AwlaVision Song Contest 14

AwlaVision Song Contest 14, often referred to as ASC#14, was the fourteenth edition of AwlaVision Song Contest, held in Zagreb, Croatia. The edition started the 31st December 2016, and ended the 15th January 2017.

44 countries took part in this edition. Georgia and Hungary debuted in this edition. Armenia and Belarus withdraw from ASC. No one returned to the competition. Emeli Sandé from England won the contest with the song "Hurts" receiving a total of 307 points, 2 point ahead the runner-up, Belgium. Netherlands finished in third place with 206 points. The last winning country, Algeria achieved a 21st place with 15 points. The last place was for Croatia, that got 1 point.

Organisation
After Algeria's victory in AwlaVision Song Contest 13, ENTV and ABU had to decide where to organise the contest this time. Due to the remoteness of the country to the European continent, it couldn't host de contest. The projects were from Zagreb (Arena Zagreb), Birmingham (Barclaycard Arena), Glasgow (The SSE Hydro) and Tallin (Suku Suurhall). Finally, ENTV and ABU chose Zagreb as the host city of ASC14.

ENTV decided to use popular and professionals people as presenters. Finally Nina Kraljić and Doris Dragović were selected.

Arena Zagreb
Arena Zagreb is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Zagreb, Croatia. The site also includes a building complex, the Arena Complex (Arena Center), making it one of the largest shopping-entertainment centers in the city. The arena is used for hockey, futsal, handball, athletics, basketball, volleyball, numerous other sporting competitions, and various concerts, exhibitions, fairs, conventions, and congresses. Arena Zagreb is a member of the European Arenas Association (EAA). The shopping center and Arena Zagreb share a series of services such as a joint parking lot, multiplex cinema, wellness center, numerous restaurants, cafes, and stores.

The Croatian Government and the Zagreb Assembly held a public tender for the construction of a sports hall in order to host games in the 2009 World Men's Handball Championship, and later for numerous other sporting, cultural, and business events. The arena will host the World Men's Handball Championship again in 2025 with the country, Denmark and Norway. They selected the consortium composed of property developers TriGránit (from Hungary) and Ingra (from Croatia). The TriGránit/Ingra offer was initially approved on 25 April 2007, but the signing of the final contract was delayed because of Mayor Milan Bandić expressing discontent with the conditions. The Consortium engaged studio UPI-2M from Zagreb, specially for this project to create and produce a unique design for Arena Zagreb. The construction of the sports hall finally started on 20 July 2007, and was completed as planned on 15 December 2008. The arena also hosted the 2018 European Men's Handball Championship with Split, Varaždin and Poreč.

Resembling a giant rib cage around the building, 86 large pre-stressed, pre-fabricated concrete curved columns form the main facade, connected by a semi-translucent polycarbonate envelope that allows for various light effects. It's one of the landmarks of Zagreb already, along with the cathedral. Arena Zagreb won the Structural Design of the Year award at the 2009 World Architecture Festival, and Grand spectacle award at Global BBR 2010.

Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is located in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately 122 m (400 ft) above sea level. In the last official census of 2011 the population of the City of Zagreb was 792,875. The wider Zagreb metropolitan area includes the City of Zagreb and the separate Zagreb County bringing the total metropolitan area population up to 1,110,517. It is the only metropolitan area in Croatia with a population of over one million.

Zagreb is a city with a rich history dating from the Roman times to the present day. The oldest settlement in the urban area of the city is Andautonia, a Roman settlement in the place of today's Ščitarjevo. The name "Zagreb" is mentioned for the first time in 1094 at the founding of the Zagreb diocese of Kaptol, and Zagreb became a free royal town in 1242, whereas the origin of the name still remains a mystery in spite of several theories. In 1851 Zagreb had its first mayor, Janko Kamauf, and in 1945 it was made the capital of Croatia when the demographic boom and the urban sprawl made the city as it is known today.

Zagreb has a special status in the Republic of Croatia's administrative division and is a consolidated city-county (but separated from Zagreb County), and is administratively subdivided into 17 city districts, most of them being at low elevation along the river Sava valley, whereas northern and northeastern city districts, such as Podsljeme and Sesvete districts are situated in the foothills of the Sljeme mountain, making the city's geographical image rather diverse. The city extends over 30 kilometres (19 miles) east-west and around 20 kilometres (12 miles) north-south.

The transport connections, concentration of industry, scientific and research institutions and industrial tradition underlie its leading economic position in Croatia. Zagreb is the seat of the central government, administrative bodies and almost all government ministries. Almost all of the largest Croatian companies, media and scientific institutions have their headquarters in the city. Zagreb is the most important transport hub in Croatia where Western Europe, the Mediterranean and Southeast Europe meet, making the Zagreb area the centre of the road, rail and air networks of Croatia. It is a city known for its diverse economy, high quality of living, museums, sporting and entertainment events. Its main branches of economy are high-tech industries and the service sector.

This is the first time in the contest that AwlaVision Song Contest is held in Croatia.

Participants
44 countries took part in the edition.

Debuting countries
Bellow a list of all debuting countries:

Withdrawing countries
Bellow a list of all withdrawing countries:

First Semifinal
Jury
 * (Last winner)
 * (Finalist)
 * (Finalist)

Second Semifinal
Jury
 * (Host)
 * (Finalist)
 * (Finalist)