| Universong 91 "You are stronger than you think!" | |
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Date |
2 - 22 September 2016 |
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Host city |
Gothenburg, |
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Participants |
51 |
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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 91 was the 91st edition of the Universong Contest, held in Sweden between 2nd and 22nd September, 2016, in Gothenburg, the second most important city of this country. The sixth Swedish production of Universong Contest was possible thanks to the winning of the duet First Aid Kit with the song "My silver lining" on the previous edition held in Madrid, Spain.
51 countries took part in this edition (incidentally, the same quantity than in USC 90 in Madrid), without a debuting country for the third time in a row, but counting on the returns of Uzbekistan (first participation since USC 78), South Africa (whose last entry was sent in USC 81), Chile (its last showing-up was in USC 82), South Korea (first participation since USC 88), England and Switzerland (both having last competed in USC 89). Even though, Iceland was withdrawn from the competition during the semifinal stage, while competing with the song "No lie" of Glowie. This song can compete in future editions of Universong.
As a curiosity there were four songs, two each sharing the same title: "Adieu", which are the songs of Austria (represented by Zoë) and Luxembourg (sang by Slimane); and "Fly", both presented by South Korea (with the band Got7) and Lithuania (represented by Donny Montell). Incidentally, the only one of them who advanced to the Grand Final was the Austrian "Adieu", that eventually got 15th place with 88 points.
For the second consecutive edition, the split-up between finalists and non-finalists - format that debuted on the previous edition in Madrid - were shown into two separate tallies. After both series were revealed, Chile, a returning country to this competition, emerged as the winner of this edition of the Universong Contest. Camila Gallardo, runner-up of the first series of The Voice Chile, was the first Chilean entry ever to win the USC title, with her song "Más de la mitad", winning the finalists vote with 111 points, while only tenth in the non-finalists vote with 45 points, making a grand total of 156 points. This winning for Chile is only the second winning for a South American country (the first after Colombia winning USC 16 in Paris, France) and the third for a Latin American country (the first after Puerto Rico's winning in USC 80 in Perth, Australia), as well as being the fifth time that both a Spanish-speaking country and a song in Spanish wins Universong. Additionally, "Más de la mitad" also won the Special award for Best Non-English song, being the third USC winner to do so. The others were Cassandre, who won USC 76 for Monaco, and Mahan Moin, who won USC 77 for Iran.
In the other hand, the runners-up were quite controversial. The songs of Denmark, MØ's "Final song"; and of Canada, Shawn Mendes' "Treat you better", were rumoured to be disqualified, since some contestants considered both as worldwide hit, a clear violation to the Universong rules that forbid world hits to compete in order to avoid unfair advantages. However, the USC staff left both songs in competition, in consideration of their overall commercial performance and popularity. Incidentally, both entries were the runners-up to Camila Gallardo from Chile. While Denmark got the runner-up position for the third time in its history with 149 points (being the second favourite of the finalists, and the fourth option of the non-finalists, and having a 7-point margin with Chile), Canada got third place for the second time in its history with 136 points (the first after USC 80, being the third favourite of the finalists and the seventh choice of the non-finalists).
The top 5 was completed by the songs of Uzbekistan (country who gained its best historical position in USC since USC 74, being also the winner of the second semifinal and the winner of the non-finalists vote) and Australia (represented by the song "In my blood" of The Veronicas, who were fourth with the finalists vote), with 134 and 126 points, respectively.
Contents
About the city
Gothia river
Aspect of the city
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, the city has a population of 549,789, with 549,839 in the urban area and 982,360 inhabitants in the metropolitan area.
Gothenburg was founded by royal charter in 1621 by King Gustavus Adolphus. At the mouth of the Göta älv, the Port of Gothenburg is the largest port in the Nordic countries.
Gothenburg is home to many students, as the city includes the University of Gothenburg and Chalmers University of Technology. Volvo was founded in Gothenburg in 1927.
Gothenburg is served by Göteborg Landvetter Airport 30 km (18.64 mi) southeast of the city center. The smaller Göteborg City Airport, 15 km (9.32 mi) from the city center, was closed to regular airline traffic in 2015.
The city hosts some of the largest annual events in Scandinavia. The Gothenburg Film Festival, held in January since 1979, is the leading Scandinavian film festival with over 155,000 visitors each year. In summer, a wide variety of music festivals are held in the city, such as Way Out West and Metaltown.
Semifinal 1
In this semifinal, the 24 semifinalists plus 
Italy shall vote in this semifinal. 
Sweden will decide in which semifinal it'll vote. The rest of the countries can vote too, but their votes will be counted as Rest of the World.
Semifinal 2
In this semifinal, the 24 semifinalists plus 
Hungary shall vote in this semifinal. Sweden will decide in which semifinal it'll vote. The rest of the countries can vote too, but their votes will be counted as Rest of the World.
Grand Final
Split Results Finalists/Non-Finalists Votes
| Place | Finalists Votes | Points | Non-Finalists | Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Chile
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111 |  Uzbekistan
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76 |
| 2 |  Denmark
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97 |  Netherlands
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65 |
| 3 |  Canada
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88 |  Cyprus
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64 |
| 4 |  Australia
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81 | Denmark
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52 |
| 5 | Italy
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73 | Italy
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52 |
| 6 |  Poland
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73 |  Norway
|
48 |
| 7 |  South Africa
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71 | Canada
|
48 |
| 8 | Sweden
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71 | Sweden
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46 |
| 9 |  Germany
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65 | South Africa
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46 |
| 10 |  Russia
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59 | Chile
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45 |
| 11 | Uzbekistan
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58 | Australia
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45 |
| 12 |  Portugal
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57 |  Austria
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44 |
| 13 | Netherlands
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54 |  Mexico
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43 |
| 14 |  Bulgaria
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53 |  Scotland
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39 |
| 15 |  Latvia
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52 |  England
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33 |
| 16 | Cyprus
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49 | Latvia
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32 |
| 17 |  Belgium
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49 | Germany
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32 |
| 18 |  North Macedonia
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48 | Bulgaria
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32 |
| 19 | Mexico
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48 | Poland
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31 |
| 20 | Austria
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44 | Belgium
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31 |
| 21 | Norway
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44 | Portugal
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28 |
| 22 |  France
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43 |  Finland
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28 |
| 23 | Finland
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38 | Russia
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23 |
| 24 | Scotland
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36 | France
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22 |
| 25 | England
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36 | North Macedonia
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21 |
| 26 | Hungary
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12 | Hungary
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18 |
Returning artists
Special Awards
Bartek Award
| Country | Artist | Song | Place | Situation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Serbia
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Saša Kovačević | "Temperatura" | 17th (SF2) | Winner |
| Poland
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Mary Komasa | "Lost me" | 11th | Nominée (2nd) |
 Romania
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Taxi | "Cele doua cuvinte" | 21st (SF1) | Nominée (3rd) |
Best Non-English Award
| Country | Artist | Song | Place | Situation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chile
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Camila Gallardo | "Más de la mitad" | Winner | Winner |
| Bulgaria
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Elica Naumova ft. Siso | "Na ruba" | 17th | Nominée (2nd) |
| Russia
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Polina Gagarina | "Ja ne budu" | 19th | Nominée (3rd) |
hph01 Award
| Country | Artist | Song | Place | Situation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 United States
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Skillet | "Rebirthing" | 13th (SF1) | Winner |
 Greece
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Helena Paparizou | "Fiesta" | 13th (SF2) | Nominée (2nd) |
 Ireland
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Time Is A Thief | "Our game" | 15th (SF2) | Nominée (3rd) |
