Gozitania

Gozitania (Gozitanian: Gożitanja) is a nation that lies in the Southern continent. First, Gozitania was a microstate nation but on February 2, 2008, Gozitania and the other microstates, were promoted to full nations. This nation started participating in the Nation Song Contest from NSC 13. Gozitania was nominated for the Best Microstate award in the NSC Awards 2007.

Gozitania's currency is the Euro (€) and it has a democractic system of government. Its first and current president is Marina Lizorkina. She was elected on 8 February, 2008, in the first Gozitan presidential election.

Geography
Gozitania is a nation situated in the Sudjour of the NSC World. It has a population of about 700,000 people. Its capital city is Epiktya, the country's economic, cultural and political centre. Amongst the most important cities there are Gaulos, Maltiania, Victria and Gaulitania. The language of Gozitania is the Gozitan with also some dialects diffused in the villages.

Gozitania is bordered by Sunland to the west, Zechonia to the south, and to the Angel Sea.

Landmarks
For the national final for NSC 14, in Epiktya was built the Silver Stage. This multi-use indoor arena nowadays is used for sport, cultural events and other events that are held in Gozitania. Its name originated from the Russian group Serebro, the first entrants in NSC for Gozitania, where their actual name means Silver. It has a capacity of around 25,000 people.

Media
The Gozitania Radio & Television (GRTV), which started in January 2008, serves as the nation's public broadcaster. Besides the broadcast of regular programs, it is in charge of broadcasting the major cultural activities, including the national finals and the Nation Song Contest shows.

Participation in NSC
Gozitania made its debut in the thirteenth edition of NSC and their best result arrived in NSC 54 thanks to American alternative rock band The Pretty Reckless's first released single "Make Me Wanna Die". They finished 4th with a record 142 points.

NSC 13
NSC 13 marked the debut for Gozitania in NSC. An internal selection decided for Russian group Serebro with the song "What's Your Problem?" to make them the debutants for the Gozitania. Being a microstate, they competed in the respective qualifiers but it wasn't quite a success as they didn't qualify for the semifinals finishing 6th with a total of 152 points.

NSC 14
For the first time, in its second participation, Gozitania opted for a National Final to choose the NSC 14 entry. A total of 7 voters casted their votes under the positional voting system of 10, 7, 4, 1, with 10 points being to the favourite song. This was the list of contestants for the national final:

After an intense final were both Vanilla Ninja and Hanna Pakarinen were level on points, the Finnish singer triumphed to represent Gozitania in NSC 14. In the microstates' qualifiers, Gozitania finished 3rd with a total of 120 points, guaranteeing a place in the semi-final for the very first time. In the semi-final, Gozitania acquired the best ever result in a competition when it finished 2nd, behind Alinta, with 200 points. In the final, Gozitania didn't manage to vote and so suffered a 75% penalisation. So, Gozitania finished in the 24th position with a total of 39 points (if Gozitania had voted, it could have finished as high as 4th with 156 points).

NSC 15
For the second time running, Gozitania chose its NSC 15 entry from a national final consisting of four songs.

With the winner "Halili", Gozitania didn't manage to make it to the semis for the second consecutive time, stumbling in the microstate qualifiers, finishing 6th with a remarkable 115 points.

NSC 16
This was the fourth participation of Gozitania and the national final system was again adopted. In this edition Gozitania listed five songs which competed together for the win and also a new voting system with votes being given at 10, 8, 6, 3, 1 points. This was the list of contestants for the national final:

Again, Gozitania failed to be part of the semi-final as it finished 7th from eleven microstates participating, only five points from the sixth place that could have awarded Gozitania a place in the semis. Gozitania gained a total of 147 points which are 32 points more from the NSC 15 microstate pre-qualifiers edition.

NSC 17
This is the fifth try of Gozitania and the national final was again present. In this edition there was a difference from the preceding national finals, as this time, Gozitania had already chosen the singer and in the national final presented four songs from the artist's repertoire. The artist chosen was Groove Coverage and there was a record number of 20 voters which cast their votes voted under the 10, 7, 4, 1 points system. This was the list of contestants for the national final:

Gozitania reached to qualify for the first time, since NSC 14, to the semi-final when they passed from the microstates' pre-qualifiers hurdle. In the semi-final they did reasonably well as they gained a spot in the final with the 4th position (gaining 134 points). In the final, Gozitania finished 9th with a total of 105 points, as 18 nations voted for this entry.

NSC 18
Gozitania decided to hault the run of national finals, and make an internal selection. The song chosen was Lindsay Lohan's "Rumors". This was the first time that Gozitania competed in the semi-final as all microstates were promoted to full nations. However, this wasn't to be a good start as they failed to qualify receiving the 13th place from 21 nations. They failed to gain a spot in the final by five points.

NSC 19
After the disappointing start as a full nation, Gozitania selected another song, again with internal selection. This time, it was the turn for Madonna which with the song "Frozen" represent Gozitania in NSC 19. They reached to qualify from the semi-final and gained a place in the final finishing in the 20th place.

NSC 20
After an absence of two editions, the national final system was reinstated. There was a total of four songs contending for the representation of Gozitania in the 20th edition of NSC:

With Sugababes, Gozitania didn't reach to make it to the final and gaining 58 points in the second semi-final, and sharing the 14th position with Prasia.

NSC 21
For the first time in Gozitania's history, the artist chosen had already represented this nation in the preceding editions. It was the Finnish Hanna Pakarinen which with the song "Black Ice" finished just 15th in the semi-final round.

NSC 23
Missing the NSC 22 edition, Gozitania returned back with Kylie Minogue's hit single "In My Arms" for the 23rd edition of NSC, but unfortunately didn't reach to vote and so finished to be ineligible to qualify.

NSC 39
After a halt of fifteen editions, Gozitania returned back into this contest. The song chosen was by Romanian singer Inna with "Hot". In the second semi-final, Gozitania reached to make it through finishing third with 95 points. In the final show hosted in Bokia, Inna ended 9th with 123 points, equalling the country's best result in the final.

NSC 40
For the 40th edition of the festival, Gozitania chose another Romanian artist, this time being Andreea Bănică with her catch "Le Li Ra" song. Allocated in the first semi-final, Bănică didn't manage to equal the success of her compatriot, and Gozitania had to bow in the semi-final as they finished 13th with 67 points, two points behind the last qualified country.

Overall participation
The numbers in brackets represent the total of points gained.

Points distribution

 * Main article: Points distribution for Gozitania