Own Eurovision Song Contest 54

Own Eurovision Song Contest 54, often referred to as OESC #54, is the 54th edition of Own Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Tampere, Finland, following Sini Yasemin's win in the 53rd edition with the song "Mayday". It was the third time Finland had hosted the contest, having previously done so in the thirty-fifth and forty-ninth editions. Organised by the Own European Broadcasting Union and host broadcaster Finnish Broadcasting Corporation, the contest was held at the Tampere Exhibition and Sports Centre, and consisted of two semi-finals and the final. The three live shows were hosted by Sanni Kurkisuo.

Forty-seven countries took part in the contest. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Israel, Moldova and North Macedonia returned to the competition, while Algeria, Hungary and Morocco withdrew for various reasons. Azerbaijan had originally planned to participate, but announced its withdrawal after the deadline.

Location
Further information on the host country: Finland

Host City
Tampere is a city in Pirkanmaa, western part of Finland. It is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has often been rated as the most popular city in Finland.

Tampere has a population of 238,140 with the urban area holding 334,112 people and the metropolitan area, also known as the Tampere sub-region, holding 385,301 inhabitants in an area of 4,970 km2. Tampere is the second-largest urban area and third most-populous individual municipality in Finland, after the cities of Helsinki and Espoo and the most populous Finnish city outside the Greater Helsinki area, within which both Helsinki and Espoo are located. Tampere is a major urban, economic, and cultural hub for central Finland. Tampere is surrounded by beautiful lakes and eskers, the centre of the city is dominated by industrial heritage; the national landscape of Tammerkoski rapids and historical red brick buildings. Tampere is a city of people, where it’s okay just to be you. According to Finns, it is the most loved residential city in Finland which has something wonderfully seductive, dynamic but relaxing.

Venue
Tampere Exhibition and Sports Centre is one of the largest exhibition and sports centres in Finland. The five exhibition halls offer an excellent environment for functions and events. When used for the contest, the facilities in the Hall A will accommodate approximately 11,000 spectators.

Semi-final Allocation Draw
The draw to determine the allocation of the participating countries into their respective semi-finals took place on 4 September 2020. The first part of the draw determined in which semi-final the Big Six would have to vote. The second part of the draw decided in which half of the respective semi-finals each country would perform, with the exact running order determined by the producers of the show at a later date. Twenty countries participated in the first semi-final and twenty-one in the second semi-final. From each semi-final, ten countries joined the "Big 6" in the final, where a total of twenty-six countries participated.

The forty-one semi-finalists were allocated into six pots, based on their geographical place and cultural similarities. Drawing from different pots helps in reducing the chance of so-called neighbour voting and increasing suspense in the semi-finals. Each time a country was drawn from the pot, its semi-final and half of the semi-final was determined.

The six pots were the following:

Semi-final 1
Twenty countries participated in the first semi-final. Finland, San Marino and Ukraine also voted in this semi-final.

Semi-final 2
Twenty-one countries participated in the first semi-final. Cyprus, Monaco and Switzerland also voted in this semi-final.

Final
Twenty-six countries participated in the final, with all 47 participating countries eligible to vote.

Other countries
Eligibility for potential participation in the Own Eurovision Song Contest requires a national broadcaster with active OEBU membership that would be able to broadcast the contest. As in every edition, an invitation to all the members has been sent in order to confirm whether they will participate or not. The following list of countries declined to state their reasons as shown below.
 * : The country's broadcaster, ENTV, had left the Own European Broadcasting Union due to the creation of the Own Africavision Song Contest and as such the nation was no longer eligible to participate.
 * : The country announced its withdrawal after the deadline due the lack of time.
 * : The broadcaster failed to confirm or withdraw from the edition on time, so were disqualified and fined by the council.
 * : The broadcaster expressed their interest to debut, stating that even though their participation is not possible due to the country not being a member of Own European Broadcasting Union, they will watch the contest in their mountain and wait for membership to finally compete and win.
 * : The broadcaster failed to confirm or withdraw from the edition on time, so were disqualified and fined by the council.
 * : The broadcaster failed to confirm or withdraw from the edition on time, so were disqualified and fined by the council.
 * : The broadcaster failed to confirm or withdraw from the edition on time, so were disqualified and fined by the council.
 * : The country's broadcaster, SNRT, had left the Own European Broadcasting Union due to the creation of the Own Africavision Song Contest and as such the nation was no longer eligible to participate.
 * : The broadcaster expressed their interest in joining the Own European Broadcasting Union and thus being able to debut and participate in the contest. However, the broadcaster, GENC Television, was not accepted into the OEBU as the country is not recognised by the vast majority of members. However, the country made it clear that if they had debuted, Ziynet Sali would have represented the country.
 * : The broadcaster failed to confirm or withdraw from the edition on time, so were disqualified and fined by the council. It is rumoured this may be to do with the rejection of Turkish Cypriot participation.