Own Africavision Song Contest 3

Own Africavision Song Contest 3, often referred to as OAfSC #3, is the 3rd edition of Own Africavision Song Contest. The contest took place in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, following Ayarah & Monica Pereira's win in the 2nd edition with the song "Boom Boom". It was the first time Guinea-Bissau had hosted the contest. Organised by the Own African Union of Broadcasting and host broadcaster Televisão da Guiné-Bissau, the contest was held at the Estádio 24 de Setembro, and consisted of two semi-finals and the final. The three live shows were hosted by Fernando Cabral.

A record of forty-eight countries participated in the contest. Djibouti, Guinea and Western Sahara made their debut this edition. Angola, Burundi, Equatorial Guinea, Malawi and São Tomé and Príncipe returned to the competition, while Eswatini, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Republic of the Congo and South Sudan withdrew for various reasons.

Location
For more details on the host country, see Guinea-Bissau

Host City
Bissau is the capital city of Guinea-Bissau. In 2015, Bissau had a population of 492,004. Bissau is located on the Geba River estuary, off the Atlantic Ocean, and is Guinea-Bissau's largest city, major port, and its administrative and military centre.

The city was founded in 1687 by Portugal as a fortified port and trading center. In 1942 it became the capital of Portuguese Guinea. After the declaration of independence by the anti-colonial guerrillas of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde in 1973, the capital of the rebel territories was declared to be Madina do Boe, while Bissau remained the colonial capital. When Portugal granted independence, following the military coup of April 25 in Lisbon, Bissau became the capital of the new independent state.

Venue
Estádio Nacional 24 de Setembro is a multi-purpose stadium in Bissau, Guinea Bissau. The stadium opened its doors in 1989. It is currently used primarily for football matches, and the stadium holds 20,000 people. It is currently the home ground of the Guinea-Bissau national football team.

Semi-final Allocation Draw
The draw to determine the allocation of the participating countries into their respective semi-finals took place on 02 September 2020. 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-two countries participated in each semi-final. 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:

Semifinal 1
Twenty-one countries participated in the first semi-final. Egypt, Mauritania, and Senegal also voted in this semi-final.

Semifinal 2
Twenty-one countries participated in the first semi-final. Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau and Tunisia also voted in this semi-final.

Final
Twenty-six countries participated in the final, with all 48 participating countries eligable 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.
 * Benin had originally confirmed their participation in the contest. However, the OABU announced that the delegation had failed to submit a song before the deadline, thus being forced to withdraw.
 * Eswatini had originally confirmed their participation in the contest. However, the OABU announced that the delegation had failed to submit a song before the deadline, thus being forced to withdraw.
 * Liberia had originally confirmed their participation in the contest. However, the OABU announced that the delegation had failed to submit a song before the deadline, thus being forced to withdraw.
 * TVM announced that the country will be withdrawing from this edition and that a return next edition seems possible but not certain.
 * Mali had originally confirmed their participation in the contest. However, the OABU announced that the delegation had failed to submit a song before the deadline, thus being forced to withdraw.
 * The broadcaster failed to confirm or withdraw from the upcoming edition, despite placing 3rd in the previous edition and thus being automatically qualified for the final. The automatic qualification was awarded to Eritrea, who placed seventh last edition.
 * The broadcaster announced that the country will be withdrawing from this edition, no further information was given