Own Eurovision Song Contest 30

Own Eurovision Song Contest 30, often referred to as OESC #30, is the 30th edition of Own Eurovision Song Contest. The contest will take place in Northern Ireland, following Ella Henderson's victory in the Own Eurovision Song Contest 29 contest with the song "Ghost". During the winner's press conference, an ITV plc Television representative stated that the host city will be Belfast.

On July 13, 2014 it was announced that the venue of the 30th edition will be the Odyssey Arena. The slogan of the edition will be "Part of your dream.".

Fifty-seven countries have confirmed participation in the Own Eurovision Song Contest 30 with four countries returning and five countries withdrawing. This is the seond time in the history of the contest, when this amount of countries participate, last time being in the Own Eurovision Song Contest 17, contest held in Copenhagen, Denmark. Austria, Estonia, Germany and Switzerland will return and Belarus, Belgium, Czech Republic, Tunisia and Uzbekistan have decided to withdraw.

Cash Cash and Bebe Rexha from Macedonia won the Grand Final with the song "Take me home". Macedonia's win was their first. The song received a total amount of 180 points, winning by a margin of only 7 points. Second place went to England. Third place was won by Azerbaijan, fourth to Italy and Montenegro taking the 5th, being their best place ever in the contest. From the top ten countries, Austria reached the 9th place, which is their best place in the competition.

Northern Ireland, the host country, ended on the 23rd position, receiving a total of 86 points.

Venue
On July 13, 2014 it was announced that the Odyssey Arena will be the venue of the Own Eurovision Song Contest 30.

The Odyssey Arena is a large sports and entertainment centre situated in Titanic Quarter and the Waterfront, Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was jointly funded by the Millennium Commission, the Laganside Corporation, the DCAL, the Sheridan Group and the Sports Council for Northern Ireland. The Arena opened in 2000 with the Pavilion later opening in 2001. The Odyssey is quoted to have cost £120 million on completion. In 2011 The Odyssey Pavilion which was owned by The Sheridan Group went into administration, the building is now under control of KPMG until a new owner is found.

Since opening, the Odyssey Arena has hosted some of the world's best known bands and artists from around the world, such as Avril Lavigne, Christina Aguilera, Pink, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, One Direction, Alicia Keys, Bruno Mars, Jessie J, Little Mix, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry and many others.

It has also hosted a number of World Wrestling Entertainment live events including RAW and SmackDown!. WWE visits the Odyssey at least once a year. It hosted UFC 72: Victory on 16 June 2007. Since 2008, it has played host to the Premier League Darts. As well as these high-profile sporting events, the Odyssey Arena has also hosted concerts by some of the best-selling music artists in the world and it's also home of the Belfast Giants. Janet Jackson was scheduled to perform during her All for You Tour on 14 December 2001, but the show was cancelled, due to the 11 September 2001 attacks. Cher on 9 May 2004 during her Living Proof: The Farewell Tour.

On 2 October 2010, the Boston Bruins faced the Belfast Giants Selects in an NHL Challenge match. The Odyssey was short-listed for 'International Large Venue of the Year' (Outside of North America) in the 2005 Pollstar Concert Industry Awards, making it one of the top six major concert venues in the world.

On 29 November 2013, the owners of the Odyssey won planning permission for an extension to include hotels, shops and apartments creating around 1,000 new job's. Work is due to start immediately, with around 800 people set to work on construction of the scheme – described as the biggest redevelopment in Belfast in years. Odyssey Trust's plan is to build next to the existing Odyssey Arena and Pavilion as part of the restart of the Belfast masterplan.

Location
Belfast (from Irish: Béal Feirste, meaning "mouth of the sandbanks") is the administrative capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. Most of Belfast is in County Antrim, but parts of East and South Belfast are in County Down. It is on the flood plain of the River Lagan.

By population, Belfast is one of the largest cities in the United Kingdom and the second largest on the island of Ireland. It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly. At the time of the 2011 census, the city of Belfast had a population of 286,000 and lies at the heart of the Belfast Urban area, which has a population of 483,418  and the Belfast Metropolitan Area, which had a population of 579,276 at the 2001 census. The Larger Urban Zone, as defined by the European Union, has a total population 641,638. Belfast was granted city status in 1888.

Historically, Belfast has been a centre for the Irish linen industry, tobacco production, rope-making and shipbuilding: the city's main shipbuilders, Harland and Wolff, which built the well-known RMS Titanic, propelled Belfast on to the global stage in the early 20th century as the biggest and most productive shipyard in the world. Belfast played a key role in the Industrial Revolution, establishing its place as a global industrial centre until the latter half of the 20th century. Industrialisation and the inward migration it brought made Belfast, if briefly, the biggest city in Ireland at the beginning of the 20th century, and the city's industrial and economic success was cited by unionist opponents of Home Rule as a reason why Ireland should shun devolution and later why Ulster unionists in particular would fight to resist it.

This is the first time in the history of the contest, when the competition is held in Northern Ireland.

Semi-final Allocation Draw
The draw that determined the semi-final allocation was held on July 23, 2014 at the Odyssey Arena. The participating countries, excluding the Big 3, were split into eight pots, based on voting history and geographical location. From these pots, 18 countries each were allocated to compete in the three semifinals.

The pots are as follows:

The big 3 will vote as follow: Northern Ireland in the first semi-final, Greece in the second semi-final and Egypt in the third semi-final.

Running Order
The running order for the three semifinals was revealed on July 24, 2014.

The running order for the Grand Final was revealed on August 2, 2014.

Participants
Fifty-seven countries have confirmed participation in the Own Eurovision Song Contest 30 with four countries returning and five withdrawing.

The Own Eurovision Song Contest 30 will see the return of Austria, Estonia, Germany and Switzerland, while Belarus, Belgium,Czech Republic, Tunisia and Uzbekistan have decided to withdraw.

Previously, Austria was represented by James Cottraill in the Own Eurovision Song Contest 28 edition. Estonia last time participated in the Own Eurovision Song Contest 27, where was represented by Hanna Pruuli. Germany was represented by Lena Mayer-Landrut, last time in the Own Eurovision Song Contest 28 and Switzerland was represented back in the Own Eurovision Song Contest 28 by Stefanie Heinzmann.

Returning artists
Thirty-eight previous contestants returned in the competition. Former winners Madeline Juno, winner of the Own Eurovision Song Contest 25 edition, Aura Dione who won the Own Eurovision Song Contest 9 and Little Mix, winner of the Own Eurovision Song Contest 13 edition returned in the contest.

Below is the name of the artists that returned in the competition and for how many times they are returning.

First semifinal

 * The nine countries in this semi-final with the highest scoring points, according to the votes from each voting country, qualifies for the Grand Final.
 * (host country) will vote in this semi-final.
 * The nine qualifiers were announced on August 1, 2014.

Second semifinal

 * The nine countries in this semi-final with the highest scoring points, according to the votes from each voting country, qualifies for the Grand Final.
 * will vote in this semi-final.
 * The nine qualifiers were announced on August 2, 2014.

Third semifinal

 * The nine countries in this semi-final with the highest scoring points, according to the votes from each voting country, qualifies for the Grand Final.
 * will vote in this semi-final.
 * The nine qualifiers were announced on August 2, 2014.

Finalists
The thirty finalists are:
 * the Big 3 countries:, and the host country,.
 * the top nine countries from the first semi-final.
 * the top nine countries from the second semi-final.
 * the top nine countries from the third semi-final.

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

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

12 points
Below is a summary of the maximum 12 points each country awarded to another in the third semi-final.

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

Voting Ceremony
The order in which each country announced their votes was determined in a draw. Similar to the last editions an algorithm was used to generate as much suspense as possible. The spokespersons are shown alongside each country. A public voting was used.

57 sets of votes were used in the voting ceremony in order to determine the winner.

The votes were revealed in three parts:
 * first part was revealed on August 7, 2014.
 * second part was revealed on August 8, 2014.
 * third part was revealed on August 9, 2014.

Spokepersons

 * 1) [[File:Turkey.png]] Lucas Garcez
 * 2) [[File:Greece.png]] Kostantinos Argiros
 * 3) [[File:Switzerland.png]] Eliane Müller
 * 4) [[File:San Marino.png]]Senhit Zadik Zadik
 * 5) [[File:Lithuania.png]] Karina Krysko
 * 6) [[File:Northern Ireland.png]] Ryan Dolan
 * 7) [[File:Liechtenstein.png]] Aneta Sablik
 * 8) [[File:Morocco.png]] Younès Latifi
 * 9) [[File:Wales.png]] David Beckham
 * 10) [[File:Monaco.png]] Adila Sedraïa
 * 11) [[File:Estonia.png]] Sandra Nurmsalu,
 * 12) [[File:France.png]]
 * 13) [[File:Ireland.png]] Kasey Smith
 * 14) [[File:Cyprus.png]] Louis Georgiou
 * 15) [[File:Algeria.png]] Maude Harcheb
 * 16) [[File:Armenia.png]] Nazeni Hovhannisyan
 * 17) [[File:Latvia.png]] Niko
 * 18) [[File:Georgia.png]]
 * 19) [[File:Egypt.png]]
 * 20) [[File:Greenland.png]] Maria Louise Joensen
 * 21) [[File:Kosovo.png]] Bleona Qereti
 * 22) [[File:Italy.png]]
 * 23) [[File:Montenegro.png]] Momcilo Otasevic
 * 24) [[File:Spain.png]] Pastora Soler
 * 25) [[File:Macedonia.png]] Daniel Kajmakoski
 * 26) [[File:Malta.png]]
 * 27) [[File:Romania.png]] Mihai Ristea
 * 28) [[File:Norway.png]]
 * 29) [[File:Israel.png]]
 * 30) [[File:Slovenia.png]]Omar Naber
 * 31) [[File:Iceland.png]]
 * 32) [[File:Albania.png]]
 * 33) [[File:Faroe Islands.png]] Stine Bramsen
 * 34) [[File:Luxembourg.png]] Natalie Horler
 * 35) [[File:Austria.png]] Elyas M’Barek
 * 36) [[File:England.png]] Molly Smitten-Downes
 * 37) [[File:Russia.png]] Sergey Lazarev
 * 38) [[File:Portugal.png]] Vânia Fernandes
 * 39) [[File:Bosnia and Herzegovina.png]]
 * 40) [[File:Andorra.png]] Joel Molina Alcaide
 * 41) [[File:Azerbaijan.png]] Erkin Osmanlı
 * 42) [[File:The Netherlands.png]]
 * 43) [[File:Ukraine.png]]Ani Lorak
 * 44) [[File:Lebanon.png]] Lama Badreddine Salam
 * 45) [[File:Slovakia.png]]
 * 46) [[File:Germany.png]]Lena Meyer-Landrut
 * 47) [[File:Kazakhstan.png]]
 * 48) [[File:Croatia.png]]
 * 49) [[File:Poland.png]]
 * 50) [[File:Sweden.png]] Eric Saade
 * 51) [[File:Scotland.png]] Charlotte Aitchison
 * 52) [[File:Finland.png]] Krista Siegfrids
 * 53) [[File:Denmark.png]]
 * 54) [[File:Bulgaria.png]]
 * 55) [[File:Moldova.png]]
 * 56) [[File:Serbia.png]] Jelena Tomašević
 * 57) [[File:Hungary.png]] Gigi Radics

Other countries

 * After one edition of non competing the Austrian delegation, changed and came back to the contest, after their non participating to the OESC 29.
 * The Belarusian broadcaster has confirmed that Belarus will not participate in the 30th edition.
 * A representative of the belgium broadcaster channel has stated that Belgium will not participate in the 30th contest due to a lack of sponsorship.
 * Due to poor results from previous editions, the Czech delegation has decided to take a break from contest until they will find the right time to come back;
 * Although it was rumored that Estonia would make it comeback only in 31st edition, they have decided to return faster than planned;
 * After the rumours of withdrawing from the contest,Faroish delegation changed and confirmed participation.
 * After that the country has withdrawn in the last moment due to personal issues from OESC 29, it was confirmed that they will come back this edition;
 * After poor results,to the previous edition, Malta was too disapointed and they were thinking of withdrawing.Although,Malta will be to the upcoming event,with a big known star to whole Europe.
 * Rumours say that Iceland won't be in Belfast,although Iceland confirmed their participation.
 * After missing one edition, Swiss delegation has changed and decided to make it comeback in current edition;
 * The head of Tunisian delegation has announced it withdrawal from current edition. The reason is lack of money. A future comeback is most likely possible next edition;
 * After the unsuccessful attempt to be in final last edition, the Uzbek head of delegation announced their withdrawal from current edition. A confirmation about future come back is not sure yet;

Critical reception
Macedonia's song, which won the contest received mixed reviews from the OESC players. Some of them noted that England's song which got the second place was more deserved to win. Actually the difference between first and second place was only 7 points. Days before the contest start when Macedonian entry was published on the group it got more than 17 likes by the players and some of them already announced their 12 points for Macedonia, writing; "*reserve 12 points*". In the same post some of the players were complaining that the song is for Albania.