| Universong 81 "Feel the Latin American energy" | |
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Date |
2 - 22 October 2015 |
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Host city |
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Participants |
46 |
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Debuting countries |
None |
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Returning countries |
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Withdrawing countries |
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Winner |
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Timeline |
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Universong 81 was the 81st edition of the Universong Contest, held in San Juan, Puerto Rico between October 2nd and October 22nd, 2015 after the winning of Christian Daniel the previous edition in Perth, Australia, with the song "Ahora que te vas". This was the first time Puerto Rico helds the USC, and the second time a Latin American country organized the event, after Colombia organized USC 17.
Remembered as one of the strongest USC editions ever, the absolut winner was, for the fourth time, Croatia, whose last winning was in USC 75 in Jerusalem, Israel. This time Croatia was represented by the winner of The Voice of Croatia Nina Kraljic with the song "Zaljuljali smo svijet", winning with a grand total of 200 points. In a point struggle involving all the top 5, it was configured by runner-up, Israel's Petite Meller (187 points for the song "Baby love", its best result since winning USC 74 in St. Petersburg, Russia), Australia's Delta Goodrem representing Tuvalu in third place (a total of 171 points for her song "Wings"), Poland's Ania Iwanek & Pati Sokół in fourth place (their song "Warsaw 44" got 157 points) and Australia's Reece Mastin in his second USC attempt since USC 53 (156 points for his song "Rebel and the reason").
Contents
Semifinal 1
Semifinal 2
Grand Final
Returning artists
| Artist | Country | Previous participation |
|---|---|---|
| Reece Mastin |  Australia
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USC 53 |
| Maître Gims |  DR Congo
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USC 80 |
| Emmelie de Forest |  Faroe Islands
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USC 58 (for  Denmark)
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| Black M |  France
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USC 73 |
| Fedez |  Italy
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USC 53 (with Francesca Michielin) |
| Francesca Michielin | Italy
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USC 46, USC 53 (with Fedez), USC 65 |
| Bermuda Divstūris |  Latvia
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USC 66, USC 70 |
| Andrew Rayel |  Moldova
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USC 72 (with Jonathan Mendelsohn) |
| Sandra van Nieuwland |  Netherlands
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USC 56 |
| Marc Anthony |  Puerto Rico
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USC 47 (for  Spain, with Natalia Jiménez)
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| Milan Stankovic |  Serbia
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USC 11 |
| Troye Sivan |  South Africa
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USC 71 (for  Lesotho)
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| Delta Goodrem |  Tuvalu
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USC 55 (for Australia)
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Special Awards
Bartek Award
| Country | Artist | Song | Place | Situation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Latvia
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Bermuda Divstūris | "1002 arābu naktis" | 20th (SF1) | Co-Winner |
 United States
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Miss Fame | "Rubber doll" | 17th (SF1) | Co-Winner |
Best Non-English Award
| Country | Artist | Song | Place | Situation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Bulgaria
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Mihaela Marinova | "Stupka napred" | 7th | Winner |
| Puerto Rico
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Gente de Zona ft. Marc Anthony | "La gozadera" | 26th | Nominée (2nd) |
 Andorra
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Amelie | "Deixa'm volar" | 21st (SF2) | Nominée (3rd) |
hph01 Award
| Country | Artist | Song | Place | Situation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 South Korea
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TVQX | "Catch me" | 16th (SF1) | Winner |
| Italy
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Fedez ft. Francesca Michielin | "Magnifico" | 15th (SF2) | Nominée (2nd) |
 Norway
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Jesper Jenset | "Superhero" | 13th (SF1) | Nominée (3rd) |
