Own Americavision Song Contest 15

Own Americavision Song Contest 15, often referred to as OAmSC #15, is the 15th edition of Own Americavision Song Contest. The contest took place in Montego Bay, Jamaica, following the country's victory in the 14th edition with the song "Heal Me" by Grace Carter. This was the second time that Jamaica had hosted the contest, having previously done so in the twelfth edition. Organized by the Own American Broadcasting Association and host broadcaster Public Broadcasting Corporation of Jamaica, the contest was held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre & Harmony Beach Park, and consisted of two semi-finals, and the final. The three live shows were hosted by Reece Lemonius, Naomi Campbell and Grace Carter.

Forty-seven countries took part in the contest. Anguilla, Costa Rica, Northern Mariana Islands and Saint Lucia returned to the competition, while American Samoa, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Cayman Islands, El Salvador, Guatemala, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin and Uruguay withdrew for various reasons.

Location
Further information on the host country: Jamaica

Host city
Montego Bay is the capital of the parish of St. James in Jamaica. The city is the fourth-largest urban area in the country by population, after Kingston, Spanish Town, and Portmore, all of which form the Greater Kingston Metropolitan Area, home to over half a million people. As a result, Montego Bay is the second-largest anglophone city in the Caribbean, after Kingston.

Montego Bay is a popular tourist destination featuring duty-free shopping, a cruise line terminal and several beaches and resorts. The city is served by the Donald Sangster International Airport, the busiest airport in the Anglophone Caribbean, which is located within the official city limits. The city is enclosed in a watershed, drained by several rivers such as the Montego River.[2] Montego Bay is referred to as "The Second City", "MoBay" or "Bay".

Venue
The Montego Bay Convention Centre is the Caribbean’s newest and finest offering to the convention industry. The Centre is conveniently located along the Elegant Corridor of Rose Hall, Montego Bay. It is close to over 4,000 luxury hotel rooms, a full service medical facility, local activities, 5 major shopping centres, 3 world-championship golf courses, restaurants, attractions and only 15 minutes drive from the Sangster International Airport. Opened in 2011 Montego Bay Convention Centre serves as the perfect venue for conventions, trade shows, banquets and theatre-style conferences.

Soaring ceilings add volume to the 55,725 square feet of contiguous exhibit space, which accommodates general session setups and up to 260 exhibit booths. This space may be sectioned into two halls with separate loading entrances for simultaneous shows. Loading docks and direct drive-in access to each hall makes setup easy and efficient. Each section is equipped with its own concessionaire stand as well as floor bays for provision of power, data lines, water. Additionally, each section of the hall has attached office spaces for the meeting planners and internet kiosks for fast private browsing.

Harmony Beach Park is the Urban Development Corporation’s flagship project in Montego Bay. The Park is located along Howard Cooke Boulevard and approximately seven minutes from the Sangster International Airport. This free, public access Beach Park which spans 16 acres is the recreational focal point for the city of Montego Bay. As with all UDC development projects, careful consideration has been made to manage the environmental sustainability of the Park. Its design incorporates the use of sustainable technologies to provide resiliency. In fact, the jogging trail at the facility is of a rubberized surface made of recycled materials for construction. Further, solar panels have been installed to supply the power needed at the administrative building. The Park is also home to several species of plants that are endemic to Jamaica. These have been planted throughout the grounds, adding to the overall aesthetic of the facility.

Semi-final allocation draw
The draw to determine the allocation of the participating countries into their respective semi-finals took place on 12 August 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 and twenty-one countries respectively 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-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 countries participated in the first semi-final. Canada, Chile and Jamaica also voted in this semi-final.

Semi-final 2
Twenty-one countries participated in the first semi-final. Bolivia, Grenada and Venezuela 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 Americavision Song Contest requires a national broadcaster with active OABA 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.

Entry change
Despite Puerto Rico initially confirming with the song "Dying on the Inside" by Nessa Barrett, PRPBC decided to change it to "Barrunto" by Nena Catalina. This change was driven because of "a disappointing unoriginal route from some countries" (mainly allegations against the Cuban entry) and "rumours that an originality rule might finally be introduced in the contest"; despite this, PRPBC puts Nessa Barrett in the spotlight for the next edition, it is not known if it will be with the same song or with another one. After this change Chile also joined the initiative by replacing their initial song "Fuck You" by Flor de Rap with "Santería" by Lola Indigo, Danna Paola & Denise Rosenthal. Later to that Haiti decided to change the artist to Floridian born-Haitian singer Jason Derulo.

On the 31st of August 2022, the OAmSC Council published a statement: The changed entries of Puerto Rico, Chile and Haiti were not allowed, broadcasters had to find another entry, revert the change or withdraw.