AwlaVision Song Contest 44

AwlaVision Song Contest 44, often referred to as ASC#44, was the forty-fourth edition of AwlaVision Song Contest, held in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The edition started the 04th November 2019, and ended the 23rd November 2019.

45 countries took part in this edition. No one debuted in this edition. No one withdrew from ASC. No one returned to the competition. Pace from Slovakia won the contest with the song "Hunt me down" receiving a total of 324 points, 6 points ahead the runner-up, Croatia. Spain finished in third place with 312 points. The last winning country, Albania achieved a 17th place with 42 points. The last place was for Denmark, that got 5 points.

Organisation
After Albania's victory in AwlaVision Song Contest 43, RTSH and ABU had to decide where to organise the contest this time. However, since Albania rejected its opportunity to host the competition due to the lack of infrastructure, the final decision was made by the ABU and every country could present their application. Thus, a public competition was organised for choosing the host city between all applicant cities. Then, the organisation had to decide which one was the best. Finally, the ABU chose Ljubljana as the host city of ASC44.

RTVSLO decided to use popular and professionals people as presenters. Finally just Peter Poles and Lea Sirk were selected.

Arena Stožice
The Arena Stožice is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Ljubljana, Slovenia. It was designed by Slovenian Sadar Vuga d.o.o. architects and is the biggest indoor arena in the country. It lies in the Bežigrad district, north of the city centre. The arena is part of the Stožice Sports Park sports complex. The arena is the home ground of basketball club KK Cedevita Olimpija.

The stadium was named after the area in which it is located, and the change of the name is possible in the future due to sponsorship rights. Together with a football stadium it is part of the Stožice Sports Park. The arena building area measures 14,164 square meters. It was constructed in just 14 months and opened on 10 August 2010 with a basketball match between Slovenia and Spain, which was won by Spain 79–72 after overtime. The arena has a capacity of 12,480 seats for basketball and is located in the north-western part of the park. The four levels of concourses and the lower, VIP and upper stands are covered by a shell-shaped dome. The arena is used for indoor sports such as basketball, handball and volleyball and is the home venue of KK Cedevita Olimpija. The arena is one of the main venues of Slovenian national team in most indoor sports except ice hockey for which the arena is not suitable and could only host if ice cooling machines would be implemented. Alongside the stadium the arena is also designed to host many cultural events.

Ljubljana
Ljubljana is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It has been the cultural, educational, economic, political, and administrative centre of independent Slovenia since 1991.

During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the area. Ljubljana itself was first mentioned in the first half of the 12th century. Situated at the middle of a trade route between the northern Adriatic Sea and the Danube region, it was the historical capital of Carniola, one of the Slovene-inhabited parts of the Habsburg Monarchy. It was under Habsburg rule from the Middle Ages until the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918. After World War II, Ljubljana became the capital of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia, part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It retained this status until Slovenia became independent in 1991 and Ljubljana became the capital of the newly formed state.

Ljubljana's climate is an oceanic climate, with continental characteristics such as warm summers and moderately cold winters. July and August are the warmest months with daily highs generally between 25 and 30 °C, and January is the coldest month with temperatures mostly oscillating around 0 °C. The precipitation is relatively evenly distributed throughout the seasons, although winter and spring tend to be somewhat drier than summer and autumn. The city is known for its fog, which is recorded on average on 64 days per year, mostly in autumn and winter.

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

Participants
45 countries took part in the edition.

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

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