Laul

''For the most recent contest, see Laul 2021. For this year's edition, see Laul 2022.''

Laul, officially the National Song Festival (Griffin: Festivaal natsionalneiska ot laulotr) and commonly known as just Laulöfestivaal or "Big Laul", is the most popular Griffin song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in different official host city every year. It is the longest-running annual TV music competition in the Western Natia or broadly Natia on a national level and it is also the basis and inspiration for the Griffiniskaja Laul festival, coloquially known as "little Laul" that run for eleven editions over three years as a national final for the Waiting List Song Contest.

Unlike other awards, it is a competition for new songs, not an award to previous successes (like the Griffiniskaja Laul, Ą Anwagrdasde for literature, art, sculpture and architecture, Å Anwagrdasde for music, and Æ Anwagrdasde for motion pictures). It is a one night event held since 1956, and broadcast on GTV as well as Griffin national radio (GRö). From 1956 to 1969, the Festival took place in the national opera house - Bitniska Õepra of Kralingslæting, but starting from 1970, all the following editions were held in the different venues in overall 16 cities in the country. From 1956 to 1973 the line-up was consisted of 10 songs that were judged by 7 regional juries (one for each principality of Griffin Empire). In 1973 the line-up increased to 20 entries. In 1997 televoting was introduced. Televoting points are given to each entry based on its percentage of the total vote, while juries give points in a determined system to their 10 favourite acts.

Origin and development
Immediately upon his accession to the throne in 1952, Emperor Gustav XIX wanted to leave a positive impression on his people and upgrade the legacy of his mother who founded the Griffin National Television and Æ Anwagrdasde film awards. The idea was to broadcast the annual music festival through this medium, where the most popular and best national performers would compete. Negotiations with the government and GTV lasted for almost three years before the establishment of this festival and its financing from the budget was confirmed. The festival was a solemn occasion at which, in the beginning, 10 unpublished songs competed. This was the first show of its kind in the country and it soon established itself as a hit and remained extremely popular in its country of origin to this day with many big names competing regularly.

There were no language rules since the very beginning of the contest, but it was expected that they would be performed in either Griffin or Old Griffin. Performers and songwriting teams had to be fully Griffin until 1994.

Contest took place at Bitniska Õepra of Kralingslæting until 1970, when it moved for the first time. Since then total of 16 cities including Kralingslæting acted as host cities for the contest. Traditional venues were either opera houses, theatres or medium sized concert halls until 1992 when it was held in a stadium for a first time, namely Lohnimt Gibe Stadijümi in Busk, Westersund. Since then indoor arenas or stadiums are prefered venues. Usually there is no open bidding process, but potential venues are openly discussed.

Number of performances increased to 20 in 1973 and this tradition has remained to date. Red carpet event was introduced in 1996 and televoting a year later.

Hosting
Preparations for the next contest typically begin following the conclusion of the previous contest. A host city is chosen by both the national and local broadcasters, which should meet certain criteria set out in the contest's rules that are revised and determined soon after the previous edition ends. Latest rules stated that the host venue must be able to accommodate at least 10,000 spectators, space for a press centre for 1,500 journalists, and location must also have hotel accommodation available for at least 2,000 delegates, journalists and spectators. For these reasons, the contest is typically, but not always, held in a major city.

There is no official bidding process. Usually Griffin National Television has a preferred venue with who they enter negotiations for hosting, but it is common for different arenas to try their chance. The contest has been hosted in a variety of different venues, from opera houses in the early editions, over medium music arenas to large stadiums. The largest venue to host the contest is MareStadiumi in Mare Incatato, with gigantous capacity of 67,394 seats.

The hotel and press facilities in the vicinity of the venue, and in particular the accommodation costs for the visiting delegations, journalists and fans, are typically an important consideration when choosing a host city. The contest organizers and city officials have in the past had to negotiate rates with hotel owners ahead of the contest. Many of these practices were continued with the organisation of the smaller Griffiniskaja Laul festival, however it had a open bidding phase during the most of its run. Many of the bigger venues hosted both events and some of them hosted the Waiting List Song Contest as well.

Since GTV does the whole organisation by itself, there is constant Laul working group that decides all the questions. Visual identity, as well as the set design of the festival changes every year with constant theme being the Griffin Empire itself and music. This is one of the most costly aspects of the festival. The production team changes every five years.

The contest is considered to be a huge honour and a unique opportunity for promoting the host principality and the country as a whole as a tourist destination.

Show preparations
Preparations in the host venue typically begin approximately six weeks before the show, to accommodate building works and technical rehearsals before the arrival of the competing artists. Delegations will typically arrive in the host city two to three weeks before the live show, and each participating artist is assigned an assistent responsible for coordinating the movements of the artists. Members of each artist's delegation include performers, composers, lyricists, members of the press. In the years where a live orchestra was present a conductor was universal. For nations that broadcast the festival, it is common to send a commentator, who provides commentary of the event for their country's radio and/or television feed in their country's own language in dedicated booths situated around the back of the arena behind the audience. This is a huge contrast from the "little Laul" that was much faster where this whole process including the set instalation and rehearsals were done in less than a week and artist's delegations were representing principalities they were coming from.

Each artist conducts two individual rehearsals, the first for 30 minutes and held behind closed doors, and the second for 20 minutes and open to accredited press. Technical rehearsals commence the week before the live shows, with artists typically rehearsing in the order in which they will perform during the contest. Following rehearsals delegations meet with the show's production team to review footage of the rehearsal and raise any special requirements or changes. "Meet and greet" sessions with fans and press conferences with accredited press are held during these rehearsal weeks. The live show is preceded by three dress rehearsals, where the whole show is performed in the same way as it will be presented on TV. The second dress rehearsal, alternatively called the "jury final" and held the night before the broadcast, is used as a recorded back-up in case of technological failure, and performances during this show are used by each professional jury to determine their votes.

A welcome reception is typically held at a venue in the host city on the Sunday preceding the live show, which includes a red carpet ceremony for all the participating artists and is usually broadcast online.