Mediterraneanvision Song Contest 2

The Mediterraneanvision Song Contest 2 was the second edition of the Mediterraneanvision Song Contest. It took place in Athens, Greece, following the country's victory at the first edition with the song "An Me Deis Na Klaío" by Helena Paparizou and Anastasios Rammos. This was the second consecutive edition held in Greece and this formed the convention that the winning country of the previous edition's event would host the following edition. Organised by the Mediterranean Broadcasting Union (MBU) and host broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT), the contest was held at the Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall and consisted of a final on 18 March 2018. The show was presented by Demy and Eleni Foureira.

Fifteen countries participated in the contest, with FYR Macedonia, Gibraltar and Turkey participating for the first time. Croatia, Lebanon, and Morocco withdrew without giving any reasons. This was the only edition to date where no African countries participated.

The winner was Spain with the song "Good Girls Don't Lie", performed by Ruth Lorenzo. Gibraltar, which was one of the debutants, achieved second place, Italy achieved its second consecutive top-three result placing third and San Marino achieved its second consecutive top-five result placing fourth. Albania and Romania rounded out the top six.

Location
The second edition was held in Athens, Greece, following the country's victory at the first edition with the song "An Me Deis Na Klaío", performed by Helena Paparizou and Anastasios Rammos. This was the second consecutive edition held in Greece and this formed the convention that the winning country of the previous edition's event would host the following edition. The selected venue was the 15,000-seat Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall. This arena was a massive change from the venue used for the first edition, a small theatre with a capacity of just 675. The contest took place in a large arena due to its popularity after the first edition.

Bidding phase
On 26 January 2018, a day after the first edition, Kalamata stated that they were ready to host the contest for a second time, however, due to the contest's popularity, the MBU decided that the second edition would take place in a larger venue, something that Kalamata lacked. On 27 January a bidding phase began. Interested cities included Athens and Thessaloniki, which put forward their bids the following day. Patra and Heraklion also showed interest in hosting the contest, however they never officially put forward a bid. On 31 January 2018, the MBU and ERT announced that Athens had been selected as the host city, overcoming the bid from Thessaloniki. Below are the 2 cities and their bids:

Key: Host venue

Visual design
The contest's slogan, "Bubbles of Life", as well as the official logo and branding were revealed on 3 February 2018.

Presenter(s)
On 16 February 2018, ERT announced that Demy and Eleni Foureira would host the contest.

Running order
Countries performed in a random order.

Participating countries
On 11 February 2018, the MBU announced that 15 countries would take part in the contest. FYR Macedonia, Gibraltar and Turkey would make their debut appearance, while Croatia, Lebanon and Morocco withdrew.

12 points
Below is a summary of all 12 points received from each country's professional juries.

Other countries
Eligibility for potential participation in the Mediterraneanvision Song Contest requires a national broadcaster with active MBU membership that would be able to broadcast the contest. The EBU issued an invitation to participate in the contest to all active members.


 * – After pulling out of the first edition, there were rumours that BNT would make their debut in the second edition. Bulgaria was not on the final list of participants released on 11 February 2018.

The following countries and broadcasters confirmed their non-participation without offering further explanation:


 * – HRT
 * – LBCI
 * – 2M TV

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


 * 1)  – Kaliopi (Runner-up in Pesna Na Mediteranot, the Macedonian national selection)
 * 2)  – Filomena Cautela
 * 3)  – Elvana Gjata (Kosovar representative in #1, #9 with Flori and #10; winner of the 5th edition; presenter of the 6th edition; Albanian representative in the Adriaticvision Song Contest 1)
 * 4)  – Élodie Gossuin
 * 5)  – Atiye
 * 6)  – Ira Losco (Winner of the 3rd edition)
 * 7)  – Valentina Monetta (Sammarinese representative in #3 with Joshua de Cadenex)
 * 8)  – Sakis Rouvas (Presenter of the 1st edition)
 * 9)  – Inna (Romanian representative in #3 with Dannic and #5)
 * 10)  – Lindita
 * 11)  – Adele
 * 12)  – John Karayiannis
 * 13)  – Mona Haydar (Syrian representative in #1, #3 with Jackie Cruz, #5 and #6 with Drea d'Nur; co-presenter of the 10th edition)
 * 14)  – Nina Zilli
 * 15)  – Edurne (Spanish representative in #3)

Official album
Mediterraneanvision Song Contest: Athens #2 is the official compilation album of the contest, put together by the Mediterranean Broadcasting Union and released on 1 November 2020. The album features all 15 entries.