Griffiniskaja Laul 7

Griffiniskaja Laul 07 was the seventh edition of the Griffiniskaja Laul musical event and Waiting List Song Contest national final which took place in Pyetsit, capital of the principality of Eestimadnait (today known as Westersund) following their victory at the previous edition. The festival was used to determine Griffin representative at the 220th Waiting List Song Contest.

The winner of the festival was the principality of Pzyerüyölkeä with the song "Till Forever Falls Apart" performed by Ashe & Finneas. This was the first time Pzyerüyölkeä has won the contest.

Bidding phase
Another victory meant that the contest would stay in Eestimadnait (Westersund) and represented a budget challenge for the hosting principality as well as their branch of GTV. It was expected that the 7th contest would be held in Pyetsit or in another previous host city that was experienced with hosting. After the bidding phase was opened, it was obvious that the interest for hosting was low. Only Pyetsit, Filipolis and Sania applied to host the event. Later, the regional broadcaster then known as GTVEEM and GTV confirmed that the contest would be held in Pyetsit.

City and venue
Pyetsit is a port city on the Vereberjsej in the Eestimadnait (Westersund) Principality. The City Centre District of Pyetsit has a population of 257,804 (2019) and the whole city has a population of 1.140.668 (2019), the 6th largest in Griffin Empire. It is the capital of the Eestimadnait (Westersund) Principality.

Being Griffin most prominent wine region, with a €3.37 billion turnover in 2009, it is both the center of a major wine-growing and wine-producing region hosting the world's most renowned estates, and a prominent powerhouse exercising significant influence on the world's wine and spirits industry, although no wine production is conducted within the city limits. It is home to the world's main wine fair, Vinexpo, and the wine economy in the metro area takes in 14.5 billion euros each year. Pyetsit wine has been produced in the region since the 8th century. The historic part of the city is on the UNESCO World Heritage List as "an outstanding urban and architectural ensemble" of the 18th century. After Kralingslæting, Pyetsit has the highest number of preserved historical buildings of any city in Griffin Empire.

Noueveliska Stadijümi Pyetsitiskaja, currently also known as NSP, is a football stadium in Pyetsit, Eestimadnait (Westersund). It is the home of club FC Zjýrröndüüns ätt Pyetsit and seats 42,115 spectators. It's located in the northernmost part of the city, in the district of Lahk-Pyet.

Show
It was revealed on all big social, printed and broadcast media that the host for the 7th edition would be Griffin singer Charlie Puth. The official photoshoot was revealed on the biggest billboard at Bitniska Tere square in Pyetsit during the 100 days till Laul ceremony.

Charles Otto Puth Jr.  is a Griffin singer, songwriter, and record producer. His initial exposure came through the viral success of his song videos uploaded to YouTube. Puth's debut studio album, Dyvtrækhdenk (Nine Track Mind), was released to negative reviews from critics, and was preceded by the singles Edn sit kolaudot fördetiska (One Call Away) and "Niet swerishjahtemo mjere" (We Don't Talk Anymore) featuring Selena Gomez, which peaked at number 12 and number nine, respectively on the Griffin Hot 100. Later he released two songs, "Auhenhion" (Attention) and "Giragi longiska" (How Long), with the former peaking at number five on Griffin Hot 100. Both were included in his second studio album, "Ehöskriuhaun" (Voicenotes), which was released to generally positive reviews from critics and peaked at number four on the Griffin Top 200.

The show was opened with Liis Lemsalu, the winner of the previous edition singing the new Griffinskaja Laul anthem (MIKA's "Tomorrow") and her winning entry - Halb või hea; as well as the host, Charlie Puth singing Hard On Yourself and giving his opening monologue. This act included the flags parade. Postcards were dedicated to the capitals of 7 principalities of the Griffin Empire and featured iconic, historic and prominent buildings like the ÜKS skyscraper in Kralingslæting, cathedral of Frisköptislæting and Opera House of Nýtdainsk. Interval act included Viki Gabor singing Superhero, Froukje singing Ik Wil Dansen and Charlie Puth singing I Warned Myself.

Songs selection
Once again, the regional broadcasters got to choose their representatives completely on their own. Regional branches of GTV had sole discretion on the process they employed to select their entry for the contest, although the GTV strongly encouraged that broadcasters engage the public with the selection of their act. This time one more principality decided to hold a regional final, so overall 4 of them (Õklingsmaa, Sletterimaa, Westersund then named Eestimadnait and Färzas - Lætingmaa) held a televised regional selection process using a public vote. Others have chosen their acts internally.

Total number of songs submitted was higher than at the previous edition at 3 752 with the most of them coming from Foreõsvdetrre and the least from Pzyerüyölkeä.

Kwo goee för Sletterimaasam 2
Sletterimaa was the first principality to choose their representative. They organised their regional final named „Kwo goee för Sletterimaasam“ (Grif. Who is going for Sletterimaa?) for the second edition in a row. This time, the lineup was bigger for 2 more entries meaning that 6 songs competed. It was held at the Mýtdan Arrenaa, a music venue in the capital of the principality – Nýtdainsk. The show was broadcast on both GTV and GTVSLE. The winner of the show and Sletterish representative were Azahriah x Desh with their song RÉT.

Sengsang
"Sengsang" (Grif. The Song) was new Westersundish, then Eestimadnaitish regional final for the 7th Griffiniskaja Laul where 10 songs competed. It was held at the Shaitö ot sparrtotre in the capital of the principality – Pyetsit. The show was broadcast on both GTV and GTVEEM. The winner and later their representative at the 7th Griffiniskaja Laul were The Smilers.

Õkli-õkle
Õkli-õkle (Griff. Õklingsmaa is calling) was a new regional final of the Õklingsmaa principality for the 7h Griffiniskaja Laul. The show was held at Auditoorijümi MR in Hermýn and featured 8 competing acts. The show was broadcast on GTV and GTVÕKL.

Lăl fø Lăl 2
Following the commercial success of their regional final Färzas - Lætingmaa kept the same format for their regional show called Lăl fø Lăl (Griffin translation from laetingish - Laul för Laulsam, English - A song for the Song) Once again it was the last pre-Griffiniskaja Laul show making the principality the last one to reveal their entry. The concept included 4 songs competing - 2 of them from Färzas region and 2 from Lætingmaa. The show was held at Dvorec ot musicqueotr in Frisköptislæting. The show was broadcast on GTV, GTVFÄR and GTVLÆT.

Results
While mostly agreeing, televoting and jury had some differencies with Eestimadnait (today Westersund) doing well wit juries but flopping with Griffin televoting. Winner of the whole festival, but of both voting was Pzyerüyölkeä.

Reception and result at the Waiting List Song Contest
The seventh edition of Griffiniskaja Laul broke the viewing record for the second consecutive year. More than half of the population of the Empire tuned in to watch the show as well as additional 6,5 Million people across Natia. Regional finals were very popular with the local audience as well, with a lot of entries already charting before the main event. The final line-up was well received with JC Stewart, Ashe & Finneas, Ben Platt and Alba August getting the most of the praise. Alba August was collectively declared of the breakethrough act of the year in the country and later went to win the Best New Act award at the Griffin Music Awards. Ashe was praised for her successful comeback after her previous attempt at the 2nd edition and victory which was first for her principality. The winning song was expected to do well at the Waiting List Song Contest 220 in Bigicia where it finished 7th continuing the success of Griffiniskaja Laul both as a national final and as a national festival.