CASC 08

CASC 08
The 8th Central-Asian Song Contest, often referred to as CASC 08, was the eighth edition of the Central-Asian Song Contest, a music competition based in and around Central Asia. Due to Luina and "Hey Yo!" winning the previous edition of the contest on home soil, the contest remains in Kazakhstan, this time taking place in Shymkent.

Shymkent is Kazakhstan's third-most populous city with a population of 1 million people. The city is located in Kazakhstan's South and offers lots of parks and landmarks to visit. Especially the old city, founded in the 16th century, is worth a visit.

Changed Concept
After a rise of participating countries, the possibility of a Grand-Final-only contest was ruled out. Therefore, the contest got revamped in a way to make the competition more exciting and enjoyable: Instead of just a Grand Final, the contest now includes a pre-stage consisting of two Semi Finals. While in each Semi Final the Top 10 would qualify directly, the 11th and 12th place of both semis would go into a Wildcard Round with another additional final qualifier for the Grand Final. The host country, Kazakhstan, was pre-qualified.

Participating Countries
A total of 41 countries took part in the edition.

Returning Countries
All 25 regular countries that had participated in the previous edition returned in CASC 12. The edition also featured 6 guest countres with 3 of them having participated in previous editions.

Debuting Countries
The edition featured 3 debuting countries. Those were the guest countries Bangladesh (which became a regular country during the competition), Myanmar and Yemen.

Withdrawing Countries
A total of 2 countries withdrew from the competition. Both countries were guest countries and did not appear on the published list due to not being invited. These 2 countries are Saudi Arabia and Ukraine.

First Semi Final
The First Semi Final of CASC 08 featured 15 countries, out of which a total of 10 countries qualified to the Grand Final. Two additional countries got a ticket for the Wildcard Round. The table below shows all countries in their official running order.

Second Semi Final
The Second Semi Final of CASC 08 featured 15 countries, out of which a total of 10 countries qualified to the Grand Final. Two additional countries got a ticket for the Wildcard Round. The table below shows all countries in their official running order.

Automatic Qualifier
CASC 08 featured one Automatic Qualifier, which was pre-qualified for the Grand Final and therefore skipped the Semi Final stage. That Automatic Qualifier was the host country, Kazakhstan. The table below shows the Kazakh song.

Wildcard Round
The Wildcard Round of CASC 08 featured 4 countries, out of which one additional country qualified to the Grand Final. The table below shows all countries in their official running order.

Grand Final
The Grand Final of the twelfth Central-Asian Song Contest featured 22 countries and was won by Turkmenistan. Abadan Halmedova got 165 Points for her song "Aldama". The table below shows all countries in their official running order.

First Semi Final
Fifteen Countries took part in the First Semi Final. The top ten of those fifteen countries qualified for the final while the eleventh and twelfth place went into the Wildcard Round. The bottom 3 did not qualify. Below, you can see all participating countries in their official Running Order. The qualifiers are colored in green. The Wildcard nominees are coloured in purple. Non-Qualifiers are shown in red.

Second Semi Final
As in the First Semi Final, a total of 15 Countries took part in the Second Semi Final. The top ten of those fifteen countries qualified for the final while the eleventh and twelfth place went into the Wildcard Round. The bottom 3 did not qualify. Below, you can see all participating countries in their official Running Order. The qualifiers are colored in green. The Wildcard nominees are coloured in purple. Non-Qualifiers are shown in red.

Wildcard Round
The 11th and 12th Place of each Semi Final went into the Wildcard Round. In total, there were 4 countries competing. The winner of the WIldcard Round moved on to the final. Below, you can see all participating countries in their official Running Order. The winner is colored in green. The other 3 countries who did not manage to go into the final are shown in red.

Grand Final
22 Countries took part in the Grand Final of the eighth Central-Asian Song Contest. This includes the each 10 Qualifiers from the First and Second Semi Final, the Wildcard Qualifier and the Host Country Kazakhstan, which was pre-qualified.