Griffiniskaja Laul 5

Griffiniskaja Laul 05 was the fifth edition of the Griffiniskaja Laul musical event and Waiting List Song Contest national final, but the first edition in 2021. It was ornagised to choose Griffin representative for the 211th Waiting List Song Contest. The contest took place in Kralingslæting, capital of the principality of Foreõsvdetrre following their victory at the previous edition.

Winner of the festival was the group O-Zone representing the decade of noughties as well as the Principality of Eestimadnait (today known as Westersund). This classic already competed at the big Laul in 2003. This was the third victory for the said principality. Sletterimaa and their 50s icon - Édith Piaf finished second (for the third consecutive time), while Pzyerüyölkeä's 70s star Zdravko Čolić finished third (for the second time in a row).

Bidding phase
The contest have been held in Foreõsvdetrre. It was the second time the principality hosted the contest, the first time being the debut edition of the contest. Preparations for the contest began immediately after the principality won. The executive supervisor of the Griffiniskaja Televisioon (GTV) confirmed that the main channel GTV 1 would again co-organise the event with a regional broadcaster, this time GTV FOR as they won the previous edition.

It was confirmed that two of the biggest cities in the principality applied to host the event, the capital being represented by its districts rather than an unified bid. Kralingslæting won the bidding phase with its Graisplaits Arrenaa just 10 days after the previous edition ended.

City and venue
Graisplaits Arrenaa (originally known as Nýt-kral-arrenaa, and previously as Kralewskovgradiskaja Arrenaa; also known as Biigërarrenaa in competitions where commercial names are prohibited, such as in the Olympic Games) is an indoor sports arena and concert hall located in the neighborhood of Poolza, on Utopolis Boulevard, in the Biigër District. The closest metro station is Poolza. Designed by the architectural firm Androo-Beledt, Jon Bliofo and Ehtam Kofem, the arena has a pyramidal shape and walls covered with a sloping lawn. It has a seating capacity ranging from 7,000 to 20,300, depending on the event.

As part of the 2014–15 renovations efforts, the arena was renamed to Poolza Arena on 1 January 2015. It was again renamed to Graisplaits Arena in October 2015.

Kralingslæting is the capital and most populous city of both Griffin Empire and the principality of Foreõsvdetrre, with a population of 12,292,895 residents as of 2020. Throughout history, it has been one of Natia's major centres of finance, diplomacy, commerce, fashion, science and arts. The Foreõsvdetrre had a GDP of K709 billion ($808 billion) in 2017. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit Worldwide Cost of Living Survey in 2018, Kralingslæting was the second most expensive city in the world. Another source ranked Kralingslæting as most expensive in 2018.

Format
Seven principalities of Griffin Empire submited their entry of choice to compete in a one night final. Each principality gave 1,5,8 10 and 12 points to their favourite songs via televoting. It was forbidden to vote to ones own principality. Eleven Natian countries (Solentoya, Balearica Island, Kamandé, Utopolis, Tanoiro, Tybalteva, Effiland, Arkodrë, Kadis, Öösingimaed, and Pyreica) were invited to join the show as international juries. These nations gave points in the same way as Griffin televoting.

International juries' votes determined Griffin representative at the Waiting List Song Contest. Both juries and televoting combined determined the overall winner of the festival.

Show
This edition was treated as a jubilee and a special theme was chosen. The theme of the contest was "back to the future" and celebrated the music of last 7 decades. Each principality was assigned a decade through a random draw and had to submit an entry in a spirit of the mentioned decade. Postcards showed different locations throughout the country and how they changed through the last century. The presenter and host of the evening was Kralingslatingian singer Alfie Templeman that was described as a "Griffin eye candy".

The show was opened with the previous winner singing the winning number from the previous edition, and the show itself featured many highlights segments which showed montages of change in habits, way of living, music and fashion throughout the last century (a longer version of postcards). Interval act was a medley of Griffin WLSC entries sung by the previous Foreõsvdetrre representatives.

This was the first time since the introduction of the festival that the stage was changed. The new stage was reused from the 6th Congratulations show that was held in Griffin Empire a year prior. Since the 50s and 60s stars Édith Piaf and late members of the Beatles couldn't perform live the songs, a special hologram performances were used. For the song Twist and Should that competed at 1960 Laul, parts of that performance were used while creating the hologram.

Results
O-Zone was the fifth artist in a row to win both international jury and Griffin televote, so their principality of Eestimadnait (today known as Westersund) was the overall winner of the festival and they got to represent the country at the upcoming Waiting List Song Contest.

Reception and result at the Waiting List Song Contest
Fifth edition of Griffiniskaja Laul was another record breaking one. Previously broken the edition before, both the highest viewing rates as well highest number of countries voting were either broken or evened. Winner broke the record for the most points received with 144 points overall, and for the most points received by international jury with 94 points. The song was expected to do well at Waiting List Song Contest. The winning song was already well known and competed at Laul in 2003. Most critics praised the fun and entertaining sides of the song, rather than the quality itself with Utopolitan newspaper writing "Yeah ok fuck it. This was on the radio 2 weeks ago and I sang along from start to finish and had the time of my life. Production: ass. Vocals: crap. Melody: 11/10 would sing along again. Entertainment value: they don't make scales that size.". Arkodrian critic from Arkodrian Music Journal wrote about the song as "a true meme song for obvious reasons", concluding that it is "very enjoyable and catchy tune" with "an iconic official video".

Other entries recieved positive reviews as well: Kamandéan journalist commented on maximum score that Sletterimaa recieved from their jury that their country is "a huge Piaf fan" and that "this doesn't come as a surprise." Arkodrian Music Journal wrote about Piaf that "her voice and her songs are incredibly beautiful", and that the lyrics are "so touching", but praising the musical values the most with "I'm living for the orchestra, epic. I like the build up and the progression too". The same entry was in the middle of a mini scandal when Pyreican jury member wrote on Twitter: "Bad news: I'm gonna tank Edith". The tweet was deleted soon after it was posted. Pyreica did not give any points to the Sletterlandish singer, but GTV, GTV EEM , PyrTV as well as the artist herself didn't comment these speculations.

During the show, Effinsk commentator said: "This was very hard to rank, it's very very close call for me. The whole top 3 is interchangeable, I changed my decision many times. And the rest is still up there. Good luck getting a clear winner".

At the main contest, O-Zone finished first in a landslide victory collecting 130 points. Four nations gave the maximum score to the entry.