Own Eurovision Song Contest 58

Own Eurovision Song Contest 58, often referred to as OESC #58, is the 58th edition of Own Eurovision Song Contest. The contest took place in Vitebsk, Belarus, following the country's victory in the 57th edition with the song "Kupala na Ivana" by Harmonic Style Project. It was the first time Belarus had hosted the contest. Organised by the Own European Broadcasting Union and host broadcaster Belteleradio, the contest was held at the Vitebsk Summer Amphitheater, and consisted of two semi-finals and the final. The three live shows were hosted by Naviband.

Forty-eight countries took part in the contest. Isle of Man and Jersey made their debut as a guest nation. Austria, Czech Republic, Iceland, Israel, Serbia, and Slovakia returned to the competition, while Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Ireland, Luxembourg, Monaco, Montenegro and San Marino withdrew for various reasons.

Location
Further information on the host country: Belarus

Host City
Vitebsk is a city in Belarus. The capital of the Vitebsk Region, it has 366,299 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth-largest city. It is served by Vitebsk Vostochny Airport and Vitebsk Air Base.

The city has one of the oldest buildings in the country: the Annunciation Church. This magnificent six-pillared building dates back to the period of Kievan Rus since the city at the time was pagan and didn't belong to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church or the Russian Orthodox Church or the Kievan Rus state. It was constructed in the 1140s as a pagan church, rebuilt in the 14th and 17th centuries as Roman Catholic Church, repaired in 1883 and destroyed by the Communist administration in 1961. The church was in ruins until 1992, when it was restored to its presumed original appearance.

Churches from the Polish-Lithuanian period were likewise destroyed, although the Resurrection Church (1772–77) has been rebuilt. The Orthodox cathedral, dedicated to the Intercession of the Theotokos, was erected in 1760. There are also the town hall (1775); the Russian governor's palace, where Napoleon celebrated his 43rd birthday in 1812; the Neo-Romanesque Roman Catholic cathedral (1884–85); and an obelisk commemorating the centenary of the Russian victory over Napoleon.

Vitebsk is also home to a lattice steel TV tower carrying a horizontal cross on which the antenna mast is guyed. This tower, which is nearly identical to that at Grodno, but a few metres shorter (245 metres in Vitebsk versus 254 metres at Grodno) was completed in 1983. The city is also home to the Marc Chagall Museum and the Vitebsk regional museum.

HK Vitebsk of the Belarusian Extraleague is the local pro hockey team.

Venue
The Vitebsk Summer Amphitheater is the main concert venue of the international festival of arts "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk". It is a branch of the State Institution "Vitebsk Cultural Center". The summer amphitheater was commissioned in 1988. Reconstructed in 2007. The roof has been erected and the adjacent territory is equipped. The chief architect of the reconstruction project is Alexander Zafataev. The stage area is 430 m2. The amphitheater has a capacity of 6247 seats. Almost 1,500 artists can be on stage at the same time. The seats are divided into 10 sectors.

At the beginning of the 20th century, on the site of the Summer Amphitheater, there was Larry's circus, depicted in many paintings by M. Chagall's teacher, Y. Pen. The summer amphitheater was built in 1988 by the architect V. Babashkin. The first concert took place in 1988 - on the eve of the 1st All-Union Polish Song Festival. The two-tiered stage of the concert hall occupied 430 square meters. The visor was equipped with 200 floodlights, not counting other lighting equipment. The capacity of the concert complex was 5 thousand spectators. In August 2006, a project for the modernization of the building was developed, providing for an increase in the number of spectator seats to 6,200 and the construction of a roof over the amphitheater. The chief architect of the reconstruction project is Alexander Zafataev. As a result of the reconstruction, new comfortable seats for spectators were installed, two large screens, comfortable dressing rooms for artists, offices for technical personnel, updated sound and lighting equipment from leading companies from Germany, France, Italy, and the USA, designed specifically for the Summer Amphitheater.

Semi-final Allocation Draw
The draw to determine the allocation of the participating countries into their respective semi-finals took place on 31 January 2022. 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. Twenty-one countries participated in each semi-final. From each semi-final, ten countries joined the "Big 6" in the final, where a total of twenty-six countries participated.

The forty-two 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. Guernsey, Poland and United Kingdom also voted in this semi-final.

Semi-final 2
Twenty-one countries participated in the second semi-final. Belarus, Moldova and Slovenia 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. The following list of countries declined to state their reasons as shown below.

Active members

 * RTVA didn't respond to the invitation that was sent by the OEBU, therefore the country would not be present this edition.
 * BHRT didn't respond to the invitation that was sent by the OEBU, therefore the country would not be present this edition.
 * BNT didn't respond to the invitation that was sent by the OEBU, therefore the country would not be present this edition.
 * ERR didn't respond to the invitation that was sent by the OEBU, therefore the country would not be present this edition.
 * RTÉ didn't respond to the invitation that was sent by the OEBU, therefore the country would not be present this edition.
 * The broadcaster announced that the country will be taking a one edition break.
 * TMC didn't respond to the invitation that was sent by the OEBU, therefore the country would not be present this edition.
 * Radio and Television of Montenegro (RTCG) announced internal changes within the broadcaster, therefore they were unable to participate this edition.
 * Having intended to compete in the contest, San Marino was initially confirmed for this edition when the list of participants was announced by the OEBU. However, the country was disqualified after their entry was rejected due to violating the rules, and not being able to submit an eligible replacement entry in due time.

Associate members

 * Television Åland is still hopeful to return to the contest when the right time will come. However the head of delegation announced that they are going to broadcaster the event.