Own Asiavision Song Contest 8

Own Asiavision Song Contest 8, often referred to as OASC #8, is the 8th edition of the Own Asiavision Song Contest. The contest took place in Suva, Fiji, following Paulini's victory in the 7th edition with her song "By My Side". This is the first time that Fiji hosts the contest.

Venue
Vodafone Arena is an arena in Suva, Fiji. The arena was constructed for the 2003 South Pacific Games that was held in Suva. Today, it is primarily used for netball and was intended to host the 2007 Netball World Championships, before Fiji's hosting of the event was cancelled in the wake of the military coup of 5 December 2006. The arena holds 4,000 people. It was previously known as the FMF Dome.

Events hosted: Oceania Karate Championship, Basketball U19 Championship, Netball Tests vs Silver Ferns, Samoa, PNG, Malawi, Northern Ireland, Oceania Futsal World Cup qualifiers: Concerts - UB40, The Laughing Samoans, Common Kings; Trade Shows - Fiji Showcase, Tadra Kahani, Awards Nights, Tertiary Exams, graduations & wedding receptions/birthdays/anniversaries.

Specs: International standard wooden spring court floor, caters 2 x basketball, 3 x volleyball, 2 x netball, 2 x futsal courts, 4 x air-conditioned rooms with bathroom facilities;  VIP Lounge, Kitchen, office space, canteen & 2 x electronic scoreboards.

Location
Fiji (/ˈfiːdʒiː/ fee-jee Fijian: Viti; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी), officially the Republic of Fiji (Fijian: Matanitu Tugalala o Viti; Fiji Hindi: रिपब्लिक ऑफ फीजी Fiji Hindi: Ripablik ăph Phījī), is an island country in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about 1,100 nautical miles (2,000 km; 1,300 mi) northeast of New Zealand's North Island. Its closest neighbours are Vanuatu to the west, New Caledonia to the southwest, New Zealand's Kermadec Islands to the southeast, Tonga to the east, the Samoas and France's Wallis and Futuna to the northeast, and Tuvalu to the north.

Fiji is an archipelago of more than 332 islands, of which 110 are permanently inhabited, and more than 500 islets, amounting to a total land area of about 18,300 square kilometres (7,100 sq mi). The farthest island is Ono-i-Lau. The two major islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, account for 87% of the population of almost 860,000. The capital and largest city, Suva, is on Viti Levu. About three-quarters of Fijians live on Viti Levu's coasts, either in Suva or in smaller urban centres like Nadi (tourism) or Lautoka (sugar cane industry). Viti Levu's interior is sparsely inhabited due to its terrain.

Fiji has one of the most developed economies in the Pacific due to an abundance of forest, mineral, and fish resources. Today, the main sources of foreign exchange are its tourist industry and sugar exports. The country's currency is the Fijian dollar. Fiji's local government, in the form of city and town councils, is supervised by the Ministry of Local Government and Urban Development.

The majority of Fiji's islands were formed through volcanic activity starting around 150 million years ago. Today, some geothermal activity still occurs on the islands of Vanua Levu and Taveuni. Fiji has been inhabited since the second millennium BC, and was settled first by Austronesians and later by Melanesians, with some Polynesian influences. Europeans visited Fiji from the 17th century, and, after a brief period as an independent kingdom, the British established the Colony of Fiji in 1874. Fiji was a Crown colony until 1970, when it gained independence as a Commonwealth realm. A republic was declared in 1987, following a series of coups d'état.

Suva is the capital and the second most populated municipality of Fiji, after Nasinu. It is on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in the Rewa Province, Central Division. In 1877, it was decided to make Suva the capital of Fiji when the geography of former main European settlement at Levuka on the island of Ovalau proved too restrictive. The administration of the colony was moved from Levuka to Suva in 1882.

Suva is Fiji's political and administrative capital. It is the largest and the most cosmopolitan city in the South Pacific and has become an important regional centre; students from the Pacific region and a growing expatriate community make up a significant portion of the city's population. Under authority of local government act Suva is governed and administratively looked after by Suva City Council.

At the 2007 census, the city of Suva had a population of 85,691. Including independent suburbs, the population of the Greater Suva urban area was 172,399 at the 2007 census. Suva, along with the bordering cities of Lami, Nasinu, and Nausori have a total urban population of around 330,000, over a third of the nation's population. This urban complex (not including Lami) is known also as the Suva–Nausori corridor.

12 points awarded in the grand final
(Coming soon)