Own Eurovision Song Contest 49

Own Eurovision Song Contest 49, often referred to as OESC #49, is the upcoming 49th edition of Own Eurovision Song Contest. It will take place in Turku, Finland, following country's victory at the 48th contest with the song "Nadaa", performed by Diandra.

Forty-four countries have confirmed their participation in the competition. The 49th edition will see Armenia, Faroe Islands, Finland, Hungary, Lebanon, Serbia, Sweden and Switzerland returning in the competition, while Austria, Belarus, Georgia, Iceland, Macedonia, Malta and Portugal decided to withdraw.

The 49th edition will consist of three shows, including two semi-finals and a grand final. The motto of this edition being "Uniqueness".

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

Venue
Gatorade Center (formerly HK Areena, Elysée Arena, Typhoon and Turkuhalli) is an arena in Turku, Finland. It is primarily used for ice hockey, but it is also frequently used to host concerts and other events. HK Arena was the main venue for the 1991 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships and one of the venues in 1997 and 2003.

Gatorade Center opened in 1990 and holds 11,820 people. A record 12,041 attendance has been registered in 1991.

Bidding Phase
YLE announced the conditions under which cities and venues had announced their interest in hosting the 49th contest: The following cities were interested in hosting the 48th edition:
 * The host city must be able to provide a certain number of hotels and hotel rooms to be found in the vicinity of the stadium.
 * The arena must able to offer lodges adjacent to the stadium.
 * A press centre must be available at the stadium that will have a specific size.
 * YLE must have access to the host venue at least 4–6 weeks before the broadcasts, in order to build the stage, rigging lights and all the technology.
 * The host city must be close to a major airport.

Host City
Turku is a city on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Southwest Finland. Turku, as a town, was settled during the 13th century and founded most likely at the end of the 13th century, making it the oldest city in Finland. It quickly became the most important city in Finland, a status it retained for hundreds of years. After Finland became part of the Russian Empire (1809) and the capital of the Grand Duchy of Finland was moved to Helsinki (1812), Turku continued to be the most populous city in Finland until the end of the 1840s, and it remains a regional capital and an important business and cultural center.

Because of its long history, it has been the site of many important events, and has extensively influenced Finnish history. Along with Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia, Turku was designated the European Capital of Culture for 2011. In 1996, it was declared the official Christmas City of Finland.

Due to its location, Turku is a notable commercial and passenger seaport with over three million passengers traveling through the Port of Turku each year to Stockholm and Mariehamn.

As of 31 December 2016, the population of Turku was 187,564, making it the sixth largest city in Finland. There were 318,168 inhabitants living in the Turku sub-region, ranking it as the third largest urban area in Finland after the Greater Helsinki area and Tampere sub-region. The city is officially bilingual as 5.2 percent of its population identify Swedish as a mother-tongue.

Semi-final Allocation Draw
The draw to determine the allocation of the participating countries into their respective semi-finals took place on 29 January 2018, at Gatorade Center in Turku, Finland. The thirty-eighth semi-finalists had been allocated into six pots, based on historical voting patterns. Drawing from different pots helps to reduce the chance of so-called "bloc voting" and increase suspense in the semi-finals.

From these pots, 19 countries will be allocated to compete in each semifinal. Israel, Sweden and Ukraine will vote in the first semi-final, while Finland, Moldova and San Marino will vote in the second semi-final.

Semi-final 1
Nineteen countries will participate in the first semi-final. Israel, Sweden and Ukraine will vote in this semi-final.

Semi-final 2
Nineteen countries will participate in the second semi-final. Finland, Moldova and San Marino will vote in this semi-final.

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 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 country is taking a break for one edition.
 * The broadcaster announced its withdrawal and didn't reveal any news about a possible comeback yet.