Own Africavision Song Contest 6

Own Africavision Song Contest 6, often referred to as OAfSC #6, is the 6th edition of Own Africavision Song Contest. The contest took place in Beau Bassin-Rose Hill, Mauritius, following DJ Assad & Laurell's win in the 5th edition with the song "Sweat". It was the second time Mauritius had hosted the contest, having previously done so in the fourth edition. Organised by the Own African Union of Broadcasting and host broadcaster Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation, the contest was held at the Sir Gaëtan Duval Stadium, and consisted of two semi-finals and the final. The three live shows were hosted by Laura Beg.

A total of forty-four countries participated in the contest. Gabon, Guinea, Malawi, Mauritania and Sudan returned to the competition, while Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Rwanda, South Sudan and Uganda withdrew for various reasons.

Location
Further information on the host country: Mauritius

Host City
Beau Bassin-Rose Hill is a town in Mauritius, located in the Plaines Wilhems District. It is administered by the Municipal Council of Beau Bassin-Rose Hill and has a population of 147,066 habitants, making it the third largest city on the island.

Beau Bassin-Rose Hill is the primary city which people come into for them to visit Jardin Balfour, a park where tortises run wild.

Venue
Sir Gaëtan Duval Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Beau Bassin-Rose Hill, Plaines Wilhems District, Mauritius. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of US Beau Bassin-Rose Hill. The stadium holds 6,500 people.

Semi-final Allocation Draw
The draw to determine the allocation of the participating countries into their respective semi-finals took place on 20 April 2021. 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. Nineteen participated in both semi-finals. From each semi-final, ten countries joined the host in the final, where a total of twenty-six countries participated.

The forty-four 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
Ninteen countries participated in the first semi-final. DR Congo, Ghana and Mauritius also voted in this semi-final.

Semi-final 2
Nineteen countries participated in the second semi-final. Cape Verde, Senegal and Tunisia also voted in this semi-final.

Final
Twenty-six countries participated in the final, with all 44 participating countries eligible to vote.

Other countries
Eligibility for potential participation in the Own Africavision Song Contest requires a national broadcaster with active OAUB 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 nation failed to respond to the invitation given by the OAUB.
 * The nation failed to respond to the invitation given by the OAUB.
 * The HoD announced the country would take a one-edition break due to the contest rapidly becoming unpopular among the Ethiopian public. A return next edition was not ruled out.
 * The country decided to take a break from this edition due to spending their budget on trying to convince the famous singer John Legend to represent them in the contest.
 * The nation failed to respond to the invitation given by the OAUB.
 * The HoD announced that the nation would be withdrawing temporarily. No additional information was given.
 * The nation failed to respond to the invitation given by the OAUB.
 * On 7th April 2021, the Rwandan broadcaster confirmed country's withdrawal from the contest due to lack of interested singers and weak results in the course of the last editions. The next day, an announcement appeared on broadcaster's official website which stated that they are not planning to withdraw and that Stromae would represent them with the song "Tous les mêmes". The song was rejected by OAUB due to being too popular, thus the nation submitted a new entry - "Snack" by Andy Bumuntu. The following day the article mysteriously disappeared from the website and a new one was posted which once again confirmed country's withdrawal. Finally on 10th April, a new head of the delegation officially confirmed country's participation again. However, the new head of delegation failed to send in an entry, resulting in the nation to not participate.
 * The broadcaster failed to respond to the invitation issued by the OAUB, and was forced to take a break as a result.
 * The broadcaster announced that they would be absent for one more edition due to being focused on other projects. A return in the next edition was not ruled out.
 * The broadcaster announced the withdrawal of the country, also stating that, under the current delegation, a return of the country next edition is uncertain.
 * The nation failed to respond to the invitation given by the OAUB.