AwlaVision Song Contest 2

AwlaVision Song Contest 2, often referred to as ASC#2, was the second edition of AwlaVision Song Contest, held in Stockholm, Sweden. The edition started the 26th December 2015, and ended the 14th January 2016.

13 countries participated in this edition, where France decided to no participate due to the country's terrorist alert, and Norway withdrew from the competition. Germany, Moldova, Poland and Scotland debuted in this edition. Sarsa from Poland won the contest with the song "Naucz mnie" receiving a total of 88 points, 2 points ahead the runner-up, Sweden. Germany and Greece finishing in third place with 82 points. The host country, Sweden achieved a second place with 86 points. The last place was for Spain, that got only 12 points.

Organisation
After Sweden's victory in AwlaVision Song Contest 1, SVT had to decide where to organise the contest this time. The main projects were from Malmö (Malmö Arena) and Stockholm (Friends Arena or Tele2 Arena), both cities are at the south of the country, so the edition would be opened to Europe from the beginning. Finally, SVT and ABU chose Stockholm as the host city of ASC2. The arena elected were Friends arena due to the higher capacity to accommodate spectators.

SVT decided to innovate on the issue of presenters. In last edition, there were a woman and a men, so they chose to Måns Zelmerlöw, Eric Saade and Danny Saucedo (Only green room) like presenters of this edition. The fact of being three boys, led to SVT to sexism criticism.

Friends Arena
The Friends Arena also known as Nationalarenan, is a retractable roof multi-purpose stadium located next to the lake Råstasjön in Solna, just north of Stockholm City Centre. Since its opening it has served as Sweden's national stadium for men's football, hence its name. The main tenants of the stadium are Sweden's men's national football team and Allsvenskan football club AIK; both relocated from their previous home at the Råsunda Stadium. The venue has a total capacity of 60,000 at concerts and 50,000 seated at football matches, but the stadium can be scaled down to provide for smaller events with approximately 20,000 guests.

Initially there were plans to build a new national stadium close to the indoor venue Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, but on 1 April 2006 the Swedish Football Association (SvFF) made the decision to build the new stadium in Solna. It was calculated to cost around 1.9 billion kronor (202 million euro) to complete. The estimated cost before construction had begun was 2.3 billion kronor. It replaced Råsunda Stadium, Sweden's former national arena for football. Råsunda was torn down and replaced by some 700 flats and office buildings, making it the first stadium that hosted a FIFA World Cup to ever have been torn down. Swedbank acquired the naming rights to the stadium in a 153 million kronor (about 20.5 million euro) deal that will last until 2023. While the arena was originally to be known as Swedbank Arena, Swedbank announced in 2012 that it would donate its naming rights to Friends, a nonprofit organization against school bullying of which Swedbank is a sponsor. Consequently, the stadium was renamed Friends Arena.

The stadium has a retractable roof, enabling events to take place during the winter season and to host indoor entertainment shows. The facade of the arena can be lit up in 17 million different color schemes. For example, the stadium is lit up in blue and yellow when Sweden's national team is playing matches. Friends Arena is a UEFA Category 4 stadium, and the natural turf pitch measures 105 x 68 metres. In the middle of the stadium roof, a 240 square metres big media cube is placed where the attendance can follow what is happening. In addition, 647 LED-screens are installed throughout the facility to enhance the guest experience.

Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital of Sweden and the most populous city in the Nordic countries; 942,370 people live in the municipality, approximately 1.5 million in the urban area, and 2.3 million in the metropolitan area. The city stretches across fourteen islands where Lake Mälaren flows into the Baltic Sea. Just outside the city and along the coast is the island chain of the Stockholm archipelago. The area has been settled since the Stone Age, in the 6th millennium BC, and was founded as a city in 1252 by Swedish statesman Birger Jarl. It is also the capital of Stockholm County.

Stockholm is the cultural, media, political, and economic centre of Sweden. The Stockholm region alone accounts for over a third of the country's GDP, and is among the top 10 regions in Europe by GDP per capita. It is an important global city, and the main centre for corporate headquarters in the Nordic region. The city is home to some of Europe's top ranking universities, such as the Stockholm School of Economics, Karolinska Institute and Royal Institute of Technology (KTH). It hosts the annual Nobel Prize ceremonies and banquet at the Stockholm Concert Hall and Stockholm City Hall. One of the city's most prized museums, the Vasa Museum, is the most visited non-art museum in Scandinavia. The Stockholm metro, opened in 1950, is well known for its decoration of the stations; it has been called the longest art gallery in the world. Sweden's national football arena is located north of the city centre, in Solna. Ericsson Globe, the national indoor arena, is in the southern part of the city. The city was the host of the 1912 Summer Olympics, and hosted the equestrian portion of the 1956 Summer Olympics otherwise held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Stockholm is the seat of the Swedish government and most of its agencies, including the highest courts in the judiciary, and the official residencies of the Swedish monarch and the Prime Minister. The government has its seat in the Rosenbad building, the Riksdag (Swedish parliament) is seated in the Parliament House, and the Prime Minister's residence is adjacent at the Sager House. The Stockholm Palace is the official residence and principal workplace of the Swedish monarch, while the Drottningholm Palace, a World Heritage Site on the outskirts of Stockholm, serves as the Royal Family's private residence.

Stockholm, with a February mean of −1.7 °C, has a humid continental climate for the most recent official reference period. Due to the city's high northerly latitude, daylight varies widely from more than 18 hours around midsummer, to only around 6 hours in late December. Stockholm has relatively mild weather compared to other locations at similar latitude, or even farther south. With an average of just over 1800 hours of sunshine per year, it is also one of the sunniest cities in Northern Europe, receiving more sunshine than Paris, London and a few other major European cities of a more southerly latitude. Due to recent amelioration of the climate it could be classified as cold marine with significant continental influence if the −3 °C isotherm is used. Because of the urban heat island and the prevailing wind travelling over land rather than sea during summer months, Stockholm has the warmest summers in the Nordic countries. In spite of its mild climate, Stockholm is located further north than parts of Canada that are above the Arctic tree line at sea level. Summers average daytime high temperatures of 20–25 °C and lows of around 13 °C, but temperatures can reach 30 °C on some days.

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

Participants
13 countries participated in the edition.

Debuting countries
Bellow a list of all debuting countries:

Withdrawing countries
Bellow a list of all withdrawing countries: