Own Eurovision Song Contest 19

Own Eurovision Song Contest 19, often referred to as OESC #19, is the up-coming 19th edition of Own Eurovision Song Contest. Following Gigi Radics's win at the 18th Contest, the festival will be brought to the city of Budapest, Hungary. This is the first time that Hungary will host the Contest.

So far, fifty-one countries have confirmed participation, with Austria, Faroe Islands, Lithuania, Slovakia and Turkmenistan returning in the competition and Egypt, Jordan and Uzbekistan withdrawing.

Venue
Budapest Sports Arena (Hungarian: Papp László Budapest Sportaréna) was announced by Hungarian broadcaster N	Magyar Televízió (MTV) as the venue for the Own Eurovision Song Contest 19. This will be the first Own Eurovision Song Contest held in Hungary.

Budapest Sports Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Budapest, Hungary, the biggest of its kind in the country. The venue holds 12,500 people in its largest concert configuration, 11,390 for boxing and 9,479 for hockey.

The building has a total weight of 200,000 tons and contains 50,000 tons of concrete, 2,300 tons of steel structure, more than 11,000,000 bolts and several kilometres of cable.

Following the decision of the European Handball Federation Executive Committee, the organization rights of the 2014 European Women's Handball Championship were awarded to Croatia and Hungary. Budapest Sports Arena is set to host the conclusive stage of the tournament, including the semifinals, the bronze medal match and final.

Location
Budapest is the capital and the largest city of Hungary, the largest in East-Central Europe and the seventh largest in the European Union. It is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre, sometimes described as the primate city of Hungary. In 2011, according to the census, Budapest had 1.74 million inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2.1 million due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter Area is home to 3.3 million people. The city covers an area of 525 square kilometres within the city limits. Budapest became a single city occupying both banks of the river Danube with a unification on 17 November 1873 of west-bank Buda and Óbuda with east-bank Pest.

The history of Budapest began with Aquincum, originally a Celtic settlement that became the Roman capital of Lower Pannonia. Hungarians arrived in the territory in the 9th century. Their first settlement was pillaged by the Mongols in 1241–42. The re-established town became one of the centres of Renaissance humanist culture in the 15th century. Following the Battle of Mohács and nearly 150 years of Ottoman rule, the region entered a new age of prosperity in the 18th and 19th centuries, and Budapest became a global city after the 1873 unification. It also became the second capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a great power that dissolved in 1918, following World War I. Budapest was the focal point of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, the Hungarian Republic of Councils of 1919, Operation Panzerfaust in 1944, the Battle of Budapest in 1945, and the Revolution of 1956.

Cited as one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, its extensive World Heritage Site includes the banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter, Andrássy Avenue, Heroes' Square and the Millennium Underground Railway, the second oldest in the world. Other highlights include a total of 80 geothermal springs, the world's largest thermal water cave system, second largest synagogue, and third largest Parliament building. The city attracts about 4.3 million tourists a year, making it the 25th most popular city in the world (and the 6th in Europe) according to Euromonitor.

Considered a financial hub in Central Europe, the city ranked 3rd (out of 65 cities) on Mastercard's Emerging Markets Index, and ranked as the most livable Central/Eastern European city on EIU's quality of life index. It is also ranked as "Europe's 7th most idyllic place to live" by Forbes, and as the 9th most beautiful city in the world by UCityGuides. It is the highest ranked Central/Eastern European city on Innovation Cities' Top 100 index.

Budapest is home to the headquarters of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), and the first foreign office of the China Investment Promotion Agency (CIPA).

Break
One day after the results of the 18th edition, the manager announced that the contest would take a break before the edition started. The contest will reopen after the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2013, which will be held on 18 May 2013.

Participants
Fifty-one countries have confirmed participation, so far, in the Own Eurovision Song Contest 19 with five countries returning and three withdrawing.

The 19th edition will see the return of Austria, whow previously was represented by Fawni in the OESC #17. Faroe Islands will also return, which was previously represented by Aura Dione in the OESC #16. Own Eurovision Song Contest 19 will also see the return of Lithuania, who was previously represented in OESC #16 by Santra and Vaida Kisseliut. Slovakia decided to return, they were represented last time by Miro Jaros and Petra Humenanska in the OESC #16. Turmenistan is the sixth country returning, last time it was represented by Myahri in the OESC #15 contest.

Egypt, Jordan and Uzbekistan withdrew from the competition. Though, at first Israel stated that it will return in the contest, later it was confirmed that Israel will not be taking part in the 19th edition.

Returning artists
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Voting and spokespersons

 * – Aura
 * – Lidia Kopania
 * – Danny Saucedo, Gina Dirawi
 * – Joel Molina