OVSC10

## Voting

### System

Each country awards a set of 1 - 7 points, followed by 8, 10 and 12 points for their top 3 favourite songs

### Winner

 Iran
 "Spell On Me" by Shab

After their win in Auckland, Iran's capital Tehran hosted the 10th edition of the OrbisVision Song Contest!

This was Iran's first time hosting as well as it being only the second country in Asia to host, and also the first country in the Middle East to host the contest.

Originally, Moldova was to take part in the first semi-final, but after some rather political comments made by their HoD in the Discord server, they left and Moldova had their place revoked and were disqualified. They would later have their place taken by another returning country, Azerbaijan.

The contest consisted of 3 shows, 2 semi-finals and a Grand Final.

Iran won for the second time with the song "Spell On Me" by Shab. This is their second victory in the contest, becoming the first host country to win the contest on home soil.

## Location

 Tehran (also spelled Teheran) is the capital city of Iran. A bustling metropolis of 14 million people, it sits at the foot of the towering Alborz mountain range. Tehran is a cosmopolitan city, with great museums, parks, restaurants, and warm friendly people. It deserves at least a few days of your Iranian itinerary.

The city can be roughly divided into two parts, north and south. The northern districts of Tehran are more prosperous, modern, cosmopolitan and expensive while southern parts are less attractive but cheaper.

     At the time of the Zand dynasty, it was a little town that was significant from a strategic point of view.

The first of the Qajar kings, Agha Mohammed Khan, named Tehran as the country's capital in 1778, and most of its growth started during the reign of a subsequent Qajar monarch, Fath-Ali Shah.

The castle which Agha Mohammed Khan had built was to contain the new majestic buildings.

At the same time, the city's population doubled. Due to the increasing significance of the city, gates, squares and mosques were built and it was at the time of Nassereddin Shah that the city's master sketch was prepared and modern streets were constructed.

     Later, huge central squares like Toopkhaneh square (now Imam Khomeini) and quite a few military buildings were built. Even though the Qajar dynasty was in a period of decline, Tehran soon took the shape of a modern city.

The structure of large government buildings, new streets, recreation centres, urban service organizations, and academic and methodical centres were started, even as most of the old gates and buildings were destroyed and the city's old architectural fabric replaced by a contemporary one.

    Tehran has also earned itself an unenviable reputation as a smog-filled, traffic-clogged and featureless sprawl of concrete bursting at the seams with 14 million residents.

But you can also find an endless number of nice and cosy places in and around the city, if you know where to look.

Tehran is a city of more than 800 parks, all well-kept. The city is nearly a mile high above sea level and as a result is cooler than other cities in the Middle East.

Sadly the city and much of Iran are slowly and dangerously sinking. A 2019 land fissure caused by a drought and excessive water pumping in the city of Malard, west of Tehran, is a sign that the area around Iran's capital is sinking, much like how the Indonesian capital of Jakarta is sadly.

Still, summer temperatures are very hot, averaging 33°C (91°F) in July and frequently exceeding 38°C (100°F). The air tends to be very dry.

A combination of factors make Tehran a pleasant place to visit: the dry climate which is cool in the evenings, the proximity of the mountains, the parks and gardens where flowers blossom all through the year, the alleys of trees in the avenues or even smaller streets, and even the water that runs down from the upper city along deep and wide gutters which look like small rivers during spring.

The Alborz range on the north of Tehran, which hosts the highest peak in Iran, provides fantastic conditions for ski lovers in the winter. In winter, the mountain hotels and ski clubs at Shemshak, and Dizine are very busy. There is some world-class skiing to be done in the resorts just north of Tehran.

### Venue

After their win in Auckland, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) chose the capital of Tehran as host city with the 12,000-capacity Azadi Indoor Stadium chosen as the venue for the 10th OrbisVision Song Contest.

Built for the 7th Asian Games in 1974, this arena is part of the complex that hosted a majority of events during the Games now called the Azadi Sports Complex.

Although this arena is not used for entertainment or music concerts, it's mainly used for sports such as volleyball, wrestling, futsal and occasionally basketball.

The arena is also home to the Iranian national volleyball team, and played host to the 2014 FILA Wrestling World Cup.

## Participating countries

### Semi-final 1

Nigeria, Belarus and Iran will vote in this semi-final. Qualifiers are marked in blue.

### Semi-final 2

Qatar, South Korea and New Zealand will vote in this semi-final. Qualifiers are marked in blue.

### Grand Final

1. ↑ They use the English-based Nigerian Pidgin language in this song. It's a Creole language spoken as the lingua franca of Nigeria and is also known as Naija and sometimes referred to as Pijin or Broken (pronounced "brokun")