Own Eurovision Song Contest 60

Own Eurovision Song Contest 60, often referred to as OESC #60, is the 60th edition of Own Eurovision Song Contest. The contest took place in Mitrovica, Kosovo, following the country's victory in the 59th edition with the song "Thirr policine" by Arilena Ara feat. Dafina Zeqiri. It was the second time Kosovo had hosted the contest, having previously done so in the thirty-third edition. Organized by the Own European Broadcasting Union and host broadcaster RTK, the contest was held at the Adem Jashari Olympic Stadium, and consisted of two semi-finals and the final. The three live shows were hosted by Besa Kokëdhima and Mimoza Shkodra.

Forty-eight countries took part in the contest. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Guernsey, Jersey, North Macedonia, Serbia and United Kingdom returned to the competition, while Belarus, Estonia, Hungary, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro and San Marino withdrew for various reasons.

Location
Further information on the host country: Kosovo

Host city
Mitrovica or Kosovska Mitrovica is a city and municipality located in Kosovo. Settled on the banks of Ibar and Sitnica rivers, the city is the administrative center of the District of Mitrovica.

In 2013, following the North Kosovo crisis, the Serb-majority municipality of North Mitrovica was created, dividing the city in two administrative units. According to the 2011 Census, in Mitrovica live 97,686 inhabitants, 85,360 of which in the southern municipality and 12,326 in North Mitrovica.

The name of Mitrovica derives from the name Demetrius. It was most probably named after the 8th century Byzantine church St. Demetrius which was built near Zvečan Fortress, just above the modern Mitrovica, in honor of Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki. The city was called D(i)mitrovica until it fell under the Ottoman rule. In 1660, the Ottoman explorer Evliya Çelebi mentions for the first time the city with the name Mitrovica. After President Tito's death, each of the constituent parts of Yugoslavia had to have one place named with the word "Tito" (or "Tito's") included, the city was then known as Titova Mitrovica in Serbian or Mitrovica e Titos in Albanian, until 1991.

Venue
The Adem Jashari Olympic Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Mitrovica, Kosovo, which is used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of KF Trepça. The stadium has a capacity of around 35,000 people or 16,300 seated. After the Kosovo War, the stadium was renamed in honour of Adem Jashari, one of the founders of the Kosovo Liberation Army.

Semi-final allocation draw
The draw to determine the allocation of the participating countries into their respective semi-finals took place on 24 December 2022. The first part of the draw determined in which semi-final the automatic qualifiers 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. Twenty-one countries participated in each semi-final. From each semi-final, ten countries joined the automatic qualifiers in the final, where a total of twenty-six countries participated.

The forty-eight 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 Austria, Liechtenstein and Türkiye voted in this semi-final.

Semi-final 2
Twenty-one countries participated in the first semi-final. Kosovo, Lebanon and Sweden also voted in this semi-final.

Final
Twenty-six countries participated in the final, with all 48 participating countries eligible to vote.

Other countries
Eligibility for potential participation in the Own Eurovision Song Contest requires a national broadcaster with active OEBU 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.

Active members

 * The head of delegation of Belarus announced their withdrawal to undergo delegation changes.
 * The broadcaster announced that the country would not return in the current edition.
 * The broadcaster failed to state their intentions regarding their participation despite a new head of delegation taking over the country in the previous edition.
 * The broadcaster failed to acknowledge the invitation for the edition, thus it was not present among the participants.
 * The broadcaster initially confirmed their participation, but failed to submit an entry in due time.
 * After being among the first countries to confirm their presence in this edition, the broadcaster failed to submit their entry.
 * Although initially confirming their return after two editions, the newly appointed head of delegation later announced that the country will not be returning due to "personal reasons".
 * The Montenegrin broadcaster failed to acknowledge the invitation for the edition after their head of delegation mysteriously disappeared. Having placed second last edition, their automatic qualification was passed onto the seventh placed nation from last edition, Sweden.
 * The broadcaster failed to give a statement regarding the Sammarinese entry after initially announcing country's presence in the competition.