AwlaVision Song Contest 56

AwlaVision Song Contest 56, often referred to as ASC#56, was the fifty-sixth edition of AwlaVision Song Contest, held in Gibraltar, United Kingdom. The edition started the 03rd March 2021, and ended the 27th March 2021.

42 countries took part in this edition. No one debuted in this edition. Czech Republic withdrew from ASC. No one returned to the competition. Ava Max from Albania won the contest with the song "My head and my heart" receiving a total of 349 points, 26 points ahead the runner-up, Iceland. Croatia finished in third place with 260 points. The last winning country, Armenia achieved a 25th place with 11 points. The last place was for Moldova, that got 9 points.

Organisation
After Armenia's victory in AwlaVision Song Contest 55, the ABU had to decide where to organise the contest this time. Due to the COVID19 regulations, the ABU decided to organise the contest in a pre-selected venue before the last winning country was selected and again, having it with audience limitations. Finally, the ABU chose Gibraltar as the host city of ASC56.

The BBC decided to use popular and professionals people as presenters. Finally Maroua Kharbouch and Iveta Mukuchyan were selected.

Tercentenary Sports Hall
The Tercentenary Sports Hall is a multipurpose indoor stadium located in Gibraltar, it is located near the Gibraltar airport, right next to Winston Churchill avenue and the Victoria stadium. The stadium is used primarily for the development of futsal league, but also has great use by basketball and volleyball teams that exist in the Rock. In 2015 it hosted all the Group D matches of the preliminary round of the UEFA Futsal Cup. In 2014 it hosted all the matches of the FIBA European Championship for developing countries and in 2016 the FIBA European Championship for Women for countries in growth.

The venue is also used on occasions by the Fun Fridays program, organized by the Gibraltar Football Association and aimed at girls interested in playing football and perhaps later joining a Gibraltar Women's League team and/or participating in the Juan Chipol Cup.

Due to the world COVID19 situation and its regulations in the European Union and United Kingdom, this was the sixth edition that was held with public attendance limitations to all of the shows and without present press and media.

Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula. It has an area of 6.7 km2 and is bordered to the north by Spain. The landscape is dominated by the Rock of Gibraltar at the foot of which is a densely populated town area, home to over 32,000 people, primarily Gibraltarians. In 1704, Anglo-Dutch forces captured Gibraltar from Spain during the War of the Spanish Succession on behalf of the Habsburg claim to the Spanish throne. The territory was ceded to Great Britain in perpetuity under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. During the Napoleonic Wars and World War II it was an important base for the Royal Navy as it controlled the entrance and exit to the Mediterranean Sea, the Strait of Gibraltar, which is only 14.3 km wide at this naval choke point. It remains strategically important, with half the world's seaborne trade passing through the strait. Today Gibraltar's economy is based largely on tourism, online gambling, financial services and bunkering.

Under its current constitution, Gibraltar has almost complete internal self-governance through a parliament elected for a term of up to four years. The unicameral parliament presently consists of 17 elected members, and the Speaker who is not elected, but appointed by a resolution of the parliament. The government consists of 10 elected members. The head of state is the British monarch Queen Elizabeth II, who is represented by the Governor of Gibraltar. The governor enacts day-to-day matters on the advice of the Gibraltar Parliament, but is responsible to the British government in respect of defence, foreign policy, internal security and general good governance. Judicial and other appointments are made on behalf of the monarch in consultation with the head of the elected government.

Gibraltar has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa), with mild, rainy winters and warm, dry summers. As is the case for nearby Algeciras and Tarifa, summers are significantly cooler and annual temperature more constant than other cities on the southern coast of the Iberian peninsula because of its position on the Strait of Gibraltar. Rain occurs mainly in winter, with summer being generally dry. Its average annual temperature is about 22 °C (72 °F) as a daily high and 15 °C (59 °F) as the overnight low. In the coldest month, January, the high temperature averages 16.3 °C (61.3 °F) and the overnight low is 11 °C (52 °F) and the average sea temperature is 16 °C (61 °F). In the warmest month, August, the daily high temperature is 25 °C (77 °F), the overnight low is 20 °C (68 °F), and the average sea temperature is 22 °C (72 °F).

This is the third time in the contest that AwlaVision Song Contest is held in United Kingdom, but the first time that it is held in Gibraltar, although England hosted twice and Scotland once when participated. The country was chosen since the ABU wanted a territory with low COVID19 incidence to host the competition.

Participants
43 countries took part in the edition.

Withdrawing countries
Bellow a list of all withdrawing countries:

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

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