Own Eurovision Song Contest 40

Own Eurovision Song Contest 40, often referred to as OESC #40, is the 40th edition of the Own Eurovision Song Contest. It took place at the Nuremberg Arena, located in Nuremberg, Germany, following the country's victory at the Own Eurovision Song Contest 39 with Lena performing her single "Traffic Lights". This is the second time the country is hosting the event, after holding the Own Eurovision Song Contest 15 edition in Berlin. The contest was scheduled to consist of two semi-finals and a final.

Forty-six countries have confirmed their participation in the competition. Croatia, Cyprus, England, Georgia, Lebanon and Ukraine have all returned in the contest, with Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Egypt, Lithuania, Monaco, Montenegro and Portugal all announcing their withdrawal.

The Big six status countries and also the countries that will automatically qualified for the Grand Final in the 40th edition are Denmark, the host country Germany, Israel, Italy, Scotland and Wales. Although they are automatically in the final, they will be drawn to vote in one of the two scheduled semifinals.

The winner of the Own Eurovision Song Contest 40 was Poland, this marks the third time the country has won the contest, last time Poland won the Own Eurovision Song Contest 12 and the Own Eurovision Song Contest 26. "Naucz mnie" by Sarsa received a total amount of 208 points, winning by a margin of 11 points. The runner-up was England. Third place was occupied by Hungary, fourth place went to France, fifth to Switzerland and sixth to Sweden.

The host country didn't manage to end in the first part of the scoreboard, receiving a total amount of 92 points and ending on the 17th place. From the other countries that were directly qualified in the Grand Final only Denmark managed to place in the first part of the leader board, which received the 13th place, while the other countries didn't manage to place in the first part of the leader board, placing in the bottom four.

Venue
Nuremberg Arena is an arena in Nuremberg, Germany. Nuremberg Arena opened in 2001 and holds up to 6,500 people. It is used for ice hockey, basketball and concerts. Since 2005, it is also called Arena Nürnberger Versicherung.

Location
Nuremberg is a city on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia, about 170 kilometres (110 mi) north of Munich. It is the second-largest city in Bavaria (after Munich), and the largest in Franconia. The population as of February 2015, is 517,498, which makes it Germany's fourteenth-largest city. The "European Metropolitan Area Nuremberg" has 3.5 million inhabitants.

This is the first time the contest take place in Nuremberg, Germany and is the second time the contest takes place in Germany, last time the contest took place in Berlin in the Own Eurovision Song Contest 15.

Semi-final Allocation Draw
The draw that determined the semi-final allocation was held on July 24, 2015 at the Nuremberg Arena. The participating countries, excluding the Big 6 countries, were split into six pots, based on voting history and geographical location. From these pots, 20 countries each were allocated to compete in first semifinal and 20 in second semifinal. The pots are as follows:

The host country, Germany will vote in the first semi-final. The rest of the big six countries will vote as follow: Israel with Italy in first semifinal, while Denmark with Scotland and Wales in second semifinal.

Running Order
The running order of the semifinals was revealed on July 26, 2015, also the draw of the host country for the Grand Final was revealed and it will perform on number 14 out of 26 countries.

Participants
Forty-six countries have confirmed participation in the 40th edition, with six countries returning and seven countries withdrawing.

The 40th edition will see the return of Croatia, Cyprus, England, Georgia, Lebanon and Ukraine, while Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Egypt, Lithuania, Monaco, Montenegro and Portugal withdrew from this edition.


 * Georgia last participated in Tbilisi, Georgia at the Own Eurovision Song Contest 33.
 * Croatia, Cyprus, England, Lebanon and Ukraine last participated in Thessaloniki, Greece at the Own Eurovision Song Contest 38.

Semi Final 1

 * The ten countries in this semi-final with the highest scoring points, according to the votes from each voting country, qualifies for the Grand Final.
 * The host Germany, Israel and Italy will vote in this semi final.
 * The countries that are highlighted in orange qualified for the final.
 * The 10 qualifiers were announced on August 2, 2015.

Semi Final 2

 * The ten countries in this semi-final with the highest scoring points, according to the votes from each voting country, qualifies for the Grand Final.
 * Denmark, Scotland and Wales will vote in this semi final.
 * The countries that are highlighted in orange qualified for the final.
 * The 10 qualifiers were announced on August 8, 2015.

Grand Final
The twenty-six finalists are:
 * the Big 6 countries.
 * the top ten countries from the first semi-final.
 * the top ten countries from the second semi-final.

12 points awarded in the first semifinal
Below is a summary of the maximum 12 points each country awarded to another in the first semifinal.

12 points awarded in the second semifinal
Below is a summary of the maximum 12 points each country awarded to another in the second semifinal.

12 points awarded in the grand final
Below is a summary of the maximum 12 points each country awarded to another in the Grand Final.

Spokepersons

 * 1) Flag of Sweden.svg.png Måns Zelmerlöw
 * 2) Flag of Cyprus.svg.png Nearchos Evangelou & Charis Savva
 * 3) Flag of Spain.svg.png Eva Hache
 * 4) Flag of Italy.svg.png Giusy Ferreri
 * 5) Flag of Austria.svg.png Marla Blumenblatt
 * 6) Flag of Finland.svg.png Benjamin Peltonen
 * 7) Flag of Israel.svg.png The Young Professionals
 * 8) Flag of Croatia.svg.png Vlaho Arbulić
 * 9) Flag of Macedonia.svg.png Katarina Ivanovska
 * 10) Flag of Poland.svg.png Sylwia Grzeszczak (Previously participated at the 7th,9th, 10th, 21st and 30th editions)
 * 11) Flag of Estonia.svg.png Elina Born
 * 12) Flag of Greece.svg.png Helena Paparizou
 * 13) Flag of Faroe Islands.svg.png Greta Svabo Bech
 * 14) Flag of Georgia.svg.png Dato Kenchiashvili
 * 15) Flag of Belgium.svg.png Loïc Nottet
 * 16) Flag of Morocco.svg.png Samira Said
 * 17) Flag of Wales.svg.png Katherine Jenkins
 * 18) Flag of Slovakia.svg.png Dominika Mirgova
 * 19) Flag of Germany.svg.png Joy Denalane
 * 20) Flag of Algeria.svg.png Jean-Pierre Bacri
 * 21) Flag of Kazakhstan.svg.png Zhanar Dugalova
 * 22) Flag of Ukraine.svg.png Olena Kucher
 * 23) Flag of Turkey.svg.png Pınar Deniz
 * 24) Flag of Iceland.svg.png Of Monsters And Men
 * 25) Flag of Switzerland.svg.png Anna Murphy
 * 26) Flag of Russia.svg.png Sati Kazanova
 * 27) Flag of Hungary.svg.png Renáta Tolvai
 * 28) Flag of Bosnia_and_Herzegovina.svg.png Bonvivan
 * 29) Flag of Norway.svg.png Marit Bjoergen
 * 30) Flag of Belarus.svg.png Anastasia Malashkevich
 * 31) Flag of Serbia.svg.png Katarina Grujic
 * 32) Flag of Ireland.svg.png Nadine Coyle
 * 33) Flag of Kosovo.svg.png Dhurata Dora
 * 34) Flag of Uzbekistan.svg.png Rayhon
 * 35) Flag of Latvia.svg.png Aminata Savadogo
 * 36) Flag of Bulgaria.svg.png Dj Diass
 * 37) Flag of Romania.svg.png INNA (Previously participated at the 2nd, 4th, 7th, 8th,14th,15th,21st,29th and 32nd editions)
 * 38) Flag of Lebanon.svg.png Rodolphe Bou Nader
 * 39) Flag of Moldova.svg.png Sasha Lopez
 * 40) Flag of Denmark.svg.png Medina
 * 41) Flag of Scotland.svg.png Amy McDonald
 * 42) Flag of Albania.svg.png Xhensila Myrtezaj
 * 43) Flag of the_Netherlands.svg.png Britt Dekker
 * 44) Flag of England.svg.png Mary Berry
 * 45) Flag of France.svg.png Tal
 * 46) Flag of Armenia.svg.png Sirusho
 * 47) Flag of Earth.svg.png Alexa Fesser

Other countries

 * : The country announced that they are not planning to return to the contest anytime soon.
 * : Financial difficulties ruled the country out of the 40th contest.
 * : The country withdrew from the contest because of the weak result from the previous edition.
 * : The country withdrew due to some budged cuts and it's more likely to return in the next edition.
 * : The country announced that they are not planning to return to the contest due to lack of money and interest.
 * : The country withdrew from the contest because of the weak result from the previous edition.
 * : The country announced that they don't want to return to the contest.
 * : The country announced at OEBU that they are not gonna return to the contest due to lack of interest.
 * : The HoD announced that the country would not be participating in the contest because of financial reasons.
 * : The country withdrew from the contest because of the weak result from the previous edition.
 * : The country announced at first that they will return, but withdrew in the last moment.
 * : The country withdrew from the contest because of the weak result from the previous edition.
 * : The country has not stated yet a decision if they are returning in the contest.
 * : The country at first submitted the song "You're A Tree And I'm Balloon" by Maja Keuc, but then they decided to withdraw.