AwlaVision Song Contest 8

AwlaVision Song Contest 8, often referred to as ASC#8, was the eighth edition of AwlaVision Song Contest, held in Lyon, France. The edition started the 8th July 2016, and ended the 29th July 2016. 27 countries took part in this edition. Croatia and Russia debuted in this edition. Iceland, Ireland and Kazakhstan withdraw from ASC. No one returned to the competition. Natalia from Belgium won the contest with the song "Boom" receiving a total of 184 points, 20 points ahead the runner-up, Spain. Sweden finished in third place with 154 points. The host country, France achieved a 10th place with 75 points. The last place was for Czech Republic, that got only 8 points.

Organisation
After France's victory in AwlaVision Song Contest 7, France Télévisions and ABU had to decide where to organise the contest this time. The main projects were from Marseille (Stade Vélodrome) and Lyon (Stade de Gerland). Finally, France Télévisions and ABU chose Lyon as the host city of ASC8.

France Télévisions decided to use popular and professionals people as presenters. Finally Indila and Amir were selected.

Stade de Gerland
The Stade de Gerland (otherwise known as Stade Municipal de Gerland or Stade Gerland) is a stadium, in the city of Lyon, France and former home to Ligue 1 football club Olympique Lyonnais. It has a seating capacity of 40,494. Situated in the Gerland quarter, it was used by French professional football club Olympique Lyonnais, who moved to the Stade des Lumières in 2016. The Stade de Gerland is listed as a Category three stadium by UEFA's standards and has hosted matches for the 1972 Rugby League World Cup, UEFA Euro 1984, the 1998 FIFA World Cup, and the 2007 Rugby World Cup. The stadium has hosted concerts by many famous artists, including The Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson, David Bowie, Pink Floyd and Genesis.

The stadium originally had a cycling track, but it was removed in order to increase the seating capacity to 50,000. Further renovations were needed to prepare the stadium for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, as by that time FIFA had mandated that all stadiums used for international matches, including the World Cup, had to be all-seated. The north and south stands were completely dismantled and rebuilt, the athleticstrack that had remained, even after the cycling track had been removed, was taken out. The new incarnation of Gerland had a maximum capacity of 40,500.

Since 1950 the stadium has been home to French professional football club Olympique Lyonnais. Lyon moved into the stadium as a result of splitting from the Lyon Olympique Universitaire sport club, which played at the Stade des Iris. The record attendance for a Ligue 1 match is 48,552 for a derby match between Olympique Lyonnais and AS Saint-Étienne in 1982.

Lyon
Lyon is a city in east-central France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, about 470km from Paris and 320km from Marseille. Inhabitants of the city are called Lyonnais. Lyon had a population of 500,715 in 2013 and is France's third-largest city after Paris and Marseille. Lyon is the capital of the Metropolis of Lyon and the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The metropolitan area of Lyon had a population of 2,237,676 in 2013, the second-largest in France after Paris.

The city is known for its cuisine and gastronomy and historical and architectural landmarks and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Lyon was historically an important area for the production and weaving of silk. It played a significant role in the history of cinema: Auguste and Louis Lumière invented the cinematographe in Lyon. The city is also known for its famous light festival, Fête des Lumières, which occurs every 8 December and lasts for four days, earning Lyon the title of Capital of Lights.

Economically, Lyon is a major centre for banking, as well as for the chemical, pharmaceutical, and biotech industries. The city contains a significant software industry with a particular focus on video games, and in recent years has fostered a growing local start-up sector. Lyon hosts the international headquarters of Interpol, Euronews, and International Agency for Research on Cancer. Lyon was ranked 19th globally and second in France for innovation in 2014. It ranked second in France and 39th globally in Mercer's 2015 liveability rankings. This is the first time in the contest that AwlaVision Song Contest is held in France.

Participants
27 countries took part in the edition.

Debuting countries
Bellow a list of all debuting countries:

Withdrawing countries
Bellow a list of all withdrawing countries: