FSC 53

Forum Song Contest #53
Host	FIBES Center Sevilla, Spain
Date	July 2, 2013
Entries	39
Winner	Portugal
Debuting countries	Malaysia
Returning countries	Russia
Withdrawing countries	Switzerland
FSC
< FSC #52         FSC #54 >

June 2013 sees the 53rd edition of FSC. It's held in Sevilla, Spain after Pablo Alboran won the 52nd edition of FSC with a song called "Me Ira".

39 juries participate in this edition which makes FSC 53 the edition containing the most entries in 2013 so far. Malaysia joined the FSC universe and Russia returned to the stage. Switzerland, however, didn't send an entry.

The Host City

The Host city for this FSC-edition is Sevilla (or Seville), the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalucia and the province of Sevilla, Spain. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir and is the only commercial river port of Spain , and the only inland city in the country , where cruise ships can arrive in the historical centre . Sevilla has a municipal population of about 700,000 + , and a metropolitan population of about 1.5 million, making it the fourth-largest city in Spain. Its Old Town, the 3rd largest in Europe , with an area of 4 km² , contains 3 UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the Alcázar Palace complex , the Cathedral of St. Mary (otS) , and the General Archive of the Indies .

Historically , after the discovery of the Americas in the late 1400s , Sevilla became one of the economic centres, of the Spanish Empire , as its port monopolised the trans-oceanic trade , and the Casa de Contratación ( ' House of Trade ' ) wielded its power , opening a Golden Age , of arts and of literature. Today Sevilla , whose official motto and emblem is "NO8DO" (believed to be a rebus signifying the Spanish "No me ha dejado" , meaning "It [Sevilla] has not abandoned me", with the eight in the middle representing a madeja , or skein of wool), is a modern Spanish city, with a good local communications network infr- astructure , stores and restaurants, hotels and conference facilities, museums, galleries, parks and gardens and , not the least , historic sites aplenty for visitors and locals alike.

Culturally , Sevilla has a multitude of musems (like the Museum of Arts & Traditions , the Archaeological Museum , and the Flamenco Art Museum) , galleries (like Casa de Pilatos & Museo de Bellas Artes), and is also home to many theatres & performance venues where classical music is performed including Teatro Lope de Vega, Teatro La Maestranza, Teatro Central, the Real Alcazar Gardens & the Sala Joaquín Turina. Sevilla is, furthermore, a city of sports and the football club Sevilla FC , with its historic traditions, plays in the Spanish Primera Division (La Liga). Sevilla, and most significantly the western district of Triana, on the west bank of the Guadalquivir River , was also a major centre for the development of Flamenco, the world famous Spanish Folk music & dance. It includes cante (song) , toque (guitar playing) , baile (dance) and palmas (handclaps). 'El baile flamenco' is known for its emotional intensity, proud carriage, expressive use of arms, and rhythmic feet-stamping.

Some main sights in the city: The Cathedral of St. Mary (built from 1401–1519 after the Reconquista on the former site of the city's mosque is among the largest of all medieval & Gothic cathedrals), the Courtyard of the Maidens in the Alcázar (the Alcázar facing the cathedral was developed , from a previous Moorish Palace) & the Metropol Parasol, which is popularly known as ‘the Mushrooms’ , a large wooden structure - perhaps the world’s largest - , designed by the German architect Jürgen Mayer-Hermann & located at La Enc- arnación square, in the old quarter of Sevilla; see picture of this famous structure below.

The Semana Santa (Holy Week) and the Feria de Sevilla (Seville Fair) , also known as Feria de Abril (April Fair) , are , perhaps, the two most well known of Sevilla's festivals. Sevilla is internationally renowned for the solemn but decorative processions during Holy Week and the colourful and lively fair held two weeks after. During the Feria , families , businesses & organisations set up casetas (individually decorated marquee tents, which are temporarily built on the fairground), in which they spend the week dancing , drinking , and socializing. Traditionally , women wear elaborate Flamenco dresses and men dress in their best suits.

The Venue

The Sevilla Conference and Exhibition Center - FIBES -, is the business centre of the city. It was specially designed to hold conferences/congresses/conventions, exhibitions, prod- uct launches , as well as meetings, both at a national and international level. With a floor- space of more than 50,000m² , the Sevilla Congress Center brings together auditoriums, meeting rooms, catering facilities, and 3 large exhibition pavilions. The Conference Center building has two auditoriums , numerous meeting rooms of different sizes , and a marble lobby of 1,500 m2. FIBES is composed of two buildings, FIBES I & FIBES II, which can be used as a single venue, or as two independent premises , completely different in terms of style and function joint by an impressive footbridge. The Module C: this module hosts the state-of-the-art Auditorium which has a maximum capacity for 3,200 people & a 620 sqm stage. The Auditorium can be divided into 2 or 3 simultaneous auditoriums with capacities for: 1,950 (central stalls) and 700 (upper part of the auditorium), or 1,950, 340 and 400.

The Hosts

Eva María González Fernández, or just Eva González, (born in Sevilla, Spain) is a very pop -ular Spanish beauty pageant winner , who represented Spain at the 'Miss Universe 2003' pageant. She took part at the Miss Spain pageant in 2003 , representing Sevilla. She won the title at the age of 22 and then traveled to Panama City , Panama for the Miss Universe 2003 contest. She wore a Flamenco dress at the national costume presentation. After her reign as Miss Spain 2003, she started modelling , 'walking the runway' for Spain's fashion designers and also doing some photo shoots for magazines. She has also worked as a tv presenter on many tv-shows. She has , moreover , worked as an actress with small roles and cameos in different TV-series , and with a leading role on the sitcom ‘La tira’ (2008) .

Guillermo García , who comes from the city of Zaragoza in Spain , is a very popular Spanish male model, presenter and is former 'Mr Spain' 2009. He won the 'Mr Spain'-contest that year, having previously become Mr Zaragoza in 2008. His victory, made him the Spanish contestant , in 'Mr World 2010' in Korea. He studied market- ing , also working several years, at the Spanish " El Corte Inglés " chain of stores, and has also studied voice dubbing. He has a big passion for modelling and fashion, sees himself as an entre- preneur and has joined G-Models Management , which he calls his 2nd family. He lives his dream.

The Interval Act

We are also pleased to announce the interval act:

The talented Andalucian artist and singer María Rozalén performing a song with true Spanish flavour: ’80 veces’

Rozalen - 80 Veces

The Show

Draw	FSC jury	Performer	Song	Place	Points
01	Portugal	Kika	Guess It's Alright	1	201
02	Malaysia	Yuna	I Wanna Go	4	103
03	Brazil	Luan Santana	Sograo Caprichou	37	18
04	Russia	Zedd ft. Foxes	Clarity	9	78
05	Croatia	Silente	Terca Na Tišinu	21	46
06	Hungary	Szabo Balazs Bandajo	Bajolo	30	34
07	Australia	Harrison Craig	Unconditional	35	23
08	Indonesia	Rock N Roll Mafia	Never Give Up	32	29
09	Estonia	NimmerSchmidt	Eelmise Suve Saladus	34	24
10	Denmark	Quadron	Hey Love	8	86
11	Azerbaijan	Safura	Sen Ve Men	15	57
12	Slovenia	April	Paše Mi	18	48
13	United Kingdom	Union J	Carry You	33	27
14	Austria	James Hersey	Don't Say Maybe	36	22
15	Germany	Silly	Deine Stärken	10	76
16	Netherlands	Anouk	The Good Life	3	124
17	Poland	Dawid Podsiadlo	Trojkaty I Kwadraty	27	36
18	Serbia	Jelena Tomašević	Vertigo	13	61
19	Malta	Jan Cortez	On The Dancefloor	25	38
20	Greece	Tamta	Pare Me	16	50
21	Taiwan	JiaJia	Unforgettable	31	33
22	Sweden	John De Sohn ft. Kristin	Dance Our Tears Away	5	102
23	Ireland	Hologram	Fight Or Flight	11	70
24	Cyprus	Stella Kalli	Arnoume	7	94
25	Belgium	Slongs Dievanongs	Lacht Nor Mij	29	34
26	Turkey	Kardes Türküler	Tencere Tava Havasi	39	10
27	Bulgaria	Preslava	Razkriy me	14	60
28	Canada	Alex Nevsky	On Leur A Fait Croire	24	40
29	Macedonia	Viktorija Loba	Pocuvstvuvaj go ritamot	22	44
30	Ukraine	Okean Elzy	Strilyay	19	47
31	Finland	Reckless Love	Night On Fire	6	94
32	Norway	Ralph Myerz ft. Annie	Take A Look At The World	12	65
33	Mexico	Elizabeth Valgur	Sonamos En Zapoteco	23	41
34	Spain	Blaumut	Pa Amb Oli I Sal	17	48
35	Romania	Cezar	Painful Love	26	36
36	Czech Republic	KLARA ft. Ambryzy	Country Girl	38	17
37	France	Maitre Gims	Bella	20	47
38	United States	Lana del Rey	Young And Beautiful	2	164
39	Israel	Lior Narkis	Az Yalla	28	35

The Results

The Winner

Kika - Guess It's Alright