Own Eurovision Song Contest 21

Own Eurovision Song Contest 21, often referred to as OESC #21, is the up-coming 21th edition of Own Eurovision Song Contest. The contest will take place in the city of San Marino, San Marino, after Valentina Monetta won the previous contest hosted in Timișoara, Romania with her song "Crisalide (Vola)". The venue for the contest was announced on 8 July 2013, as the Stadio Olimpico Stadium. This will be the first time the contest will take place in San Marino.

Sixty-four countries have confirmed participation in the 21st edition, being the biggest number of participating countries in the contest until date. The Own Eurovision Song Contest 21 will see Algeria, Egypt, Jordan and Tunsia returning in the competition.

Own Eurovision Song Contest 21 will see thirty countries in the Grand Final, this is for the third time in the history of the contest, last time being in the Own Eurovision Song Contest 20 hosted in Timișoara, Romania.

Venue
Stadio Olimpico is a multi-purpose stadium in Serravalle, San Marino. It is currently used mostly for football matches. It is the national stadium of San Marino, and is also used by the club San Marino Calcio, which plays in the Italian football league. The Stadio Olimpico was also used by Serravalle based football club A.C. Juvenes/Dogana for its home games in the Italian league, until the side withdrew to concentrate only on the Sanmarinese Championship. The Stadio Olimpico is an all-seater stadium and has a maximum capacity of 6,664. It has hosted teams such as England, Spain, Germany, and the Netherlands. The San Marino national team's two biggest defeats in the stadium are a record 13-0 to Germany in 2005 and more recently 8-0 to England in 2013. The national team's only win was also in this stadium; a friendly 1-0 beating of Liechtenstein in 2004. This stadium seats are in two stands along the lengths of the pitch and the highest ever capacities are in those same matches aginst Germany and England. 5,019 people saw them lose to Germany, and 4,952 saw them lose to England. San Marino's first official international match was a 4-0 defeat to Switzerland, which was also played here.

The stadium was first opened in 1969. It is also home to the youth teams of San Marino, some of which have worse records on the international stage than the senior team. San Marino Calcio, the Italian club, also play here.

Location
The city of San Marino, also known simply as San Marino, is the capital city of the Republic of San Marino on the Italian peninsula, near the Adriatic Sea. The city has a population of 4,493. It is on the western slopes of San Marino's highest point, Monte Titano.

The city was founded by Saint Marinus and several Christian refugees in the year 301. From then on the city became a center of Christian refugees who fled from Roman persecution. As a result, the city become the oldest republic in Europe, for the republic's territory at that time only included the single city of San Marino.

The urban heart of the city was protected by three towers: the first, Guaita, constructed in the 11th century, was famous for being impenetrable, which to a great extent discouraged attacks on the city.

Due to the Crusades, it was felt necessary to construct a second tower, Cesta (13th century). But the Sanmarinense defensive system was not completed until the construction of a third tower, the Montale (14th century) - the smallest of all and constructed on the last of the summits of Monte Titano.

With the population of the city increasing, the territory of the country was extended by a few square kilometers. Since the Sanmarinese policy was not to invade or to use war to obtain new territories, it was by means of purchases and treaties that San Marino obtained the other nine castelli which make up San Marino.

This will be the first time the contest is held in San Marino.

Semi-final Allocation Draw
The draw that determined the semi-final allocation was held on 15 July 2013 at the Stadio Olimpico.

The participating countries, excluding the host, San Marino were split into eight pots, based on voting history and geographical location. From these pots, 21 countries were allocated to compete in the first semi-final, 21 were allocated to compete in the second semi-final and 21 were allocated to compete in the third semi-final.

The pots are as follows:

The host country, San Marino will vote in all three semi-finals.

Semi-Final Running Order
The running order of the Semi-Finals was revealed on July 17, 2013. Also, it was decided that San Marino will compete on spot number 21 in the Grand Final.

Grand Final Running Order
The running order of the Grand Final was revealed on July 26, 2013. The Final will see thirty countries, being the third time in the history of the contest.

Participants


Sixty-four countries have confirmed participation in the Own Eurovision Song Contest 21 with four countries returning.

The Own Eurovision Song Contest 21 will see the return of Algeria, who previously was represented by Amel Bent in the Own Eurovision Song Contest 19. Egypt will alos return, which was previously represented by Myra Sky in the Own Eurovision Song Contest 18. Jordan decided to return in the competition, who last time was represented by Ameera in the Own Eurovision Song Contest 18. Tunisia is the fourth country returning, which last time was represented by Axel Tony and Tunisiano in the Own Eurovision Song Contest 15.

Semi-Final 1

 * 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) will vote in this semi-final.
 * Two countries will get the ticket to the Second Chance Round.
 * The nine qualifiers were announced on July 24, 2013.
 * won a wildcard.

Notes
 * 1. The song is in English, however, the Spanish word is used in the song.
 * 2. The country won a ticket to the Second Chance Round.

Semi-Final 2

 * 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) will vote in this semi-final.
 * Two countries will get the ticket to the Second Chance Round.
 * The nine qualifiers were announced on July 25, 2013.
 * won a wildcard.

Notes
 * 3. The country won a ticket to the Second Chance Round.

Semi-Final 3

 * 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) will vote in this semi-final.
 * Two countries will get the ticket to the Second Chance Round.
 * The nine qualifiers were announced on July 25, 2013.

Notes
 * 4. The song is in Italian, however, the English word is used in the song.
 * 5. The song is in Slovenian, however, the Spanish word is used in the song.
 * 6. The song is in Polish, however, the English word is used in the song.
 * 7. The song won a ticket to the Second Chance Round.

Second Chance Round

 * the tenth and eleventh placed countries from each semi-final competes in the second chance.
 * the winner of this round will get the final ticket for the Grand Final.
 * the round started on July 25, 2013 and ended on July 26, 2013.


 * Notes
 * 8. Turkey was disqualified for not voting on time.

Finalists
The thirty finalists are:
 * 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.
 * the two winners from the Second Chance Round.

Notes
 * 9. The song is in Polish, however, the English word is used in the song.
 * 10. The song is in Italian, however, the English word is used in the song.