Own Eurovision Song Contest 40

Own Eurovision Song Contest 40, often referred to as OESC #40, will be the 40th edition of the Own Eurovision Song Contest. It will take place at the Nuremberg Arena, located in Nuremberg, Germany, following the country's victory at the Own Eurovision Song Contest 39 with Lena performing her single "Traffic Lights". This will be the second time the country is hosting the event, after holding the Own Eurovision Song Contest 15 edition in Berlin. The contest is scheduled to consist of two semi-finals and a final.

Forty-six countries have confirmed their participation in the competition. Croatia, Cyprus, England, Georgia, Lebanon and Ukraine have all returned in the contest, with Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Egypt, Lithuania, Monaco, Montenegro and Portugal all announcing their withdrawal.

The Big six status countries and also the countries that will automatically qualified for the Grand Final in the 40th edition are Denmark, the host country Germany, Israel, Italy, Scotland and Wales. Although they are automatically in the final, they will be drawn to vote in one of the two scheduled semifinals.

Venue
Nuremberg Arena is an arena in Nuremberg, Germany. Nuremberg Arena opened in 2001 and holds up to 6,500 people.

It is used for ice hockey, basketball and concerts.

Since 2005, it is also called Arena Nürnberger Versicherung.

World Wrestling Entertainment hosted an event there in November 2006.

Today the Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers Nürnberg and the Sellbytel Baskets Nürnberg are using the Arena for their home matches.

On 7 November 2009, David Haye won the WBA Heavyweight Championship against Nikolai Valuev at the Nuremberg Arena in his first shot at the Heavyweight title.

Location
Nuremberg(/ˈnjʊərəmbɜrɡ/; German: Nürnberg German pronunciation: [ˈnʏrnbɛrk]) is a city on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia, about 170 kilometres (110 mi) north of Munich. It is the second-largest city in Bavaria (after Munich), and the largest in Franconia. The population as of February 2015, is 517,498, which makes it Germany's fourteenth-largest city. The "European Metropolitan Area Nuremberg" has 3.5 million inhabitants.

Nuremberg was, according to the first documentary mention of the city in 1050, the location of an Imperial castle between the East Franks and the Bavarian March of the Nordgau. From 1050 to 1571, the city expanded and rose dramatically in importance due to its location on key trade routes. King Conrad III established a burgraviate, with the first burgraves coming from the Austrian House of Raab but, with the extinction of their male line around 1190, the burgraviate was inherited by the last count's son-in-law, of the House of Hohenzollern. From the late 12th century to the Interregnum (1254–73), however, the power of the burgraves diminished as the Hohenstaufen emperors transferred most non-military powers to a castellan, with the city administration and the municipal courts handed over to an Imperial mayor (German: Reichsschultheiß) from 1173/74. The strained relations between the burgraves and the castellan, with gradual transferral of powers to the latter in the late 14th and early 15th centuries, finally broke out into open enmity, which greatly influenced the history of the city.

Nuremberg is often referred to as having been the 'unofficial capital' of the Holy Roman Empire, particularly because Imperial Diet (Reichstag) and courts met at Nuremberg Castle. The Diets of Nuremberg were an important part of the administrative structure of the empire. The increasing demand of the royal court and the increasing importance of the city attracted increased trade and commerce to Nuremberg. In 1219, Frederick II granted the Großen Freiheitsbrief (Great Letter of Freedom), including town rights, Imperial immediacy (Reichsfreiheit), the privilege to mint coins, and an independent customs policy, almost wholly removing the city from the purview of the burgraves. Nuremberg soon became, with Augsburg, one of the two great trade centers on the route from Italy to Northern Europe.

This is the first time the contest take place in Nuremberg, Germany and is the second time the contest takes place in Germany, last time the contest took place in Berlin in the Own Eurovision Song Contest 15.

Semi-final Allocation Draw
The draw that determined the semi-final allocation was held on July 24, 2015 at the Nuremberg Arena. The participating countries, excluding the Big 6 countries, were split into six pots, based on voting history and geographical location. From these pots, 20 countries each were allocated to compete in first semifinal and 20 in second semifinal. The pots are as follows:

The host country, Germany will vote in the first semi-final. The rest of the big six countries will vote as follow: Israel with Italy in first semifinal, while Denmark with Scotland and Wales in second semifinal.

Running Order
The running order of the semifinals was revealed on July 26, 2015, also the draw of the host country for the Grand Final was revealed and it will perform on number 14 out of 26 countries.

Participants
Forty-six countries have confirmed participation in the 40th edition, with six countries returning and seven countries withdrawing.

The 40th edition will see the return of Croatia, Cyprus, England, Georgia, Lebanon and Ukraine, while Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Egypt, Lithuania, Monaco, Montenegro and Portugal withdrew from this edition.


 * Georgia last participated in Tbilisi, Georgia at the Own Eurovision Song Contest 33.
 * Croatia, Cyprus, England, Lebanon and Ukraine last participated in Thessaloniki, Greece at the Own Eurovision Song Contest 38.

Semi Final 1

 * The ten countries in this semi-final with the highest scoring points, according to the votes from each voting country, qualifies for the Grand Final.
 * The host Germany, Israel and Italy will vote in this semi final.
 * The countries that are highlighted in orange qualified for the final.
 * The 10 qualifiers were announced on August 2, 2015.

Semi Final 2

 * The ten countries in this semi-final with the highest scoring points, according to the votes from each voting country, qualifies for the Grand Final.
 * Denmark, Scotland and Wales will vote in this semi final.
 * The countries that are highlighted in orange qualified for the final.
 * The 10 qualifiers were announced on August 8, 2015.

Finalists
The twenty-six finalists are:
 * the Big 6 countries.
 * the top ten countries from the first semi-final.
 * the top ten countries from the second semi-final.

12 points awarded in the first semifinal
(Coming soon)

12 points awarded in the second semifinal
(Coming soon)

12 points awarded in the grand final
(Coming soon)

Spokepersons

 * 1) Flag of Sweden.svg.png Måns Zelmerlöw
 * 2) Flag of Cyprus.svg.png Nearchos Evangelou & Charis Savva
 * 3) Flag of Spain.svg.png Eva Hache
 * 4) Flag of Italy.svg.png Giusy Ferreri
 * 5) Flag of Austria.svg.png Marla Blumenblatt
 * 6) Flag of Finland.svg.png Benjamin Peltonen
 * 7) Flag of Israel.svg.png The Young Professionals
 * 8) Flag of Croatia.svg.png
 * 9) Flag of Macedonia.svg.png
 * 10) Flag of Poland.svg.png Sylwia Grzeszczak (Previously participated at the 7th,9th, 10th, 21st and 30th editions)
 * 11) Flag of Estonia.svg.png Elina Born
 * 12) Flag of Greece.svg.png Helena Paparizou
 * 13) Flag of Faroe Islands.svg.png Greta Svabo Bech
 * 14) Flag of Georgia.svg.png Dato Kenchiashvili
 * 15) Flag of Belgium.svg.png Loïc Nottet
 * 16) Flag of Morocco.svg.png Samira Said
 * Flag of Romania.svg.png INNA (Previously participated at the 2nd, 4th, 7th, 8th,14th,15th,21st,29th and 32nd editions)

Other countries

 * : The country announced that they are not planning to return to the contest anytime soon.
 * : Financial difficulties ruled the country out of the 40th contest.
 * : The country withdrew from the contest because of the weak result from the previous edition.
 * : The country withdrew due to some budged cuts and it's more likely to return in the next edition.
 * : The country announced that they are not planning to return to the contest due to lack of money and interest.
 * : The country withdrew from the contest because of the weak result from the previous edition.
 * : The country announced that they don't want to return to the contest.
 * : The country announced at OEBU that they are not gonna return to the contest due to lack of interest.
 * : The HoD announced that the country would not be participating in the contest because of financial reasons.
 * : The country withdrew from the contest because of the weak result from the previous edition.
 * : The country announced at first that they will return, but withdrew in the last moment.
 * : The country withdrew from the contest because of the weak result from the previous edition.
 * : The country has not stated yet a decision if they are returning in the contest.
 * : The country at first submitted the song "You're A Tree And I'm Balloon" by Maja Keuc, but then they decided to withdraw.

Official Album
Own Eurovision Song Contest: Nuremberg 40 is the official compilation album of the 40th Contest, put together by the Own Eurovision Song Contest. The album will feature all 46 songs that will enter in the 40th contest, including the semi-finalists that failed to qualify into the grand final.