Own Eurovision Song Contest 25

Own Eurovision Song Contest 25, often referred to as OESC #25, is the up-coming 25th edition of Own Eurovision Song Contest. The contest will take place in the city of Mariehamn, Åland Islands, after Krista Siegfrids won the previous contest hosted in Cardiff, Wales with the song "Can you see me?". The venue for the contest was announced on December 20, 2013, as the Wiklöf Holding Arena from Mariehamn.

Fifty-nine countries have confirmed their participation in the contest. This is the first time when 59 countries competed in the contest, also the first time since the 19th edition when less than 60 countries have been in the competition. The 25th edition will see Syria making its debut. Austria, Ireland and Uzbekistan returned in the competition and Belarus, Egypt, Hungary, Jordan, Latvia, Lithuania and Switzerland decided to withdraw. Uzbekistan's last participation was in the Own Eurovision Song Contest 18.

Own Eurovision Song Contest 25 will see, again like previus editions, thirty countries in the Grand Final, this is for the seventh time in the history of the contest. For the fourth time in a row, the host country didn't vote in all semi-finals.

Location
Mariehamn (Finnish: Maarianhamina) is the capital of Åland Islands, an autonomous territory under Finnish sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of the Government and Parliament of Åland, and 40% of the population of Åland live in the city. Like all of Åland, Mariehamn is unilingually Swedish-speaking and around 88% of the inhabitants speak it as their native language.

The town was named after Maria Alexandrovna, the Empress consort of Alexander II of Russia. Mariehamn was founded in 1861, around the village of Övernäs, in what was at the time part of the municipality of Jomala. The city has since expanded and incorporated more of Jomala territory. The city is located on a peninsula, and has two important harbours, one located on the western shore and one on the eastern shore. The Western Harbour is an important international harbour with daily traffic to Sweden and mainland Finland. A powerful incentive for Baltic ferries to stop at Mariehamn is that, with respect to indirect taxation, Åland is not part of the EU customs zone and so duty-free goods can be sold aboard. Mariehamn Airport is located in the neighbouring municipality of Jomala, some 3 kilometres (2 mi) north-west of Mariehamn city centre.

Åland and Mariehamn have a reputable heritage in shipping. The Flying P-Liner Pommern museum ship is anchored in the Western Harbour. The Eastern Harbour features one of the largest marinas in Scandinavia. The famous Dutch steamer Jan Nieveen (now called F.P. von Knorring, after Åland teacher and vicar Frans Peter von Knorring) can also be found here.

The city is an important centre for Åland media; both of the local newspapers (Ålandstidningen and Nya Åland), several radio stations and the local TV channels (TV Åland and Åland24) operate out of the city.

Mariehamn features several buildings drawn by Finnish architect Lars Sonck, who moved to Åland as a child. Buildings drawn by him include the church of Mariehamn (1927), the main building of the Åland Maritime College (1927) and the town hall (1939). Hilda Hongell has also designed several buildings, although only a few are still standing.

This is the first edition the contest is held in Åland Islands.

Semi-final Allocation Draw
The draw that determined the semi-final allocation was held on December 22, 2013 at the Wiklöf Holding Arena. The participating countries, excluding the Big 3, were split into eight pots, based on voting history and geographical location. From these pots, 19 countries were allocated to compete in the first semi-final, 18 were allocated to compete in the second semi-final and 19 were allocated to compete in the third semi-final.

The pots are as follows:

The big 3 will vote as follow: Åland Islands in the first semi-final, Moldova in the second semi-final and Denmark in the third semi-final.

Semi-final Allocation Draw
The running order of the Semi-Finals was revealed on Dcember 22, 2013. Also, it was decided that the host country, Aland Islands will compete on spot number 15 in the Grand Final, Denmark on spot number 10 and Moldova will take the number 11.

Semi-Final 1

 * The nine countries in this semi-final with the highest scoring points, according to the votes from each voting country, qualifies for the Grand Final.
 * (host) will vote in this semi-final.
 * The first nine qualiefiers were announced on December 29, 2013.

Semi-Final 2

 * The nine countries in this semi-final with the highest scoring points, according to the votes from each voting country, qualifies for the Grand Final.
 * will vote in this semi-final.
 * The qualifiers were announced on December 29, 2013.

Semi-Final 3

 * The nine countries in this semi-final with the highest scoring points, according to the votes from each voting country, qualifies for the Grand Final.
 * will vote in this semi-final.
 * The qualifiers were announced on December 29, 2013.

Finalists
The thirty finalists are:
 * the Big 3 countries:, and the host country,.
 * the top nine countries from the first semi-final.
 * the top nine countries from the second semi-final.
 * the top nine countries from the third semi-final.