AwlaVision Song Contest 40

AwlaVision Song Contest 40, often referred to as ASC#40, was the fortieth edition of AwlaVision Song Contest, held in Skopje, Macedonia. The edition started the 01st July 2019, and ended the 20th July 2019.

46 countries took part in this edition. The Observer Members debuted in this edition. No one withdrew from ASC. No one returned to the competition. Irama from Italy won the contest with the song "La ragazza con il cuore di latta" receiving a total of 332 points, 32 points ahead the runner-up, Ukraine. Germany finished in third place with 256 points. The host country, Macedonia achieved a 18th place with 47 points. The last place was for Sweden, that got 8 points.

Organisation
After Macedonia's victory in AwlaVision Song Contest 39, MRT and ABU had to decide where to organise the contest this time. MRT organised a public competition for choosing the host city between all applicant cities. Several cities presented their applications and the organisation had to decide which one was the best. Finally, MRT and ABU chose Skopje as the host city of ASC40.

MRT decided to use popular and professionals people as presenters. Finally just Jelena Spendzarska was selected.

Sportski Centar Boris Trajkovski
The Boris Trajkovski Sports Center (Macedonian: Sportski centar Boris Trajkovski) in Skopje is a multi-functional indoor sports arena. It is located in the Karpoš Municipality of Skopje, Macedonia. It is named after the former president, Boris Trajkovski, died in a plane crash in 2004. It has a maximum seating capacity of 6,000 for handball, 8,000 for basketball and 10,000 for concerts. The arena is home to the Macedonian national basketball team, Macedonian national handball team and Macedonian national volleyball team. The venue also contains four restaurants and a sports bar. It was one of two venues used for the 2008 European Women's Handball Championship.

Construction began in June 2004 with the city of Skopje as the main investor. It was introduced as one of the capital projects of former mayor Risto Penov. The initial term set by the city authorities for the completion was one year, but it was repeatedly set back by problems during construction. At the beginning, while digging the foundation, underground water broke and the whole site was flooded. This brought additional costs of around one million euros, on several occasions the city coffers remained low, which at times led to stoppage of the resumption of the construction work. Upon arrival by Trifun Kostovski as mayor, the city began negotiations with the government to hand over the facility in their jurisdiction. Negotiations were conducted with the previous government but had ended unsuccessfully. In February 2007, the government signed an agreement for the handover. A joint stock company "Boris Trajkovski" was established to manage the facility, with each investor receiving an appropriate number of shares by the money they invested for the final construction. The Harlem Globetrotters, were first to perform at the arena following the opening ceremony on 22 May 2008. In 2011, prime minister Nikola Gruevski opened a hockey rink and karting track. The government had funded most of the investment, which was worth 430,000 euros.

Skopje
Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. It was known in the Roman period under the name Scupi.

The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; remains of Neolithic settlements have been found within the old Kale Fortress that overlooks the modern city centre. On the eve of the 1st century AD, the settlement was seized by the Romans and became a military camp. When the Roman Empire was divided into eastern and western halves in 395 AD, Scupi came under Byzantine rule from Constantinople. During much of the early medieval period, the town was contested between the Byzantines and the Bulgarian Empire, whose capital it was between 972 and 992. From 1282, the town was part of the Serbian Empire and acted as its capital city from 1346. In 1392, the city was conquered by the Ottoman Turks who renamed the town Üsküp. The town stayed under Ottoman control over 500 years, serving as the capital of pashasanjak of Üsküb and later the Vilayet of Kosovo. At that time the city was famous for its oriental architecture. In 1912, it was annexed by the Kingdom of Serbia during the Balkan Wars and after the First World War the city became part of the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Kingdom of Yugoslavia). In the Second World War the city was conquered by the Bulgarian Army, which was part of Axis powers. In 1944, it became the capital city of Democratic Macedonia (later Socialist Republic of Macedonia), which was a federal state, part of Democratic Federal Yugoslavia (later Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia). The city developed rapidly after World War II, but this trend was interrupted in 1963 when it was hit by a disastrous earthquake. In 1991, it became the capital city of an independent Macedonia.

Skopje is located on the upper course of the Vardar River, and is located on a major north-south Balkan route between Belgrade and Athens. It is a centre for metal-processing, chemical, timber, textile, leather, and printing industries. Industrial development of the city has been accompanied by development of the trade, logistics, and banking sectors, as well as an emphasis on the fields of culture and sport. According to the last official count, Skopje has a population of 668,518 inhabitants.

This is the second time in the contest that AwlaVision Song Contest is held in Macedonia.

Participants
46 countries took part in the edition.

Debuting countries
Bellow a list of all debuting countries:

First Semifinal
Jury
 * (Host)
 * (Finalist)
 * (Finalist)

Second Semifinal
Jury
 * (Finalist)
 * (Finalist)
 * (Observer Member)