Own Africavision Song Contest 13

Own Africavision Song Contest 13, often referred to as OAfSC #13, is the 13th edition of Own Africavision Song Contest. The contest took place in Asmara, Eritrea, following the country's victory in the twelfth edition with the song "What I Want" by Kongsted & FVN. It was the first time Eritrea had hosted the contest. Organised by the Own African Union of Broadcasting and host broadcaster Eritrean Television, the contest was held at the Cicero Stadium, and consisted of a quarter-final, two semi-finals and the final. The three live shows were hosted by Azie Tesfai, Elham Mohammed and Ella Thomas.

Location
Further information on the host country: Eritrea

Host city
Asmara (ኣስመራ), or Asmera, is the capital and most populous city of Eritrea, in the country's Central Region. It sits at an elevation of 2,325 metres (7,628 ft), making it the sixth highest capital in the world by altitude and the second highest capital in Africa. The city is located at the tip of an escarpment that is both the northwestern edge of the Eritrean Highlands and the Great Rift Valley in neighbouring Ethiopia. In 2017, the city was declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its well-preserved modernist architecture. The site of Asmera was first settled in 800 BC with a population ranging from 100 to 1,000. The city was then founded in the 12th century AD after four separate villages unified to live together peacefully after long periods of conflict. Under Italian rule the city of Asmara was made capital of Eritrea in the last years of the 19th century.

The city lies at an elevation of 2,325 metres (7,628 feet) above sea level. It lies on north–south trending highlands known as the Eritrean Highlands, an extension of the Ethiopian Highlands. The temperate central portion, where Asmera lies, is situated on a rocky highland plateau, which separates the western lowlands from the eastern coastal plains. The lands that surround Asmara are very fertile, especially those to the south towards the Debub Region of Eritrea. The highlands that Asmera is located in fall away to reveal the eastern lowlands, characterized by the searing heat and humidity of the Eritrean salt pans, lapped by the Red Sea. To the west of the plateau stretches a vast semi-arid hilly terrain continuing all the way towards the border with Sudan through the Gash-Barka Region.

The city was selected as the first host city of Own Africavision Song Contest Winners Edition back then in April 2022. One of the two presenters, Elham Mohammed, is invited to present the show again.

Venue
Cicero Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Asmara, Eritrea. With a capacity of 6,000, it is currently used mostly for football matches. The stadium was built in 1938 during the Italian occupation by the Italian businessman Francesco Cicero. It was later used by the GS Asmara, the team winner of the first football championships in Eritrea with the Asmara-born Luciano Vassalo.

The stadium hosted several matches during the 1968 African Cup of Nations. Today, Cicero Stadium is used by the Eritrea national football team for its qualifying matches in the World Cup, CAN, CECAFA Cup and COMESA Cup. Red Sea FC, Adulis Club, Hintsa FC and Edaga Hamus also play their club-level matches in the facility. In 2005, the stadium received an artificial turf pitch, 3rd generation, One Star field test from FIFA's "Goal" development programme.

Key: Host venue Shortlisted Disqualified

Semi-final allocation draw
The draw to determine the allocation of the participating countries into their respective semi-finals took place on 11 November 2022. 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-one countries participated in the first semi-final, while twenty participated in the second semi-final. From each semi-final, ten countries joined the host and the automatic qualifiers 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-one countries participated in the first semi-final. Those countries plus Eritrea, Côte d'Ivoire and South Sudan voted in this semi-final.

Semi-final 2
Twenty countries participated in the second semi-final. DR Congo, Somalia and Tunisia 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 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 broadcaster failed to acknowledge the invitation for the edition. Having placed second last edition with the song "Yes Indeed", their automatic qualification was passed onto the seventh placed nation from last edition, South Sudan.
 * The broadcaster announced country's withdrawal after leaving their position.
 * The broadcaster announced that the country will sit out for one edition.
 * The broadcaster announced country's withdrawal as the head of delegation has stepped down from his position.
 * Due to time constraints, the country will be withdrawing from this edition. The head of delegation also stepped down from their position. Another head of delegation stepped up for the nation, but following the Mozambican scandal, they took over Mozambique's broadcaster.
 * The broadcaster announced that the country will sit out for one edition.
 * Despite initially confirming their participation, the broadcaster failed to submit an eligible entry by the deadline, forcing the country to withdraw.
 * The broadcaster failed to acknowledge the invitation for the edition. It is most likely because of some bad rum that the head of delegation had in Montego Bay, however their broadcaster didn't say anything in specific.
 * The broadcaster announced that the country will sit out for the edition.
 * The head of delegation left their position for the role of head of delegation of Zambia, leaving the nation without a head of delegation.

Mozambican/Turkmen Head of Delegation
Mozambique had submitted the song "Medo" by Brada. However, during the voting results in the Own Asiavision Song Contest 30 held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. the Mozambican head of delegation has made some disgusting remarks towards the Eritrean head of delegation's appearance. As a result, the OUAB announced that the delegation has been forced to step down. Following this, the former Mozambican head of delegation then sent threats to the Kinshasa-Congolese headquarters, who also happens to be the head of the OAUB. The Kinshasa-Congolese head of delegation sent the screenshots of the threats to the Own Universe overlords, who then responded by removing the former Mozambican head of delegation from the contests as a whole. The song submitted initially by the broadcaster was also removed from the list of competing songs from the OAfSC 13 website. The broadcaster then installed the former head of delegation of Angola (who left their post following the 7th edition), who took over the role of head of Djibouti after their previous head of delegation withdrew.