2025 Turanfest held; song by Empire of the Sun wins

Yesterday, the 2025 edition of the Turanfest music festival and contest was held. The event, organised by the Hasanistan Today and Tomorrow Network and hosted by the island territory of Sırıtjine, allowed the public to vote alongside the event's judge to decide a winning song that will represent Hasanistan in the upcoming IBU Microvision Song Contest.

Sixteen songs entered the competition, the same amount as the previous edition. These songs had been submitted by Hasanistani citizens who believed they would serve as a good cultural representative for the Hasanistani musical community (both fans and artists). The event uses a voting system similar to Eurovision, with 10 levels of points given out (1-8, as well as 10 and 12 points). The public vote component saw both Hasanistani and international viewers from IBU member states select six songs they liked, with the points being distributed to the top 10 songs based upon the amount of votes they received.

The winning song was "We are The People" by the Australian electronic rock band Empire of the Sun. The song was originally released in 2008 and was in the top 20 in many international charts, reaching the #1 position in Germany and Luxembourg and #2 position in Austria. The song reached a "perfect score" of 12 votes from both the event judge and the public vote, more than the previous edition's winner. A cover of the German language song "99 Luftballons" by the anime girl Asuka Langley came second with 20 points. DJ Chase, the previous winner of Turanfest, came in joint third with They Might be Giant's "Istanbul (not Constantinople" song.

The winning song will represent Hasanistan in the 2025 IBU Microvision Song Contest, hosted by Belcity. Microvision is planned to be held on 3 May. Other nations participating will include Brennonia, Slitronia, Todia, Pinang, Lekronia and New Anders.

A broadcast of the voting for the event has been uploaded here on the HBY's Youtube channel.

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Second Turanfest song contest to be held

The Turanfest song festival and competition, first held in September 2021, will be revived and held on 24 April. Sixteen songs will contest the event, with the winner planned to represent Hasanistan at the upcoming IBU Microsivion Song Contest in Belcity. Turanfest is similar to the Swedish Melodifestivalen, with both the public and a judge voting on which song is the best. The event will be organised by the "Hasanistan Today and Tomorrow Network" and the territory of Sridjina will serve as the ceremonial host of this year's edition (although the event is held online). The rapping mouse and murderous gangbanger "Biggie Cheese" will be the guest presenter for the 2025 Turanfest.

Logo of the 2025 Turanfest

The previous Turanfest in 2021 was won by DJ Chase's experimental song "Nonsense Screamed into A Microphone", although he failed to reach the final with the song in the 2022 TVB Microvision. DJ Chase is notably returning this year with the AI-generated sea shanty "Heave Ho Cecil", a 'ultra-woke' song about the struggles of an African called "Cecil", hoping to defend his Turanfest title.

The songs submitted to this year's Turanfest are as follows (in the order of their draw): "TRUMPWAVE" by "Hasanistani-Americans for Trump", "Heave Ho Cecil" by DJ Chase, "Tuttu Fırlattı" by Gökçe, "We Are The People" by Empire Of The Sun, "That's Nuts" by Squirreljak, "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" by They Might Be Giants, "İzmir Marşı (Nightcore version)" by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk-chan, "Zilvervloot" by Mymy Schoppenboer, "Let's Start WW3" by World Order, "Kalimba" by Mr. Scruff, "Long Way to Mukumbura" by the "Rhodies", "99 Luftballons (Asuka cover)" by Asuka Langley, "Ze New World Order" by Klaus Schwab, "Bomb Iran" by Vince Vance & the Valiants, "Freie Deutsche Jugend" by IFA Wartburg and "Proud to be an Albanian" by Etnon (ft. Lyrical Son & DJ Blunt).

The IBU Microvision Song Contest, for which Turanfest will serve as a national selection, will be held on 3 May. The event, formerly organised by Belcity's national broadcaster TVB, had been dormant since its Summer 2022 edition had been cancelled. However, the Hasanistani government helped support the national broadcasters of Belcity, Todia and Slitronia in reviving the event. Despite a relatively 'poor' performance last time, Hasanistan has high hopes of success in the event this year.

According to the main organiser for Turanfest Hasan Çakar, Hasanistan's national song festival will become an annual event regardless of the future of Microvision. There are additional future plans for another song contest organised with Brennonia, who is also participating in this year's Microvision with the song "Dance The Night Away" by cjb.

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Hasanistan becomes observer in the Organization of Islamic Micronations

Hasanistan's application to become an observer state within the Organization of Islamic Micronations has been approved. The application had been approved with the support of ten member states, with no opposition or abstentions. Prime Minister Hasan Çakar has promised proactive engagement with the organisation and hopes to build ties with member states, although has ruled out applying for full membership in the near future as Hasanistan is currently under a provisional government.

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