Waiting List Song Contest 217

For more information about the 217th contest and the actual show go to the thread.

The Waiting List Song Contest 217 (stylised as Natiavision 217) was the 217th edition of the Waiting List Song Contest. Despite their early confirmation, Solentoya decided to decline the offer to host the contest. This would be the second time in a row that Solentoya would have hosted the event and 17th overall. Second placed at the previous edition - Griffin Empire accepted the offer instead. The contest was held in the metropolis of Hermýn. This was the fourth time Griffin Empire hosted the event, but the first time in Hermýn.

Although, they have chosen their entry, 7 was also the first country to withdraw from the contest, due to internal problems. Their planned entry, View, was performed as part of the interval act. Emsfrynt returned to the contest after one edition break. After the applications period passed and final list of participants was revealed, it was anounced that Dalisska and West INK withdrew as well.

Location
Hermýn, the capital of Griffin Principality of Õklingsmaa was the host city for the 217th edition of Waiting List Song Contest. The venue choice for the contest was Hermýniskaja Pokraynaiskaja Stadijümi, a football stadium in the Töcamözs-Üelbaö district of Hermýn.

Hermýniskaja Pokraynaiskaja Stadijümi (translated from Hermynic Dialect of Griffin as Regional Stadium of Hermyn ), is a 59,186-seat stadium in DéciTöcamözs-Üelbaö district of Hermýn Metropolis. The home of Griffin football club¸ Olýmpýk Hermýnýšk, it replaced their previous stadium, Gehlandstad.

The stadium was a host of Natia Coup, and was also chosen to stage the Griffin Ligue Final and the West Natia League Final, in addition to the Natia Women's World Cup and football at the Summer Olympics. Outside football, the ground has also held rugby union and ice hockey matches, as well as musical concerts.

Bidding phase
Due to the relatively short time to prepare their bids, only three cities submitted them. After the careful consideration, it was decided that the Hermýn would be best suited for the task. Since the stadium was too big for the occasion, it was divided into two parts - one for the official event and one as a press centre. Official capacity for the contest was 26,459.

Hermýn
Hermýn is the second-largest city and second-largest urban area of Griffin Empire. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Drinsörwõt and Zeýmmä. Inhabitants of the city are called Herminians. Currently, it has a population of 2,323,221 people. It is the capital of the region of Õklingsmaa principality.

It was also former capital of the Independent Õklingsmaa at the time of the Griffin conquests. Hermýn became a major economic hub during the Second and First Griffin Renaissance. The city is recognized for its cuisine and gastronomy, and historical and architectural landmarks; as such, the districts of Old Town, the Fýregletje hill, the Övraisling and the slopes of the Glzdtzarkg are inscribed on the Natian world heritage list. It was historically an important area for the production and weaving of silk. HeHermýn played a significant role in the history of cinema: it is where the cinematograph was invented. It is also known for its light festival, Laiytöfestivaal, which begins every 8 December and lasts for four days, earning Hermýn the title of Capital of Lights.

Economically, it is a major centre for banking, as well as for the chemical, pharmaceutical, and biotech industries. The city contains a significant software industry with a particular focus on video games, and in recent years has fostered a growing local start-up sector. Hermýn hosts the international headquarters of Interpol, the International Agency for Research on Cancer and Natianews. According to the Globalization and World Rankings Research Institute, it is considered a Beta city. It ranked second in Griffin and 40th globally in liveability rankings.

Theme
The official theme of the contest was worded as "a card trick" as a nod to the postcards concept (where the countries and their representatives were depicted on a Yu-Gi-Oh or Pokémon style cards) which was used in a promotional purposes as well. Graphic design was heavily inspired by Studio Ghibli cinematic universe and all competing countries were depicted in a Hayao Miyazaki style drawings.

Hosts
Hosts of this edition were Kiki (presented as "Natia's favourite witch") and Tombo (presented as "aviator-to-be and our sweetheart"). They are the main protagonists of the 1989 Japanese animated film that is also based on the book of the same name - Kiki's Delivery Service, and were described as strong-willed and independent. At just 13 years old they were the youngest persons to host the show.

Stage
The Stage was designed by SteinDesign. Weighing 11k pounds, the large ‘halo’ was specially designed and engineered to be rigged from limited rigging locations at the Hermýniskaja Pokraynaiskaja Stadijümi over the audience seating. The structure had to be strong enough to support itself while being light weight enough to be rigged in the historic venue. The WLSC stage was no ordinary stage in both its size and shape and required another 1200 seats in the venue to be pulled out to make way for the custom designed stage. The floor was embedded with infrared sensors beneath special black acrylic to facilitate augmented reality in the show.

List of spokespersons
The spokespersons announced the score from their respective country in the following order:
 * Griffin Empire — Boh and the harpy (from "Spirited Away")
 * Joseyeon — Chihiro Ogino (from "Spirited Away")
 * Utopolis — Shizuku Tsukishima and Shun Kazama (from "From Up on Poppy Hill")
 * Moisantia — Haku as dragon (from "Spirited Away")
 * Pyreica — Ponyo and Sōsuke (from "Ponyo")
 * Gringotts — Naoko Satomi and Jiro Horikoshi (from "The Wind Rises")
 * Kimmystan — Arrietty (from "Arrietty")
 * Effiland — Kiki (from "Kiki's Delivery Service")
 * Tamausia & Deltannor — Calcifer (telfrom "Howl's Moving Castle")
 * Solentoya — Yubaba (from "Spirited Away")
 * Halleloo — Seita Yokokawa (from "Grave of the Fireflies")

Controversies

 * Despite their early application, following the change of the hosting nation, it was not sure if Joseyeon would withdraw as they were declared war to the Griffin Empire. In the end, Joseyeon did submit the final application shutting down rumours and speculations.