Own Eurovision Song Contest 11

Own Eurovision Song Contest 11, often referred to as OESC #11, is the 11th edition of Own Eurovision Song Contest. The contest is host in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, after Armin van Buuren and Sharon den Adel won the special edition, OESC #10, that took place in Copenhagen, Denmark with their song "In and out of love". Libya will make its debut in the contest.

A record of fifty-two countries wishes to participate in this edition. To accommodate the increasing number of countries, a new rule will be introduced: the countries will battle in three semi-finals to reach the grand final. That means, only seven countries, from each semi-final, will qualify for the Grand Final.

The Netherlands, host country, Malta, Denmark, Belgium and Moldova, being Top 5 from last edition, also known as the Big 5, will automatically qualify for the final.

The contest was won by Andorra's Pastora Soler and David Bustamante and their song "Bandera blanca", which received 183 points, winning with a margin of only one point. Andorra's win was their first. The runner-up was Libya, scoring second on their debut. Third place went to Greenland, fourth to Malta and Wales taking the 5th place. The host country, The Netherlands manage to make it in the first part of the leaderboard, finishing on 7th place receiving 146 points.

Venue
Amsterdam Arena is a stadium in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is the largest stadium in the country and it was built from 1993 to 1996 at a cost of €140 million, and was officially opened on 14 August 1996. It has been used for association football, American football, concerts, and other events. The stadium has a retractable roof combined with a grass surface. It has a capacity of 53,052 seats during football matches and 68,000 places during concerts if a centre-stage setup is used (the stage in the middle of the pitch); for end-stage concerts, the capacity is 50,000, and for concerts where the stage is located in the east side of the stadium, the capacity is 35,000. It held UEFA five-star stadium status which was superseded by a new system of classification. On 15 May 2013, the Amsterdam Arena hosted the 2013 UEFA Europa League Final between S.L. Benfica and Chelsea F.C. which Chelsea won 2-1.

The stadium is the home of the association football club AFC Ajax (1996–present) and was the home of the now-defunct American football club Amsterdam Admirals (1996–2007). It was one of the stadiums used during Euro 2000. Both international and Dutch artists gave concerts in the ArenA, including Celine Dion, Madonna, Michael Jackson, André Hazes and The Rolling Stones. Dance event Sensation is held in the stadium every year.

Allocations semifinals and final
The draw to determine in which semi-finals are going to participate the semifinalist was held on Wensday 26 September 2012. Forty-seven countries have been distributed in one of three semifinals, respectively sixteen countries were drawn in the first semi-final, fifteen in the second semi-final and sixteen in the third semifinal. The countries were revealed on the 27th of September 2012. Also, was discovered how the Big Five will vote in the semi-finals.

Semi-Final Running Order
On 28 September 2012, the allocation draw to determine the semi-final running order was held.

Grand Final Running Order
On 5 October 2012, the allocation draw to determine the final running order was held.

Participants
Fifty-two countries have confirmed participation in the 11th competition, with Libya debuting, Austria, Montenegro, Norway and Ukraine withdrawing. Åland Islands, Belarus, FYR Macedonia, Germany, Italy,Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Portugal, Slovakia and Vatican City returns in the contest.

Location
Amsterdam  is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands. Its status as the Dutch capital is mandated by the Constitution of the Netherlands, although Amsterdam is not the seat of the Dutch government which is The Hague. Amsterdam has a population of 801,200 within city limits, 1,557,905 in the urban region and 2,332,839 in the greater metropolitan area. The city is located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country. It comprises much of the northern part of the Randstad, one of the larger conurbations in Europe, with a population of approximately 7 million.

Amsterdam's name derives from Amstelredamme, indicative of the city's origin: a dam in the river Amstel. Originating as a small fishing village in the late 12th century, Amsterdam became one of the most important ports in the world during the Dutch Golden Age, a result of its innovative developments in trade. During that time, the city was the leading center for finance and diamonds. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the city expanded, and many new neighborhoods and suburbs were planned and built. The 17th-century canals of Amsterdam (in Dutch: 'grachtengordel'), located in the heart of Amsterdam, were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in July 2010.

As the commercial capital of the Netherlands and one of the top financial centres in Europe, Amsterdam is considered an alpha world city by the Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) study group. The city is also the cultural capital of the Netherlands. Many large Dutch institutions have their headquarters there, and 7 of the world's top 500 companies, including Philips and ING, are based in the city. In 2012, Amsterdam was ranked 2nd best city to live by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and 12th globally on quality of living by Mercer. The city was previously ranked 3rd in innovation by 2th in know in the Innovation Cities Index 2009.

This is the first time, so far, the contest is held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Semi-final 1
On the 3rd of October 2012, the seven countries that have qualified to the final were revealed.


 * and (host country) will vote in this semi-final.
 * The seven countries in this semi-final with the highest scoring points, according to the votes from each voting country, qualifies for the final.

Semi-final 2
On the 4th of October 2012 the qualified countries were revealed.


 * , and (host country) will vote in this semi-final.
 * The seven countries in this semi-final with the highest scoring points, according to the votes from each voting country, qualifies for the final.

Semi-final 3
On the 5th of October 2012, the seven qualified countries were revealed.
 * and (host country) will vote in this semi-final.
 * The seven countries in this semi-final with the highest scoring points, according to the votes from each voting country, qualifies for the final.

Grand Final
The twenty-six finalist are:
 * The Big 5:, , , and (host country).
 * The top seven countries from the 1st semi-final.
 * The top seven countries from the 2nd semi-final.
 * The top seven countries from the 3rd semi-final.

Grand Final
Three parts of the voting results will be shown:
 * on 13 October 2012, the first part of the voting results was revealed.
 * on 14 October 2012, the second part of the voting results was revealed.
 * on 15 October 2012, the third part of the voting results was revealed.

Voting and spokespersons
51 out of 52 countries have voted in the Grand Final. didn't vote in the Grand Final. The order was used to add as much excitement as possible. The spokespersons and the city from where they were calling, were shown alongside each country.

Cities

 * 1) Malta.png                   Valletta
 * 2) Sweden.png                  Stockholm
 * 3) The Netherlands.png         Amsterdam
 * 4) Åland Islands.png           Mariehamn
 * 5) Russia.png                  Saint Petersburg
 * 6) Andorra.png                 Ordino
 * 7) Belgium.png                 Brussels
 * 8) Romania.png                 Craiova
 * 9) Bosnia and Herzegovina.png  Mostar
 * 10) Northern Ireland.png        Belfast
 * 11) Wales.png                   Cardiff
 * 12) Cyprus.png                  Limassol
 * 13) Vatican City.png            Vatican City
 * 14) Slovakia.png                Bratislava
 * 15) Monaco.png                  Monte Carlo
 * 16) Azerbaijan.png              Baku
 * 17) Czech Republic.png          Prague
 * 18) Belarus.png                 Minsk
 * 19) Moldova.png                 Chișinău
 * 20) Luxembourg.png              Luxembourg
 * 21) Poland.png                  Lublin
 * 22) France.png                  Paris
 * 23) Lithuania.png               Vilnius
 * 24) Georgia.png                 Tbilisi
 * 25) Macedonia.png               Skopje
 * 26) Finland.png                 Helsinki
 * 27) Italy.png                   San Remo
 * 28) Iceland.png                 Reykjavik
 * 29) Liechtenstein.png           Vaduz
 * 30) Albania.png                 Tirana
 * 31) Croatia.png                 Zagreb
 * 32) Ireland.png                 Dublin
 * 33) Kazakhstan.png              Astana
 * 34) Faroe Islands.png           Torshavn
 * 35) Spain.png                   Barcelona
 * 36) Hungary.png                 Budapest
 * 37) Greenland.png               Sisimiut
 * 38) Lebanon.png                 Beirut
 * 39) England.png                 Brighton
 * 40) Israel.png                  Haifa
 * 41) Scotland.png                Glasgow
 * 42) Bulgaria.png                Sofia
 * 43) Libya.png                   Tripoli
 * 44) Denmark.png                 Copenhagen
 * 45) Kosovo.png                  Pristina
 * 46) Turkey.png                  Istanbul
 * 47) Greece.png                  Athens
 * 48) Serbia.png                  Belgrade
 * 49) Estonia.png                 Tallinn
 * 50) Armenia.png                 Yerevan
 * 51) Germany.png                 Berlin

Spokepersons

 * 1) Malta.png                  Kevin Borg
 * 2) Sweden.png                 Helena Paparizou
 * 3) The Netherlands.png        Marike Jager
 * 4) Åland Islands.png          Daniel Saucedo
 * 5) Russia.png                 Natalia Zemtsova
 * 6) Andorra.png                Gerard Piqué
 * 7) Belgium.png                Dennis De Neyer
 * 8) Romania.png                Alina Şleahtiţkaia
 * 9) Bosnia and Herzegovina.png Vesna Pisarović
 * 10) Northern Ireland.png       Nadine Coyle
 * 11) Wales.png                  Mariana Diamandis
 * 12) Cyprus.png                 George Michael
 * 13) Vatican City.png           Raphael Gualazzi
 * 14) Slovakia.png               Kristina Peláková
 * 15) Monaco.png                 Tal Benyerzi
 * 16) Azerbaijan.png             Sabina Babayeva
 * 17) Czech Republic.png         Markéta Jakšlová
 * 18) Belarus.png                Irina Dorofeyeva
 * 19) Moldova.png                Dan Bălan
 * 20) Luxembourg.png             Patricia Kaas
 * 21) Poland.png                 Edyta Gorniak
 * 22) France.png                 David Guetta
 * 23) Lithuania.png              Šarūnas Jasikevičius
 * 24) Georgia.png                Sofia Nizharadze
 * 25) Macedonia.png              Sara Markoska
 * 26) Finland.png                Jørgen Petersen
 * 27) Italy.png                  Emmanuela Marrone
 * 28) Iceland.png                Jóhanna Jónsdóttir
 * 29) Liechtenstein.png          Sarah Terenzi
 * 30) Albania.png                James Belushi
 * 31) Croatia.png                Doris Pinčić
 * 32) Ireland.png                Tula Contostavlos
 * 33) Kazakhstan.png             Ainura Toleuova
 * 34) Faroe Islands.png          Christina Chanée
 * 35) Spain.png                  Cristina Pedroche
 * 36) Hungary.png                Gabriella Tóth
 * 37) Greenland.png              Maria Joensen
 * 38) Lebanon.png                Dolly Shaheen
 * 39) England.png                Adele Adkins
 * 40) Israel.png                 Dana International
 * 41) Scotland.png               Alexander Claire
 * 42) Bulgaria.png               Teodora Andreeva
 * 43) Libya.png                  Ayman Alatar
 * 44) Denmark.png                Rasmus Seebach
 * 45) Kosovo.png                 Blerim Destani
 * 46) Turkey.png                 Atiye Deniz
 * 47) Greece.png                 Elena Papavasileiou
 * 48) Serbia.png                 Natasa Bekvalac
 * 49) Estonia.png                Ott Lepland
 * 50) Armenia.png                Eva Rivas
 * 51) Germany.png                Lena Meyer-Landrut