Own Asiavision Song Contest 20

Own Asiavision Song Contest 20, often referred to as OASC #20, is the 20th edition of Own Asiavision Song Contest. The contest took place in Vientiane, Laos, following the country's victory in the 19th edition with the song "Higher", performed by The Naked and Famous. The contest was held at the Lao National Stadium, and consisted of two semi-finals and the final. This is the first time that the country hosted the contest.

Thirty-six countries participated in the twentieth edition. The contest saw the return of Bahrain, India, Jordan, Kuwait, Singapore and Vietnam. Unfortunately, Bangladesh, Macau, Sri Lanka and Tonga have withdrawn from the competition. Despite originally confirming their participation, Cambodia and Taiwan were forced to withdraw due to not submitting an entry before the deadline.

The winner was Yemen with the song "Mudbira" performed by A-WA, which received a record-breaking 236 points, at the time the highest total score in the history of the contest and with a margin of 61 points over the second place which went to Vietnam. The podium was completed by French Polynesia which, alongside with Samoa on tenth place, achieved their first top 10 and best result ever. Out of the "Big Six" countries, the host nation Laos managed to finish on the fifth place, while China, which also scored their worst result to date, finished in the last place, this being the fourth time in a row when a pre-qualified country is ranked last. For the first time since the introduction of the semi-finals, Hong Kong failed to qualify for the final.

Location
For more details on the host country, see Laos.

Host City
Vientiane, is the capital and largest city of Laos, on the banks of the Mekong River near the border with Thailand. Vientiane became the capital in 1563 due to fears of a Burmese invasion but was later looted then razed to the ground in 1827 by the Siamese (Thai). Vientiane was the administrative capital during French rule and, due to economic growth in recent times, is now the economic center of Laos. The city had a population of 820,000 as at the 2015 Census.

Vientiane is noted as the home of the most significant national monument in Laos: That Luang, which is a known symbol of Laos and an icon of Buddhism in Laos. Other significant Buddhist temples in Laos can be found there as well, such as Haw Phra Kaew, which formerly housed the Emerald Buddha.

The city hosted the 25th Southeast Asian Games in December 2009, celebrating 50 years of the Southeast Asian Games.

Venue
The Lao National Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Vientiane, Laos, that was built in 2009. It is used mostly for football matches as well as athletics events and hosted the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2009 Southeast Asian Games.

Upon completion, it replaced the previous Laos National Stadium. The Laos National Sports Complex is located about 16 km from the centre of Vientiane City and comprises a 25,000-seat main stadium, a 2,000 seating capacity indoor aquatics complex, with an outdoor warm-up pool, a tennis centre consisting of 2,000 seating capacity centre court plus six other tennis courts, two indoor stadiums each with a seating capacity of 3,000 and an indoor shooting range with 50 seats

Semi-final Allocation Draw
The draw to determine the allocation of the participating countries into their respective semi-finals took place on 1 May 2019. The first part of the draw determined in which semi-final the Big Six would have to vote. The second part of 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. Fifteen countries will participate in each semi-final. From each semi-final, ten countries will join the "Big 6" in the final, where a total of twenty-six countries will participate.

The thirty 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
Fifteen countries participated in the first semi-final. China, Laos and Nepal also voted in this semi-final.

Semi-final 2
Fifteen countries participated in the first semi-final. South Korea, Syria and Thailand also voted in this semi-final.

Final
Twenty-six countries participated in the final, with all 36 participating countries eligible to vote.

Other countries


Eligibility for potential participation in the Own Asiavision Song Contest requires a national broadcaster with active OABU membership that would be able to broadcast the contest. As in every edition, an invitation to all the members have been sent in order to confirm whether they will participate or not. The following list of countries declined stating their reasons as shown below.


 * The broadcaster missed the deadline for confirmations, thus being forced to withdraw.
 * It was confirmed that the country would not participate in the 19th edition.
 * Despite confirming at first, the broadcaster failed to submit and present their entry within the given deadline and therefore was forced to withdraw from the edition.
 * The broadcaster announced one more edition break due to the departure of the old delegation of the country.
 * Macau has decided to withdraw from the upcoming edition. A return in #21 is not ruled out.
 * It was confirmed that the country would not participate in the 19th edition.
 * The broadcaster missed the deadline for confirmations, thus will not be present.
 * It was confirmed that the country would not participate in the 19th edition.
 * The broadcaster will not participate until a new delegation is found.
 * Despite speculation surrounding their participation, it was later confirmed that the broadcaster had refused an invitation of participation.
 * The broadcaster missed the deadline for confirmations, thus being forced to withdraw.
 * The broadcaster failed to submit and present their entry within the given deadline and therefore was forced to withdraw from the edition.
 * The country will not return due to a restructuring of the broadcaster.
 * The nation will not take part due to internal changes within their broadcaster.
 * The country announced their withdrawal from the contest, citing internal issues as the reason.
 * On 9 April 2019, Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television Corporation (VBTC), the national broadcaster of Vanuatu, announced that the country were planning a debut in the 20th edition, and that they are currently still in talks with the OABU for a full membership.