75 countries are still in the run for the 2006 International Songfsetival Grand Final, the Big-5 are entering the game and the French NOT finally kicks off the hot phase of the contest by sending out the song which shall be used as Official ISF-song 2006. 4-time ISF-participant Céline Dion sings "À Paris", an hommage to the city which we will all look to for the next weeks.
The French NOT wishes that all National Coordinators send the song to all people involved in the 2006 contest.

Saturday the Semifinal will kick off with fan-favourites such as Israel, Namibia or Japan trying to reach the Grand Final alongside Germany as first Big-5 country.
Prior to the the first heat there is no real favourite, though many predict that Namibia might go through to the final easily. It is also said that Germany has a slight disadvantage as it is heard by many for the very first time.
Results will be available on Saturday evening on this page and also over your national coordinator. Some even promised Audio-recordings for their country.
The first official recording will be made by the French NOT for "Winner's Choice 2006".

We wish all of you a happy start into this hot phase of the ISF 2006 and of course the very best of luck to all 75 remaining countries.

On Saturday all 5 Semifinal-groups were drawn. There were 5 bowls. Now 15 rounds took place. In each round 1 lot was added to the bowls. The countries were therefore tied into 15 groups. The first group have been the "Big-5" while from then on the countries were tied by their Pre-selection results. What came out in the end looks like this:

- - - Group A - - - March 4th 2006
NAMIBIA
ISRAEL
MALI
GERMANY
EGYPT
NORWAY
AUSTRIA
LATVIA
HONG KONG, CHINA
AZERBAIJAN
TURKEY
JAPAN
MOROCCO
ERITREA
HUNGARY

- - - Group B - - - March 11th 2006
MALTA
ARMENIA
AUSTRALIA
CHILE
GREECE
SYRIA
UKRAINE
DOMINICA
PHILIPPINES
ITALY
SINGAPORE
FRANCE
ESTONIA
MEXICO
IRAN

- - - Group C - - - March 18th 2006
SLOVENIA
LEBANON
CROATIA
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
COLOMBIA
POLAND
BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA
SPAIN
INDIA
MALAWI
SWEDEN
SERBIA & MONTENEGRO
HONDURAS
VANUATU
GUATEMALA

- - - Group D - - - March 25th 2006
MONGOLIA
PALESTINE
USA
PORTUGAL
LIBYA
KENYA
BELGIUM
UAE
NETHERLANDS
CANADA
SOLOMON ISLANDS
UK
FINLAND
SOUTH AFRICA
CYPRUS

- - - Group E - - - April 1st 2006
KOREA
SWITZERLAND
NEW ZEALAND
EQUATORIAL GUINEA
SAMOA
ST. VINCENT & GRENADINES
INDONESIA
DENMARK
RUSSIA
SEYCHELLES
ROMANIA
NIGERIA
ICELAND
IRELAND
BOLIVIA

The 4 countries achieving the highest amount of points in each group will proceed directly to the Grand final. Countries placing themselves 5th, 6th or 7th respectively still get a 2nd chance with "Winner's choice" where out of 15 - 9 countries will go on to the final.
"Winner's Choice 2006" will take place on April 8th 2006.

Due to several difficulties in many Bid-committes and full hands at both the 200g-team as well as ISFHC the city-election for the ISF 2008 has been posponed for now. The ISFHC will give the final dates for the selection soon. The decision is expected to take place before the Grand Final 2006. The ISFHC opts for early June, late May.

Your Paris 2006-organisation's committee is very sorry for all your inconviniences during the last days. But our computers are up and running again and therefore we wish all of you a happy semifinal 2006. See also thre update on the city selection 2008!!!

Group EU-E really held some surprises for the ISFHC and the organizers. While both Italy and Romania will directly enter the Semifinal rounds - Georgia, Malta and the Netherlands all will go on to the 2nd chance round. After recounting every vote twice the French NOT confirmed the result below.

Group EU-E
1 - Italy - 125
2 - Romania - 97
3 - Georgia - 86
3 - Malta - 86
3 - Netherlands - 86

With this result it is confirmed what many judges have already told the Paris-2006-team: This was the hardest group to decide on yet. Decision now will take place in the 2nd chance round instead.

The 3rd saturday of the International pre-selection heats went by and leaves the ISF fans all over the world still excited. The 5th European group consisting of Georgia, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands and Romania is as of yet too close too call!!! There are 2 clear semifinalists but after a first counting of votes 3 countries were left with 86 points each. After another recount of votes, the ISFHC decided to recount all the points given manually. Should the result remain as it already is with 3 countries at 86 all 3 would go on to the 2nd chance round and fewer countries will be selected by the ISFHC and the experts for this 2nd chance round. Keep looking up our website as the result will be published here as soon as it is available.
But there was action in other groups too and here is what happened this Saturday now.

EU-D
Slovenia and Norway fought it out for the top while Slovenia took the top-spot by 2 points. Norway also goes on to the semifinal directly while Bosnia & Herzegovina qualifies for 2nd chance. Latvia narrowly misses out while the Czech Republic's entry never really stood a chance.

1 - Slovenia - 132
2 - Norway - 130
3 - Bosnia & Herzegovina - 97
4 - Latvia - 93
5 - Czech Republic - 31

AA-E
The only AustralAsian group of the night was also quite exciting as 3 countries were very close to the semifinal. In the end Syria and Samoa were lucky to score the few points needed to qualify while Malaysia qualifies for the 2nd chance round.

1 - Samoa - 109
2 - Syria - 109
3 - Malaysia - 104
4 - Uzbekistan - 96
5 - Cambodia - 65

AF-C
Rather clear was the 3rd African group. Namibia swept away almost all top-scores and qualified very clearly. 2nd placed Equatorial Guinea beat Cape Verde by 6 points for the Semifinal. Swaziland and Guinea Bissau scored not so well and were out of the game clearly.

1 - Namibia - 159
2 - Equatorial Guinea - 116
3 - Cape Verde - 110
4 - Swaziland - 51
5 - Guinea - 47

AF-D
Eritrea and Libya were the qulifiers from Africa's group D.

1 - Eritrea - 130
2 - Libya - 116
3 - Togo - 107
4 - Benin - 102
5 - Senegal - 36

AM-3
The 3rd American group was a rather clear affair and held another surpise from a newcomer small country: Trinidad & Toboago scored more than 150 points and thus makes itself known as a potential candidate for the final 2006.

1 - Trinidad & Tobago - 151
2 - Mexiko - 105
3 - Uruguay - 82
4 - Ecuador - 77
5 - Antigua & Barbuda - 71
6 - Jamaica - 66

The result for group EU-E will be available as soon as the French NOT has finished it's manual recount. This is expected by Monday afternoon.

Due to technical problems the detailed results of tonights International pre-selection rounds will be sent out the earliest on early Monday night. For first here is an overview.

EU-C
1 - Belgium - 129 (Semifinal)
2 - Russia - 125 (Semifinal)
3 - Turkey - 98 (2nd chance round)
4 - Andorra - 76
5 - Bulgaria - 71
6 - Belarus - 53

AS-C
1 - Japan - 125(Semifinal)
2 - Singapore - 98 (Semifinal)
3 - Papua Newguinea (2nd chance round)
4 - Kazkhstan - 77
5 - Brunei Darussalam - 70

AS-D
1 - Korea - 160 (Semifinal)
2 - United Arab Emirates - 110 (Semifinal)
3 - Tonga - 98 (2nd chance round)
4 - Chinese Taipeh - 67
5 - Bhutan - 48

AF-B
1 - Malawi - 108 (Semifinal)
2 - Nigeria - 98 (Semifinal)
3 - Uganda - 95 (2nd chance round)
4 - Democratic Republic of Congo - 91
5 - Guinea - 84
6 - Algeria - 76

AM-B
1 - Guatemala - 128 (Semifinal)
2 - Canada - 120 (Semifinal)
3 - Venezuela - 97 (2nd chance round)
4 - Cuba - 73
5 - Argentina - 68
6 - Peru - 42

Congratulations to all those countries who made it to the semifinal already and still the very best of luck for those who have to qualify through the "2nd chance round". To those who already had to leave the contest we wish better luck next time and that they will stay with us through this exciting year 2006.

Tonight the first heat of the international pre-selections took place. The groups EU-A & B, AS-A & B as well as AF-A and AM-A were voted on.

EU-A
Poland was the winner of the 1st heat of the night. Will Young from the UK also went on to the semifinal while Armenia secured themselves a chance in the 2nd chance round.
1 - Poland - 144
2 - UK - 119
3 - Armenia - 99
4 - Albania - 65
5 - Iceland - 56

EU-B
Estonia was the runaway-winner in this 2nd heat of the night. 13 out of 22 juries awarded their place to Hannah. 160 points on her account while Israel secured themselves the 2nd spot in the semifinal. Controversy already arose around several especially low votes for this song from other Mid Eastern countries. Lucky third was Austria this time, leaving clearly behind Moldova and FYR Macedonia.
1 - Estonia - 160
2 - Israel - 119
3 - Austria - 101
4 - Moldova - 58
5 - FYR Macedonia - 45

AS-A
Yet another clear victory was noticed for award-winning Brooke Fraser from New Zealand. With 147 she was the clear winner in this pre-selection group. Surprisingly 2nd were the islanders from Vanuatu. The first real big surprise in the contest Vanuatu left Lebanon in 3rd, narrowly in front of Fiji by only 5 points.
1 - New Zealand - 147
2 - Vanuatu - 118
3 - Lebanon - 89
4 - Fiji - 84
5 - Tajikistan - 45

AS-B
Many named it the weakest pre-selection round but anyway the Solomon Islands can be proud to have won it. The Philippines also qualified for the semifinal while Kyrgyztan's entry will again be heard in the 2nd chance round.
1 - Solomon Islands - 128
2 - Philippines - 120
3 - Kyrgyztan - 105
4 - Pakistan - 79
5 - Bahrain - 51

AF-A
The 2nd group of islands emerging to the semifinals were the Seychelles. Their huge hit in France "San ou" scored enough votes. South Africa finally seems to have chosen the right formula and follow the islanders into the semifinal with "Destiny" by young group Malaika. Qualifying narrowly for the 2nd chance round is Tunisia. Again controversy arose around the four Middle Eastern juries heavily favouring Tunisia here.
1 - Seychelles - 146
2 - Rep. South Africa - 136
3 - Tunisia - 79
4 - Mauritius - 75
5 - Somalia - 59
6 - The Gambia - 57

AM-A
Still more surprises were in store in the American group of the night. Again it was the little countries securing their semifinal tickets. Dominica alongside Honduras qualified though Puerto Rico was also very close but will now instead have to go through the 2nd chance round.
1 - Dominica - 113
2 - Honduras - 99
3 - Puerto Rico, USA - 97
4 - Costa Rica - 90
5 - Brazil - 85

Finalists: Poland, UK, Estonia, Israel, New Zealand, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Philippines, Seychelles, Rep. South Africa, Dominica & Honduras

2nd chance round: Armenia, Austria, Lebanon, Kyrgyztan, Tunisia, Puerto Rico, USA

Congratulations to everyone!

The next heat with this time one group from each continental area will take place next week on Saturday.

Though the bid books have again been delayed and will now finally and for good be released on February 1st 2006 the logos for the 6 competing cities have been released. Afterwards a poll took place again - and some surprises took place indeed.

In this poll again 70 NOT contact-persons who already voted in the city election 2007 were asked for which city they would vote if the city-election would take place today.

Here is the result:

- Jerusalem - 28,3 % (+ 1,2)
- Istanbul - 21,7 % (- 1,2)
- Shanghai - 18,3 % (+ 5,4)
- Moscow - 11,7 % (- 5,4)
- Barcelona - 11,7 % (- 2,6)
- Tokyo - 8,3 % (+2,6)

As it seems Jerusalem more and more becomes our No.-1 favourite to pull of it's 3rd successive bid. Istanbul remains constantly 2nd and more and more fear that Istanbul will yet again be left with a 2nd place. Obviously the logo for Shanghai 2008 was accepted by many as the Chinese bid was boosted into 3rd place while both Moscow and Barcelona only achieve votes in single digits in this poll and fall back to No. 4 and 5. Tokyo remains focused on the 6th spot but gains 2,6 percent in December. Shortly before the official election procedure will start the last poll will take place. The voters will know the bid books by then and probably this last poll may be able to predict the winner? On previous occasions this was the case in 2 out of 3 polls taking place. We all ust have to wait and see.

After the draw it was made clear which national juries will be involved in the voting for the international pre-selection 2006.

European juries - Sweden, Germany, France, Ireland, UK, Spain, Italy (Greece, Israel)

AustralAsian juries - Australia, New Zealand, Japan, India, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia (PR China)

African juries - Morocco, South Africa, Egypt, Algeria (Tunisia, Namibia, Seychelles)

American juries - USA, Canada, Mexico (Colombia)

The countries in brackets will not be involved in all groups (Greece in EU-1,3,5; Israel in EU-3; PR China in AA-1,3,6,7,9; Tunisia in AF-2,5,6; Namibia in AF-1; Seychelles in AF-1; Colombia in AM-2,3).

Those 20 juries will vote alongside the ISFHC jury (consisting of the ISFHC and the French NOT) as well as an international expert panel. Each of these juries will have to consist of more then 10 people.