Kross Song Festival of 1996

This was the 1st edition of the Kross Song Festival series. It is a direct continuation of the Kross European Song Contest (1920-1994) and would therefore be the 69th edition of that contest. Preparations began in October 1994 at a Kross Company executive finance meeting. Many agreed that the format of the contest had gotten stale, the European factor had somewhat limited the expansion of the contest, and that the contest needed slimming down in budget and participants. To help a reinvention of the contest, Katelyn Ratz agreed to step down after her fourth contract expired in 1996. Chloe Webber, the current assistant is set to take over as the executive producer starting in 1997, until a good replacement can be found.

In terms of participating nations, despite hosting in Russia, a very controversial nation, and having a large change in format, the edition experienced a large amount of participants at 43. Luxembourg withdrew due to financial issues, while Israel returned last having taken part in 1993, and Albania returned after last competing in 1990.

Hosting
Despite having many of the same production, the name was changed to the newly chosen name of the Kross Song Festival in 1996 to begin a transition period. To distinct itself from the previous contest, the winner of the 1995 Kross European Song Contest was not given the rights to host, but instead a new host would be chosen by a vote.

In the vote, eleven countries submitted a bid to host the contest. From there, an internal vote would decide the host city. The countries participating in the bid were: In the first round of voting, four initial countries would be eliminated; In the second round, a further three would be eliminated leaving four countries. They would do a poll, and the city with the lowest percentage would be eliminated, the round would restart with three countries, then again to two until the winner is found.

Russia won the poll, so they would host the 1996 contest. Through an internal poll, it was decided that St. Petersburg would host the contest due to it's proximity to Europe.

Song Information
Returning artists:



Other countries

 * Algeria.png Algeria had no comment on participation. They did not appear on the list of finalists.
 * Andorra.png Andorra had no comment on participation. They did not appear on the list of finalists.
 * Canada.png Canada stated they withdrew because of bad results. They stated they may return in 1994.
 * Egypt.png Egypt had no comment on participation. They did not appear on the list of finalists.
 * Lebanon.png Lebanon had no comment on participation. They did not appear on the list of finalists.
 * Libya.png Libya had no comment on participation. They did not appear on the list of finalists.
 * SanMarino.png San Marino's broadcaster had declared bankruptcy. They did not appear on the list of finalists.