Waffle Song Contest 1

The Waffle Song Contest 1 was the 1st edition of the Waffle Song Contest. It took place in Larnaca, Cyprus, after a draw to dertimine what country would host. Organised by the Waffle Broadcasting Union (WBU) and host broadcaster the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC), the contest was held at the GSZ Stadium, and consisted of a single Grand Final on the 4th of June 2022. The live show was presented by Cypriot singer Ivi Adamou, Cypriot singer and spokesperson Loukas Hamatsos and Cypriot singer Anna Vissi.

Inspired principally by the Eurovision Song Contest, held annually since 1956, the concept of a televised song contest, was formulated by a WBU committee led by Irish broadcaster and executive WaffleGuy. Following approval at the WBU's General Assembly in 2022, the rules and structure of the contest were agreed upon. Several of the rules utilised in this first contest would subsequently be altered for future editions. Twenty countries participated in the contest, with every single country being new to the contest as it's this is the first edition.

The winner was San Marino with the song "Supermodel", performed by Måneskin and written by them along with Max Martin, Rami Yacoub, Justin Tranter and Sylvester Sivertsen. Czechia, Ukraine, Cyprus and Sweden rounded out the top five. Måneskin became the first performers to win the contest; it was also the first win for San Marino, setting the new record for most wins at the contest.

Location


The first contest was held in Larnaca, Cyprus. It was the first time that Cyprus hosted the contest, The selected venue was the 13,032-seat GSZ Stadium, a multi-purpose outdoor arena. The "Turquoise Carpet" event, where the contestants and their delegations were presented before accredited press and fans, took place on the Finikoudes Beach on 1 June 2022, followed by the Opening Ceremony at The Ballroom.

The Oroklini Beach was the location of the WSC Village, where a stage hosted performances by Cypriot and Greek artists, local artists, current and previous Eurovision entrants, and other groups. It also held screenings of the live show. Entry to the Village was free of charge except during the final.

Host country selection
As this was the first edition of the contest, the host city had been chosen randomly from a raffle of applying broadcasters who wished to host the contest, Cyprus and the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) won the draw and took on the responsibility with the Waffle Broadcasting Union to host the contest.

Many cities in Cyprus expressed a wish to host the first Edition of the contest, the first cities to express interest were Paphos, Limassol and Larnaca, who expressed interest almost immediately after the draw. They would later be joined by cities such as Paralimni, Kyrenia, Famagusta and the capital city of the country, Nicosia. All cities submitted bids to host the contest featuring their scenery, and plans for hosting. The longlist of seven would be eventually shortened to the cities of Limassol, Larnaca and Nicosia.

On the 1st of June 2022, the WBU and CyBC announce Larnaca as the host city, with the GSZ Stadium as the host venue

Host city bidding phase
The host city bidding process ran from 25 May to 1 June 2022, with candidates judged against a set of criteria to demonstrate that they could host an event on the scale of the Waffle Song Contest. During the first stage of the process, the BBC received expressions of interest from 10 Cypriot cities and towns, seven of which were longlisted on 1 June 2022: Famagusta, Kyrenia, Larnaca, Limassol, Nicosia, Paphos, and Paralimni. These cities had until 1 June to develop their bids in detail for evaluation by the CyBC, which also conducted visits to the cities throughout the week. On 1 June, Larnaca, Limassol and Nicosia were announced to have made the shortlist, and on the same day, the EBU and the CyBC announced Larnaca as the host city.

Key:

Participating countries
On 1 June 2022, the WBU announced that 20 countries would participate in the first contest – the lowest number of participating countries in a single edition ever.

Returning artists
As this was the first edition of the contest, no artists could return from prior editions. Many artists competing in Edition 1 would go on to compete in subsequent Editions, most notably Måneskin who have performed 4 times at the contest

Production
Waffle Song Contest 1 was produced by the Cypriot national broadcaster Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC). The Waffle broadcasting union worked with the CyBC to develop and implement Cypriot elements for the live shows, including theme artwork, background music, selection of presenters, and opening and interval acts.

The budget was contributed to by the Larnaca Municipality and the and the CyBC, as well as the Cypriot government, they worked together to put together such a contest.

Presenters
Cypriot singer Ivi Adamou, Cypriot singer and spokesperson Loukas Hamatsos, and Cypriot singer Anna Vissi were announced as the presenters for the 2023 contest on 2 June 2022, and they hosted the Grand Final of the event.

The "Turquoise Carpet" and Opening Ceremony events were hosted exclusively by Loukas Hamatsos, and he provided running commentary throughout the season with social media interviews.

Voting system and contest structure
As is the usual in the Eurovision Song Contest, each jury member would hand out points from 1-12. This is divided between the countries that rank in each of the juries Top 10, the country that receives the most points will win the Waffle Song Contest. There was no Televoting in the first edition of the contest.

Final
The final took place on 4 June 2022. Twenty countries participated in the final, with a jury of all twenty participating countries, eligible to vote. San Marino won with 123 points. Czech Republic came second with 93 points, with Ukraine, Cyprus, Sweden, Wales, Belarus, Kosovo, Norway and Germany completing the top ten. Israel, Austria, United States, Australia, and Malta occupied the bottom five positions.

The final was opened by Anna Vissi performing her winning song "Everything" and her older song "Mono i agapi". This was followed by the flag parade, introducing all twenty finalists, accompanied by two former Cypriot Eurovision entrants performing their competing songs: Jon Lilygreen & The Islanders with "Life Looks Better In Spring", and Elena Tsagrinou with her song "El Diablo". The interval was Ivi Adamou performing her single "La La Love".

The winner was San Marino with the song "Supermodel", performed by Måneskin and written by Måneskin along with Max Martin, Rami Yacoub, Justin Tranter and Sylvester Sivertsen. Czech Republic, Ukraine, Cyprus and Sweden rounded out the top five. Måneskin became the first performers to ever win the contest; their win was also the first for San Marino, setting the new record for the most wins in the contest.

Spokespersons
The spokespersons announced the 12-point score from their respective country's national jury in the following order.


 * 1) Flag_of_Wales.svg Wales
 * 2) Flag_of_England.svg England
 * 3) Flag_of_Ukraine.svg Ukraine
 * 4) Flag_of_Germany.svg Germany
 * 5) Flag_of_Cyprus.svg Cyprus
 * 6) Flag_of_Norway.svg Norway
 * 7) Flag_of_Croatia.svg Croatia
 * 8) Flag_of_Israel.svg Israel
 * 9) Flag_of_Sweden.svg Sweden
 * 10) Flag_of_Albania.svg Albania
 * 11) Flag_of_United_States.svg United States
 * 12) Flag_of_Kosovo.svg Kosovo
 * 13) Flag_of_Australia.svg Australia
 * 14) Flag_of_San_Marino.svg San Marino
 * 15) Flag_of_Russia.svg Russia
 * 16) Flag_of_Austria.svg Austria
 * 17) Flag_of_Belarus.svg Belarus
 * 18) Flag_of_Czechia.svg Czech Republic
 * 19) Flag_of_Malta.svg Malta
 * 20) Flag_of_Portugal.svg Portugal