Fantasia Contest 5

The Fantasia Contest 5 was the fifth edition of the Fantasia Contest. It took place in Akureyri, Alkyria, after Charlie won the 4th edition in Solyo, with her song, "Ghosts". The contest consisted of three semi-finals and the grand final. The shows were hosted by Willam Belli and Dominika Mirgova, while RuPaul hosted the green room.

Fifty-one countries sent their entrants to Akureyri, one less than the previous edition. Prunia returned to the contest after not participating for one edition, Kingdovania and Simjangdae debuted; meanwhile Foxtavia, Ice Crest, Jamah and Sothala announced their withdrawal from the contest.

After the results were revealed, it became apparent that Maronesia had won the contest, with their entrant Banks and her song "Beggin' for Thread". Maronesia also scored a new record of 338 points, though the record amount can be attributed to the new voting system. Scoring 31 points less than Maronesia, in second place was Lakadamia, followed by Beklium in third, Pohunskia in fourth and Te Ao in fifth place. With the exception of Lakadamia, all countries had previously not placed in the top 5 before and had qualified for the first or second time this edition.

The automatic qualifiers placed better than the previous edition: Frootania was the only one in the top ten, placing 9th. Demacia placed 13th, Lanovina placed 19th, the hosts Alkyria placed pre-last, scoring 118 points and previous 3rd placer Patriae placed last, scoring only 85 points and continuing the tradition of automatic qualifier last place.

Location

 * More info: Alkyria

Alkyria (or Republic of Alkyria) is a country located in the southern Westmont, bordered in the north by Eldance and the rest of it bordered by sea.

Bidding phase
After their victory, Alkyria announced there would be a bidding phase to decide the arena which will host the 5th edition. On 11 July 2016, the bidding phase kicked off. Multiple arenas in Alkyria have expressed their interest in hosting the contest. Hellex Group Production (HGP), the Alkyrian broadcaster, working together with the FBA has narrowed the selection down to 3 arenas located in 3 different cities of Alkyria.

On 25 July 2016, it was revealed that the Arpeka Arena in Akureyri would be the venue for the contest.

HGP and the FBA released some requirements and details about the venue. All 3 arenas are able to match the required guidelines:
 * The venue must be available for at least 6 to 7 weeks before the contest and one week after the conclusion of the contest.
 * The venue must not be open-air, but an air-conditioned building with a capacity of at least 10,000 and a minimum ceiling height of 15 metres (49 ft), insulated for sound and light.
 * The Green Room should be located in the arena or as near it as possible, with a capacity of 300.
 * An additional room at least 6,000 square metres (65,000 sq ft) in area, to house 2 catering stands, a viewing room, make-up rooms, wardrobe, and booths for approximately 60 commentators.
 * Separate offices to house the press centre, at least 4,000 square metres (43,000 sq ft) in area, with a capacity of at least 1,500 journalists.

Format
The competition will consist of three semi-finals and a final. The countries with the highest score in each semi-final qualified to participate in the final, where they joined Big Five, the countries that were in the Top 5 in the previous edition.

Semi-final allocation draw
For the first time in Fantasia Contest history, the pots were decided by previous voting record, instead of geographic blocs. While neighbours do vote for each other often, it's not exclusively so, thus the FBA, in coordination with the Achróan broadcaster STA, decided it would be better for pots to be organised in this manner.

The six pots were as follows:

New voting system
After discussing with the respective broadcasters of the FBA member countries, it was agreed on that a new voting system would enhance the contest and make it more exciting. Previously, each country was free to decide whether to use a televote, jury or 50/50 voting system to determine their votes, but from the 5th edition onward, each country will be required to conduct a 50/50 voting to determine two separate sets of votes, one for the televote and one for the jury. Jury votes will be announced on the scoreboard just like votes were before, but televotes will be announced separately by the hosts in the end, starting from last place up to first place, to decide the winner in a more exciting fashion.

Other countries
To be eligible to participate in the Fantasia Contest, a country is required to be an active member of the Fantasia Broadcasting Association (FBA). The FBA issued an invitation to all active members of the FBA to participate in the contest.

Active FBA members

 * FOXTV was suspended from the FBA due to scandals regarding the head of delegation.
 * Ice Crest withdrew due to political issues.
 * Jamah withdrew to put focus elsewhere, but is expected to return for the 6th edition.
 * Sothala also withdrew due to political issues.

Non-FBA members

 * Leowé Islands: Local broadcaster Leowé Televisioon (LWT) announced on 17 May that it has applied for an active FBA membership and wishes to debut in the fifth edition, despite being part of the Commonwealth of Atlandia and Leowé Islands. Two days later, ART, the Atlandian broadcaster confirmed that LWT would be unable to compete, due to it not having international recognition nor being a member of the FBA. ART invited LWT to become a part of Atlandia's national broadcasting group. On 21 May, LWT has released a statement for press confirming they weren't allowed to debut in the contest this edition, leaving it unclear whether the debut in future is possible.