sydney one of the most multicultural cities in the world. There are more than 250 different languages spoken in Sydney and about one-third of residents speak a language other than English at home.

Despite being one of the most expensive cities in the world, the 2014 Mercer Quality of Living Survey ranks Sydney tenth in the world in terms of quality of living, making it one of the most livable cities. It is classified as an Alpha+ World City by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, indicating its influence in the region and throughout the world. Ranked eleventh in the world for economic opportunity, Sydney has an advanced market economy with strengths in finance, manufacturing and tourism. Its gross regional product was $337 billion in 2013, the largest in Australia. There is a significant concentration of foreign banks and multinational corporations in Sydney and the city is promoted as Asia Pacific's leading financial hub.

In addition to hosting events such as the 2000 Summer Olympics, Sydney is amongst the top fifteen most-visited cities in the world, with millions of tourists coming each year to see the city's landmarks. Its natural features include Sydney Harbour, the Royal National Park, and the Royal Botanic Garden. Man-made attractions such as the Sydney Opera House, Sydney Tower and the Sydney Harbour Bridge are also well known to international visitors.

Venue

The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney, Australia. It is one of the 20th century's most famous and distinctive buildings.

Designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, the building was formally opened on 20 October 1973 after a gestation beginning with Utzon's 1957 selection as winner of an international design competition. The government of New South Wales, led by the premier, Joseph Cahill, authorised work to begin in 1958 with Utzon directing construction. The government's decision to build Utzon's design is often overshadowed by circumstances that followed, including cost and scheduling overruns as well as the architect's ultimate resignation.

The building and its surrounds occupy the whole of Bennelong Point in Sydney Harbour, between Sydney Cove and Farm Cove, adjacent to the Sydney central business district and the Royal Botanic Gardens, and close by the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Though its name suggests a single venue, the building comprises multiple performance venues which together are among the busiest performing arts centres – hosting well over 1,500 performances annually, attended by more than 1.2 million people. Performances are presented by numerous performing artists, including four resident companies: Opera Australia, The Australian Ballet, the Sydney Theatre Company and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. As one of the most popular visitor attractions in Australia, more than eight million people visit the site annually, and approximately 350,000 visitors take a guided tour of the building each year. The building is managed by the Sydney Opera House Trust, an agency of the New South Wales State Government.

On 28 June 2007, the Sydney Opera House became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Participating countries

64 countries have confirmed to take part in the edition. Numerous countries are returning or debuting this edition, following the contest's extension by the International Broadcasting Union. Angola, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand and South Korea, Thailand, the United States and Uzbekistan are set to return the the contest. Moreover, Bhutan, Hong Kong, Philippines and Singapore will make their debut in the edition. Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Hungary,Lebanon, Luxembourg, Portugal and Slovakia have announced their withdrawal of the edition.

Returning artists

Anselmo Ralph , who represents Angola, previously took part for Portugal in the eighth edition. GJan represented Lithuania in the eighth and twenty-ninth edition. Brooke Fraser represented New Zealand in the twenty-fourth edition. Former winner Sara Serena represented Spain in the thirty-second edition. Tove Lo represented Sweden in the fourteenth and thirty-fifth editions. Anna Rossinelli took part for Switzerland in the fifth and fourteenth editions. Emeli Sandé already took part for Scotland in the thirty-first edition.

Results

Continental finals

Main article: Continental finals 01

Fifty-nine countries participated in the continental finals. Fourty countries qualified to the two semi-finals.

Semi-final 1

Twenty countries participated in the first semi-final. Bulgaria, FYR Macedonia and Slovenia also voted in this semi-final.

Draw	Country	Artist	Song	Place	Points
01	Norway	Gabrielle	"5 Fine Frøkner"	13	115
02	San Marino	Tekla	"Via"	03	176
03	Singapore	The Sam Willows	"All Time High"	08	154
04	United Kingdom	Emeli Sandé	"Hurts"	01	192
05	France	Aurélie Preston	"All We Have"	06	156
06	Uzbekistan	Munisa Rizaeva	"Yoringmaney"	12	131
07	Romania	Feli	"Timpul"	04	174
08	Italy	Alvaro Soler & Emma Marrone	"Libre"	20	64
09	Latvia	Masha	"Mr. Presley"	09	153
10	Morocco	Bouchra	"Yallah"	05	163
11	Colombia	Sofia Carson	"Love is the Name"	15	107
12	Philippines	Joey Wrong	"Small Story"	16	101
13	China	Momo Wu	"Live For Now"	10	153
14	Kosovo	Kida ft. Xhensila	"Uh Baby"	18	92
15	Bhutan	Kezang Wangmo	"A La La Ngi Sem"	11	152
16	Czech Republic	Lenny	"Lover"	02	185
17	Brazil	Daya	"Te Dominar"	19	91
18	Malaysia	Che'Nelle	"Fierce"	17	94
19	Ireland	REWS	"Miss You In The Dark"	07	154
20	Netherlands	Eva Simons & Sidney Samon	"Escape From Love"	14	111

Semi-final 2

Twenty countries participated in the second semi-final. Armenia, Australia and Moldova also voted in this semi-final.

Draw	Country	Artist	Song	Place	Points
01	Malta	Brooke Borg	"Unstoppable"	11	144
02	Canada	Alessia Cara	"How Far I'll Go"	03	191
03	Turkey	Derya Uluğ	"Okyanus"	16	103
04	Belarus	Meseda	"Peresechenie"	12	143
05	Montenegro	Slavko Kalezić	"Krivac"	19	52
06	Taiwan	GBOYSWAG	"Uh-Huh"	20	50
07	Albania	Rovena Dilo	"Gjeje Nje Tjeter"	09	145
08	New Zealand	Brooke Fraser	"Kings & Queens"	17	100
09	Iceland	Kaleo	"Way Down We Go"	08	160
10	Estonia	Elysa	"Silence The Sirens"	14	125
11	Sweden	Tove Lo	"True Disaster"	01	215
12	Belgium	Emma Bale	"Worth It"	05	175
13	United States	Rebecca Black	"The Great Divide"	13	131
14	Israel	Roby Fayer	"Long Distance Romance"	04	187
15	Ukraine	Galina Bezruk	"Nebo Tebe"	18	63
16	South Korea	Blackpink	"Playing With Fire"	15	112
17	Finland	Emma	"Circle Of Light"	07	160
18	Denmark	Aura	"Can't Steal The Music"	06	165
19	Lithuania	GJan	"Wild"	02	194
20	Russia	Egor Kreed	"Malo Tak Malo"	10	145

Final

Draw	Country	Artist	Song	Place	Points
01	San Marino	Tekla	"Via"	15	180
02	Albania	Rovena Dilo	"Gjeje Nje Tjeter"	08	229
03	FYR Macedonia	Elena Milenkovska	"Ti Mi Rece Ne"	25	67
04	Sweden	Tove Lo	"True Disaster"	02	264
05	Latvia	Masha	"Mr. Presley"	18	158
06	Czech Republic	Lenny	"Lover"	05	255
07	Lithuania	GJan	"Wild"	04	257
08	Moldova	Vanotek ft. Minelli	"My Mind"	26	31
09	Denmark	Aura	"Can't Steal The Music"	07	233
10	Canada	Alessia Cara	"How Far I'll Go"	12	212
11	United Kingdom	Emelie Sandé	"Hurts"	03	259
12	Bulgaria	Zhana Bergendorff	"Dokrai"	16	174
13	China	Momo Wu	"Live For Now"	24	86
14	Belgium	Emma Bale	"Worth It"	01	271
15	Finland	Emma	"Circle Of Light"	17	164
16	Slovenia	Ina Shai	"Overload"	22	108
17	Morocco	Bouchra	"Yallah"	21	131
18	Iceland	Kaleo	"Way Down We Go"	19	153
19	Romania	Feli	"Timpul"	09	228
20	Armenia	Srbuk	"Yete Karogh Es"	11	214
21	France	Aurélie Preston	"All We Have"	10	227
22	Ireland	REWS	"Miss You In The Dark"	14	182
23	Russia	Egor Kreed	"Malo Tak Malo"	23	89
24	Singapore	The Sam Willows	"All Time High"	20	140
25	Australia	Dami Im	"Fighting For Love"	06	251
26	Israel	Roby Fayer	"Long Distance Romance"	13	193

Incidents

Colombian entry change

On February 13, RCN Television announce that J Balvin would no long represent the nation in the contest. Sofia Carson was chosen to instead represent Colombia with her song "Love Is The Name".

San Marinese entry change

On February 4, SMRTV revealed that Tekla would represent their nation with "V I A". Therefor, their original entrant Joan Thiele ("Save Me") has been replaced.

Swiss entry change

On December 30, SRG/SSR announced that Anna Rossinelli's song would be changed. Her previous, national selection winning entry, was removed for "Speechless".

Other countries

Further information: List of countries in the International Music Festival

Countries that are active members of the International Broadcasting Union (IBU) are also eligible to participate in the International Music Festival. As in every edition, an invitation to all the members have been sent in order to confirm whether they will participate or not. The following list of countries declined stating their reasons as shown below.

Active IBU members

• Greece: On January 2, ERT revealed that the country is not going to return due to financial difficulties. A return for the thirty-eighth edition is likely.
• Latvia: LTV stated on October 11 that their decision about participating at the next edition would be decided after the semi-final.
• Luxembourg: RTL announced on January 2 that they will withdraw due to budget issues and problems between the members of the delegation.
• South Africa: SABC originally confirmed the nation's participation at the contest. However, as the broadcaster didn't submit an entry, the IBU removed the nation's confirmation, including charges for not taking part which are yet to be announced.
• Slovakia: On October 15, RTVS revealed that they're unsure about a participation in the up-coming edition due to disagreements with the decisions of the IBU.

External links

• Forum