Chummervision Song Contest Winter 2014

The Chummervision Song Contest Winter 2014 was the 5th bi-annual Chummervision Song Contest. The contest was hosted in Vees, Sveesveer following The Colourist's win for the country in Summer 2013 with "Little Games". This was the first contest to take place outside of the host nation's capital city.

The Harbingean Provinces won the contest with the song "Venus & Mars" performed by Eliane, marking their first win since they made their debut in Summer 2013. It received 195 points in the final.

This contest saw the withdrawal of Stallania, due to longstanding political conflicts with the host nation.

Host City & Venue
Bidding for the host city & venue took place from October 6th 2013 starting with 5 shortlisted venues. The winner was the Vees Arena in Vees, which beat Manisbov Stadium in the nation's capital city of Fisheadbarg in the final 2.

The first round took place on October 6th 2013, shortly following the reveal of the potential venues. The Sveesveer Audio Center was eliminated from the process finishing in 5th. Reasons stated for its early exit were "It was too small and generic. Usually rather small private concerts are held there, and there's a large recording studio where Sveesveeri artists like The Colourist record their music, as a venue though, it's not particularly impressive."

The second round took place on October 7th 2013, when the Yuri Grand Hall in Fisheadbarg was eliminated in 4th place.

The third round took place the day after on October 8th 2013, when it was announced The J'har in W'rait, W'ree would not host the contest and officially finished in 3rd. Many critics were skeptical that the venue made it to the bidding list, due to the fact that if it had been chosen, the contest would have been hosted in W'ree and not the actual host nation of Sveesveer, despite the location of the venue and its closeness to the W'reean-Sveesveeri border. Reasons given for The J'har's exit were "In the end, the venue was simply too big, and Sveesveer wanted it to be hosted in Sveesveer."

This left the final 2 between Manisbov Stadium in Fisheadbarg and Vees Arena in Vees. The final round of bidding took place on October 17th 2013, when it was officially revealed that the Vees Arena was selected to stage the contest in February, beating Manisbov Stadium in the nation's capital city Fisheadbarg and becoming the first non-capital host city in the contest's history.

Deadlines
In addition to these deadlines, the age limit of which a song submitted can be eligible to take part is approximately 13 months prior to the date of the final, the date of which for this contest is January 1 2013. Songs publicly released before this date will not be eligible to take part and can result in disqualification of the song and potentially the country in question.

Semi-final allocation draw
The draw that determined the semi-final allocation was held on 23 December 2013 at the CBU conference centre in Vees. The participating countries, excluding the automatic finalists (Aitze, Dandenia, Sveesveer, UOCT Republic and W'ree), were split into 7 pots in total, 3 Western pots and 4 Eastern pots, based on voting patterns from previous contests and geographic location. From these pots, 14 were allocated to compete in the first semi-final on 19 February 2014 and 14 were allocated to compete in the second semi-final on 21 February 2014.

The pots were calculated by the televoting partner HyphenationTec and were as follows:

Semi-Final 1
The first semi-final will take place on 19 February. Dandenia, Sveesveer and W'ree will vote in this semi-final.

Semi-Final 2
The second semi-final will take place on 21 February. Aitze and UOCT Republic will vote in this semi-final.

Voting and spokespersons
The order in which each country will announce their vote has yet to be determined. However details of spokespersons that have been confirmed are shown below.


 * 1)  - Eloïse Boutry
 * 2)  - Tich (Swogervian representative in the Summer 2013 Contest)
 * 3)  - Petre Finkle
 * 4)  - Lily Pejon
 * 5)  - DJ Prox
 * 6)  - Melissa Otero (Sveesveeri representative in the Winter 2012 Contest)
 * 7)  - Adam Tyler (Gae representative in the Summer 2013 Contest)
 * 8)  - Savina Nikolova
 * 9)  - Francesca Valentini
 * 10)  - Neda Parmać (Mastere representative in the Summer 2012 Contest)
 * 11)  - Thoe Sjafhef

 - Mal Stillwater  - TOKiMONSTA (Runner-up at Harb Festival 2014)  - Emre Bardan  - Degnan Geraghty  - Gisselle Fine  - Fabio Johns  - Cherise Nel  - King Kennex  - Lovisa Negga  - Iyanya  - Sebastian Mercuri (Co-presenter of the Summer 2013 Contest)

 - Celeste Buckingham (Unican representative in the Winter 2013 Contest)  - Donnie K  - Josh Kumra  - Christina Pincevic  - Skullruh <li> - G-Dragon (Hotpokket representative in the Summer 2012 Contest as part of Big Bang) <li> - Benedikt-Sebastian Pohlmann <li> - Nadia Ali (W'reean representative in the Summer 2012 Contest & Winter 2013 Contest) <li> - Carelle Mowatt <li> - Pr.ii <li> - Lizzy Mussat

Commentators

 * Aitze – Marwin Blanco and Graciana Jollenbeck (ATN-Muzik, semi-finals), Jochim Ardelean (ATN1, final)
 * Allico - Zruiita Op (LNC%&*, all shows)
 * Bargland - Joel Jeffers (TVB, TVB 2 and Radio Bargland 1, all shows)
 * Blitzervand - Mainkord Vills (Da Blitz and Blit1, all shows)
 * Boiztamin - Alice Kio and Sarah Kitt (B2 and RED, all shows)
 * Carkany - Johan Liebert (CKTV, all shows)
 * Chillica - Mario and Maria Garcia (CHILL1, all shows)
 * Chumsferder - DJ Girl Supreme (Chum One and ChumTele, all shows)
 * Dandenia - Kenzie Britton Bramson and Christiana Ratti (DBC Deu, semi-finals), Fleurette Lebeau (DBC Une, final)
 * Fetialand - Aldona Takala (2FFC, all shows)
 * Gaer - Graham Norton (OMG!, all shows)
 * Gibberland - Tfhshaf Fhenfegh (DKM OEDAHFU, all shows)
 * Grobania - Tomáš Oliversson and Metody Rózsa (GBN1, all shows)
 * Harbingean Provinces - Robert Graham (Harb TV and TotalMusicFM, all shows)
 * Hotpokketastan - Shinigamisama and Shiroe (47.2, 06.5, and 13.04, all shows)
 * Hydrocilania - Susana Rivero (HON 2, all shows)
 * Jernia - Florinda Velazquez and Xiomara Crystal (JTN Un and JTN Radia Un, all shows)


 * Korhall - Ayodele Ihejirika (TVK-1-Brrap and TVK Bruv, all shows)
 * Landerland - Shiana Flans and Mayond Soot (LANDNET, all shows)
 * Mallee - Ai Lansen (MALLTV, all shows)
 * Malqanai - Olov Maly and Zulaykha Slazak (MRB-ONE, all shows)
 * Masterlandia - Viola Pirityi (MBC, all shows)
 * Moona - Andreea Granet, Tom Weathersby, and Richard Callit (MooBC, all shows)
 * Nelsennes - Ludvig Van Betroutan (The Catch Network and Fishee, all shows)
 * Nermece - Ime Gardinier, Otieno Daviau and Yusra Chastain (NRV, all shows)
 * Omberdy - Waltraud Kopp and Gunda Gott (BSO 2, all shows)
 * Pviterland - Örjan Abrahamsen and Kristin Knutson (PTC1 and PR1, all shows)
 * Rekjarha - Elaya Rujnakuv (RLTV1, all shows)
 * Sveesveer - Yuri Jorge (SveesTel, MineTel and Radioveer, all shows)
 * Swogervia - Charlie Sloth (SVC 1 and SwogerveRadio 99.4, all shows)
 * Tillege - Laura McMahon (TSK1, all shows)
 * UOCT Republic - Bryan Lucas (UTV, all shows)
 * W'ree - Yihad Al'Karra and Sandy Rivers (T'vee, all shows)
 * Wafondia - Tryggve Kosmatka and Ivona Kasprzak (WT1, all shows)
 * Zzzaaa - Donald Wasterkraker (Z, all shows)

Conflict of Stallania and Sveesveer
Due to ongoing political conflict between Stallania and Sveesveer, there was concerns raised over the safety of a Stallanian delegation being sent to Sveesveer, the host nation of the contest. Despite CBU promising to ensure the safety and civility of both countries during the contest, the Stallanian delegation eventually ruled out taking part in the contest while it was hosted in Sveesveer. President of Stallania Zam Bi made the formal announcement of Stallania's withdrawal from the contest, stating a desire to ensure the safety of his civilians.

Sveesveer's artist
On 17 January 2014, Sveesveer revealed their artist as actress and singer Lea Michele, best known for starring in Glee. This was received with mixed views from many, with criticism aimed at SveesTel for choosing an artist with such notoriety. Others, particularly fans in Gaer, were pleased with Sveesveer's pick.

Gaer's disqualification
During the second semi-final on 21 February, Gaer's performance sparked wide controversy for being extremely risque and inappropriate for a family song contest. In particular Sebastian Castro's direct references to homosexual intercourse in his performance were extremely frowned upon by viewers. Immediately after the performance, the CBU announced Gaer would be automatically disqualified from the contest due to the inappropriate nature of the song. This meant no viewers could vote for Gaer's song and they were forced to withdraw. Following the contest, there were questions raised as to why the CBU didn't act sooner on disqualifying Gaer's entry and waited until the night, with some insiders stating that the performance was left in 'solely for the publicity' despite already knowingly being against the rules.

Lyrics of Chumsferder's entry
On the night of the second semi-final, many fans of the contest questioned if Chumsferder's entry, "Kiss The Sky" by Cash Cash, fit within the rules. Many fans believed it had too few lyrics to be acceptable as an entry, with the rules of the contest requiring songs to have a full set of lyrics. Both Chum One and the CBU later spoke out saying the song fit within the rules, and that despite having fewer lyrics than most songs, it still contained enough to be accepted into the contest.

Format of semi-finals
Criticism was raised within fan groups over the format of the semi-finals, which meant four Western and four Eastern countries qualified each semi-final, regardless of their placing. This led to some countries failing to qualify despite making the top 8, such as Korhall and Tillege. This format was introduced for the Summer 2013 contest where it also saw some countries failing to qualify despite making the top 8. This format was eventually replaced for the Summer 2014 contest, which saw the introduction of a top 10 and no limits on western or eastern qualifications.

Debut Countries

 * - On October 2nd 2013, Zzzaaani broadcaster Z confirmed they would make their debut for Wintervision 2014. Head broadcasting pilot Frickle Mon Nick's only words towards the debut were "WE WILL REIGN THE CONTEST."

Returning Countries

 * - On October 5th 2013, Boiztamani news paper "Boiz Daily" revealed that the country had been in talks with the CBU and would infact be re-entering the competition this year.


 * - On October 5th 2013, Fetian broadcaster 2FFC confirmed the country would be making their return to the contest for Winter 2014, due to the economical growth in the country and calls from Fetian fans to make a return.

Withdrawing Countries

 * - On October 5th 2013, Stallanian President Zam Bi announced in a public press conference that because of long time political conflicts with host Sveesveer, and to ensure the safety of his countrymen, Stallania would not be participating in Chummervision Winter 2014.

Other Countries

 * - On December 5th 2013, Ellee confirmed through it's official chummervision twitter that it would not be returning this year for the contest. No reason was specified.
 * - On October 2nd 2013, Timothe Elavo confirmed Hydrocilania would not be making a return to Chummervision for the Winter 2014 contest. Reasons stated were due to lack of public funding and interest and that it would be "unlikely" they would participate again in the near future unless interest turned around. They will, however, continue to broadcast it on their national TV network HON.
 * - On October 6th 2013, Looolna informed the CBU it would not be making a return to the contest this year.