Own Eurovision Song Contest 24

Own Eurovision Song Contest 24, often referred to as OESC #24, is the 24th edition of Own Eurovision Song Contest. The contest will take place in the city of Cardiff, Wales, after Ellie Goulding won the previous contest hosted in Pristina, Kosovo with the song "Burn". The venue for the contest was announced on October 30, 2013, as the Millennium Stadium from Cardiff. This will be the first time the contest will take place in Wales.

Sixty-two countries have confirmed participation in the 24th edition. This is the second time when 62 countries compete in the contest. The Own Eurovision Song Contest 24 will see San Marino and Slovakia returning in the competition. Austria and Ireland decided to withdraw.

Own Eurovision Song Contest 24 will see, again like last edition, thirty countries in the Grand Final, this is for the sixth time in the history of the contest. For the third time in a row, the host country didn't vote in all semi-finals.

Venue
The Millennium Stadium (Welsh: Stadiwm y Mileniwm) is the national stadium of Wales, located in the capital city, Cardiff. It is the home of the Wales national rugby union team and also frequently stages games of the Wales national football team. Initially built to host the 1999 Rugby World Cup, it has gone on to host many other large-scale events, such as the Tsunami Relief concert, the Super Special Stage of Wales Rally Great Britain, the Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain, and numerous music concerts.

The Millennium Stadium is owned by Millennium Stadium plc which is a subsidiary company of the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU). The stadium was designed by a team led by architects Bligh Lobb Sports Architecture, who merged to become HOK Sport Venue Event, which would be renamed Populous in early 2009. WS Atkins were the structural engineers, and the building contractor was Laing. The total construction cost of the stadium was £121 million, of which the Millennium Commission funded £46 million.

The stadium opened in June 1999, and the first major event to be held was an international rugby union match on 26 June 1999, when Wales beat South Africa in a friendly by 29–19, before a test crowd of 29,000. With total seating capacity of 74,500, it is the third largest stadium in the Six Nations Championship behind the Stade de France and Twickenham, which is the largest. It is also the second largest stadium in the world with a fully retractable roof, and was the second stadium in Europe to have this feature.

The stadium has also been used for a variety of musical events, including the Manic Street Preachers concert held on Millennium Eve, and, on the following day, a recording of the BBC's Songs of Praise, which attracted an attendance of 60,000. Tina Turner performed a sold-out concert at the stadium during her highly successful Twenty Four Seven Tour in 2000. Welsh rockers Stereophonics have played two sold out shows at the stadium: In July 2001 as part of their two-day "A Day at the Races" festival which would later be released to DVD and in 2003, shortly after the departure of the late Stuart Cable. American rock band Bon Jovi played the venue during the One Wild Night Tour in 2001. At the end of January 2005, the stadium hosted a tsunami relief concert in aid of the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, with Eric Clapton headlining the event. The stadium has also been host to Madonna on two occasions, the first in July 2006 when she opened the UK leg of her Confessions Tour, and most recently in August 2008 when she kicked off her Sticky & Sweet Tour at the stadium. Other performers who have played at the stadium include Robbie Williams as part of his Weddings, Barmitzvahs & Stadiums Tour, U2 as part of their Vertigo Tour,  Red Hot Chili Peppers as part of their By the Way tour,  The Rolling Stones as part of their A Bigger Bang Tour,  Bon Jovi as part of their One Wild Night Tour,  R.E.M., Paul McCartney as part of his Up and Coming Tour, and The Police as part of their Reunion Tour. In late 2005, Oasis played at the stadium during their Don't Believe the Truth Tour and again on their Dig Out Your Soul Tour in 2009. In 2008, the stadium hosted Neil Diamond and Bruce Springsteen with the E Street Band as part of their Magic Tour. On 22 August 2009, U2 again played at the stadium, as part of their European leg of their U2 360° Tour, playing to a record-breaking concert attendance of 73,354. Rihanna performed at the stadium during her Diamonds World Tour on 10 June 2013.

Location
Cardiff is the capital and largest city in Wales and the tenth largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is the country's chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for Wales. The unitary authority area's mid-2011 population was estimated to be 346,100, while the population of the Larger Urban Zone was estimated at 861,400 in 2009. Cardiff is a significant tourist centre and the most popular visitor destination in Wales with 18.3 million visitors in 2010. In 2011, Cardiff was ranked sixth in the world in National Geographic's alternative tourist destinations.

The city of Cardiff is the county town of the historic county of Glamorgan (and later South Glamorgan). Cardiff is part of the Eurocities network of the largest European cities. The Cardiff Urban Area covers a slightly larger area outside of the county boundary, and includes the towns of Dinas Powys and Penarth. A small town until the early 19th century, its prominence as a major port for the transport of coal following the arrival of industry in the region contributed to its rise as a major city.

Cardiff was made a city in 1905, and proclaimed the capital of Wales in 1955. Since the 1990s, Cardiff has seen significant development. A new waterfront area at Cardiff Bay contains the Senedd building, home to the Welsh Assembly and the Wales Millennium Centre arts complex. Current developments include the continuation of the redevelopment of the Cardiff Bay and city centre areas with projects such as the Cardiff International Sports Village, a BBC drama village, and a new business district in the city centre.

Sporting venues in the city include the Millennium Stadium (the national stadium for the Wales national rugby union team and the Wales national football team), SWALEC Stadium (the home of Glamorgan County Cricket Club), Cardiff City Stadium (the home of Cardiff City football team), Cardiff International Sports Stadium (the home of Cardiff Amateur Athletic Club) and Cardiff Arms Park (the home of Cardiff Blues and Cardiff RFC rugby union teams). The city is also HQ of the Wales Rally GB and was awarded with the European City of Sport in 2009 due to its role in hosting major international sporting events. It has been announced that Cardiff will again be the European City of Sport in 2014. The Millennium Stadium hosted 11 football matches as part of the 2012 Summer Olympics, including the games' opening event and the men's bronze medal match.

This will be the first time the contest will be held in Wales.

Semi-final Allocation Draw
The draw that determined the semi-final allocation was held on November 10, 2013 at the Milennium Stadium. The participating countries, excluding the Big 3, were split into eight pots, based on voting history and geographical location. From these pots, 20 countries were allocated to compete in the first semi-final, 20 were allocated to compete in the second semi-final and 19 were allocated to compete in the third semi-final.

The pots are as follows:

The big 3 will vote as follow: Wales in the first semi-final, Belarus in the second semi-final and Romania in the third semi-final.

Semi-Final Running Order
The running order of the Semi-Finals was revealed on November 10, 2013. Also, it was decided that the host country, Wales will compete on spot number 14 in the Grand Final, Belarus on spot number 19 and Romania will take the number 22.

Grand Final Running Order
The Grand Final running order was revealed on November 21, 2013. Moldova will open the show and Norway will be last to perform.

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.
 * The nine qualifiers were revealed on November 18, 2013.

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.
 * will vote in this semi-final.
 * was disqualified.
 * The nine qualifiers were revealed on November 19, 2013.

Notes
 * 1. The country was disqualified for not voting.

Semi-Final 3
Notes
 * 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.
 * and were disqualified.
 * The nine qualifiers were revealed on November 20, 2013.
 * 2. The country was disqualified for not voting.

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.