AwlaVision Song Contest 29

AwlaVision Song Contest 29, often referred to as ASC#29, was the twenty-ninth edition of AwlaVision Song Contest, held in Bucharest, Romania. The edition started the 03rd April 2018, and ended the 28th April 2018.

44 countries took part in this edition. No one debuted in this edition. Egypt withdrew from ASC. Hungary returned to the competition. Wafia from Netherlands won the contest with the song "Bodies" receiving a total of 318 points, 27 point ahead the runner-up, Switzerland. Spain finished in third place with 236 points. The last winning country, Iceland achieved a 8th place with 145 points. The last place was for United Kingdom, that got 3 points.

Organisation
After Iceland's victory in AwlaVision Song Contest 28, RÚV 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. RÚV organised a public competition for choosing the host city between all applicant cities from the rest of Big6 countries. Several cities presented their applications and the organisation had to decide which one was the best. Finally, RÚV and ABU chose Bucharest as the host city of ASC29.

RÚV decided to use popular and professionals people as presenters. Finally Lidia Buble and Greta Salóme were selected.

Romexpo
The Romexpo is an indoor arena in Bucharest, Romania. The arena is used mostly for exhibitions, but it is also used for hosting concerts and indoor sports. The location is very similar with the Tokyo Dome. In 2007 and 2009, it was the host of the music festival called BestFest.

The Romexpo is the central pavilion of the Exhibition Center, that was built between 1960 and 1963 on the former space of the Baneasa hippodrome, according to the plans od the architects Ascanio Damian, Mircea Enescu, Vera Harinton and the engineer Dan Mateescu. It was built on a 180m diameter plan with a dome of 93m diameter, with 42m of heigh.

Inside, the pavilion consists of three galleries located at different elevations, joined by free stairs, radially arranged, allowing the visitor access between the galleries. The visitor's access to the building is made by the two ramps from the esplanade, which form the construction train, located at the first gallery. Emergency evacuation is made by the three outlets located at the ground level, arranged opposite and perpendicular to the main entrance axis. The edifice made of concrete, steel and glass in the style of the time, but explicitly inspired by the "Z flag" of the Brno Exhibition Complex, which originally had a geodesic dome with a flat triangular lattice structure replaced a year later with a new metal structure made of lattice arches. The dome and the entire construction were designed in such a way that prefabricated materials could be used to construct it.

Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than 60 km (37.3 mi) north of the Danube River and the Bulgarian border.

According to the 2011 census, 1,883,425 inhabitants live within the city limits. Adding the satellite towns around the urban area, the metropolitan area of Bucharest would have a population of 2.27 million people. Bucharest is the sixth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits, after London, Berlin, Madrid, Rome, and Paris. Economically, Bucharest is the most prosperous city in Romania and is one of the main industrial centres and transportation hubs of Eastern Europe. The city has big convention facilities, educational institutes, cultural venues, traditional "shopping arcades", and recreational areas.

Bucharest has a humid continental climate (Dfa). Owing to its position on the Romanian Plain, the city's winters can get windy, though some of the winds are mitigated due to urbanisation. Winter temperatures often dip below 0 °C (32 °F), sometimes even to −20 °C (−4 °F). In summer, the average temperature is 23 °C (73 °F) (the average for July and August). Temperatures frequently reach 35 to 40 °C (95 to 104 °F) in midsummer in the city centre.

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

Participants
44 countries took part in the edition.

Withdrawing countries
Bellow a list of all withdrawing countries:

Returning countries
Bellow a list of all returning countries:

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

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