Internatia Song Contest 68
| Internatia Song Contest 68 | |
|---|---|
| Finding Music | |
 | |
| Dates | |
| Semi-final | February 2018 |
| Final | February 2018 |
| Host | |
| Venue | Surme Arena, Surme, Tikata |
| Presenter(s) | Millie Bobby Brown |
| Host broadcaster |  Royal Tikatan Radio Television (RTRT) |
| Participants | |
| Number of entries | 16 (to date) |
| |
| Vote | |
| Voting system | Each country's 10 favourite songs are awarded 12, 10, then 8 through to 1 points based on the votes of the population of each country. All participating countries in the semi-finals and final will have the right to cast points in the final. |
The Internatia Song Contest 68 will be the 68th monthly edition of Internatia Song Contest. The contest will be held in Surme Arena, Surme, Tikata following their victory in Internatia Song Contest 66 with the song "Find me", performed by Sigma feat. Birdy.[1] This will be third contest hosted by Tikata, after Internatia Song Contest 15 and Internatia Song Contest 35, hosted in Tramandi and Madakia respectively.[2]
Sixteen countries so far confirmed their participation in the contest.[3]
Location
Venue
The contest will take place for the third time in Tikata, following the country's victory in the ISC 67 edition with the song "Find Me", performed by Sigma and Birdy. Following a bidding phase, Surme Arena in Lisbon was selected as the contest venue by host broadcaster Royal Tikatan Radio Television (RTRT) and the Internatia Broadcasting Union (IBU). The multi-purpose arena was built in 2007 and has a capacity of 39,5000 attendees, making it the largest indoor venue in Tikata and among the largest in Internatia. It is located in the city centre of Surme. Surme Arena hosted inaugural contest of Internatia Second Chance Contest.
Bidding phase and host selection
Following victory, the director-general of RTRT, Anna Orense, confirmed that the broadcaster would organise the contest and invited all interested cities to bid for hosting. City councils of Tramandi and Madakia – previous cities that hosted Internatia Song Contest in Tikata – voted against proposed bids citing high cost of organization and busy schedule of appropriate venues.
Six cities submitted applications by the deadline of 30 December 2017: Cundere Sul, Dilmoff, Livinera, Surme, Turzy and Zixan. Prior to the opening of the bidding process, the cities of Avrio, Gareh, Grusse, Nabashunte, Vincenta and Viretunata declared their interest in hosting the contest, but did not submit a formal bid.
Host selection
On 2 January 2018, the IBU and RTRT announced that Surme had been selected as the host city, overcoming confirmed bids from other cities. In addition, RTRT announced that show will be held in Surme Arena.
Host venue
| City | Venue | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Cundere Sul | Exhibition Centre | 12,000 |
| Dilmoff | Dilmoff City Arena | 15,000 |
| Lvinera | OSI Arena | 25,000 |
| Turzy | Diamond Arena | 31,700 |
| Surme | Surme Arena | 39,500 |
| Zixan | Morsunia | 20,000 |
Format
The preliminary dates for the contest were announced on 30 December 2017 at a meeting of Heads of Delegation in Madakia, with the semi-final expected to take place on 15 February and the final on 28 February 2018. These preliminary dates were chosen by the IBU to avoid the contest coinciding with any major television and sporting events scheduled to take place around that time, but it was also announced that dates may be changed in exceptional circumstances. On 1 January 2018 RTRT spokesperson, Nicolas DeSerme confirmed that Tikatan broadcaster will cooperate with Percheronian broadcaster, A+, with organization of contest.
Participating countries
As of 29 December 2024, 16 countries confirmed their participation in the contest.[3]
| Country | Artist | Song |
|---|---|---|
 Bubblique[3]
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 Chruno[3]
|
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 Grolskira[4]
|
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 Hanzyuki[3]
|
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 Haven[5]
|
Betty Who[5] | "Mama Say"[5] |
 Huania[6]
|
TBA 6 January 2018[6] | TBA 6 January 2018[6] |
 Kimmystan[3]
|
||
 Luzze[7]
|
Bishop Briggs[7] | "Dream"[7] |
 Noxus[3]
|
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 Oalia[3]
|
TBA 1 February 2018[3] | TBA 1 February 2018[3] |
 Ova Anova[3]
|
TBA 1 February 2018[3] | TBA 1 February 2018[3] |
 Tashkveny[3]
|
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 Territrius[8]
|
Wagakki Band[8] | "Akatsukino Ito"[8] |
| Tikata (host)[1]
|
TBA 27 January 2018 | TBA 27 January 2018 |
 Victoria[3]
|
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 Zephyrus[3]
|