Melbourne 2095

**Oceanivision Melbourne 2095** is set to be the 24th annual edition held in Melbourne, Victoria following Victoria's victory in Skudai the previous year. This was the fifth time that Victoria won the contest, the most a country ever garnered at that point. Victoria and the Solomon Islands are still the only two countries to win more than once, this year could (hopefully, really hoping after another Victoria win) change it though.

Sixteen cities were in contention to host this year, but unlike previous years, Melbourne was decided upon in November with the only other viable options being Eildon, Tidal River, and Bairnsdale. Tidal River was eliminated do it hosting the Laustralien Broadcaster Event coming up. Eildon was the second option because it already had experience hosting, but because it hosted only 2 years prior, it declined to be able to host again so soon. Bairnsdale was the best option as it frequently makes it far in the city deciding process and heavily campaigns to host, but VITE declined the offer in favor of Melbourne. The broadcaster and government of Victoria both agreed that it was best to have the 2095 contest be held in Melbourne as it would host 3 times in 3 decades, it's the biggest city and the country's capital, and they need a city that can financially be able to host; this is because of the Laustralien Broadcaster Event and the Eildon 2093 host for the country (plus a slight financial crisis for the country, nothing too major, but they preferred to play it safe).

Celebes debuted, and Palau returned, but with Malaysia, Singapore, and Vanuatu's withdrawals, the total number of participants was 25 countries; the first time a contest had exactly 25 participating delegations.

The Marshall Islands achieved its 2nd victory with the song Fruits of the Sun. The country gathered 102 points from the song, the third time this has been the final winning score; this has happened every other year since Northern Desert achieved it in 2091. Tuvalu came in 2nd, the first time that the country achieved second place and the first time it placed in the top-3. Kiribati came third, the fourth time the country has achieved it, Micronesia ended up in 4th, but not without gaining their largest amount of points, and Queensland rounded out the top 5, an unexpected placement from the pre-contest hype.

## Participants

The following countries have confirmed their participation for 2093 as of 01 January 2094:

* Brunei - Kelima
* Celebes - A Beautiful Sonnet
* Fiji - Apples
* Indonesia - Dengarkan Anak
* Kalimari - Love Comes First
* Kiribati - Je peux voir ton âme
* The Maldives - De Fëscher - Kyjackal
* The Marshall Islands - Fruits of the Sun
* Micronesia - Jeg kan se din sjel
* New Guinea\* - Written Among the Stars
* New Kanangri - Étrangers
* New Zealand - Bli, vær så snill
* Northern Desert - Moonlit Wings
* Pacifica Islands\* - Save the Idioms
* Palau - Where's Your Heart?
* The Philippines - Walk Off
* Queensland - Salvation
* Solomon Islands - Bitter Winds - Ninjalamby
* South Mesa - Northern Stars
* Sri Lanka - Brokeback Seas
* Tasmanija - Gamle Melodier
* Timor\* - The New Age
* Tonga - Spaghetti's Mom - Sunporpoise
* Tuvalu - De Quiver
* Victoria\* - The Old Me

### Allocation Draw

Each country randomly draws a number, that number being their performing placement. The host draws their placement first, then the automatic qualifiers draw their placements, and finally, every other country draws theirs.

### Grand Final

All countries voted. The final took place on 08 August 2091. \*indicates an automatic qualifier

### Official Rankings

1. **The Marshall Islands**
2. Tuvalu
3. Kiribati
4. Micronesia
5. Queensland
6. Brunei
7. Timor\*
8. Palau
9. Tonga
10. New Kanangri (Tie-10th)
11. Victoria\* (Tie-10th)
12. Indonesia
13. Solomon Islands
14. Sri Lanka
15. New Guinea\*
16. Pacifica Islands\* (Tie-16th)
17. Fiji (Tie-16th)
18. The Maldives
19. South Mesa
20. Celebes
21. The Philippines (Tie-21st)
22. Northern Desert (Tie-21st)
23. Tasmanija
24. Kalimari
25. New Zealand

## Withdrawing/Uncertain

* East African Islands - *RTV-EAI* confirmed on 01 September 2094 that the East African Islands will not debut in 2095.
* Malaysia - *MalayTV* confirmed on 01 October 2094 that Malaysia will not participate in 2095. The broadcaster stated that they will be focusing on internal events in 2095. They also hope to return in 2096!
* Japan - *JPBC* confirmed on 01 October 2094 that Japan will not debut in 2095.
* Siam - *BCSiam* confirmed on 01 November 2094 that Siam will not debut in 2095.
* Singapore - *RTVSIng* confirmed on 01 September 2094 that Singapore will not participate in 2095. The broadcaster stated that they need withdraw due to financial problems after hosting the previous year. They hope to return in 2096!
* Vanuatu - *VATV/VARC* confirmed on 15 November 2094 that Vanuatu will not participate in 2095. More broadcaster problems arose, so the country decided to withdraw until they can be resolved. They hope to return in 2096, but they are unsure if that will be possible.

## Other Countries

These are countries that aren't part of the OBU but are still in association with them.

* Alaska broadcasts the event and has applied to participate in the event (they are very avid fans of the contest), but have been declined by the OBU citing that the country is too distant and may disrupt voting. The OBU mentioned that it's possible for Alaska to join in the future, but only when the contest becomes more solid and the participants increase in number.
* Bangladesh broadcasts the event
* Bengal broadcasts the event
* California broadcasts the event
* Chile broadcasts the event
* Columbia broadcasts the event
* Costa Rica broadcasts the event
* Hawai'i broadcasts the event
* Kamchatka broadcasts the event
* Kolyma Plains broadcasts the event
* Manchuria broadcasts the event
* Okhotsk broadcasts the event
* Peru broadcasts the event
* Southern Korea broadcasts the event
* Taiwan broadcasts the event

## Trivia

* This year's contest was held on 22 December 2022
* This year's winner was the first since Gold Coast 2084 to be a country that obtained its 2nd win
* 2095 used a physical draw to determine the placements in the Grand Final
* 2095 continued to use computer-based randomization for voting, although country names would not be added, instead just a simple "Every Country" took each country's place
	+ Randomizations were kept somewhat anonymous to prevent pre-contest spoiling
* The order of revealing points was the not normal 01-25, The Maldives requested to be last after they had trouble calling in; points were checked every 8-9 delegations to make sure everything was up-to-date
* Celebes, The Maldives, The Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and Tuvalu obtained the most amount of points than they ever have
	+ Celebes, The Maldives and Tuvalu achieved their best placements, while The Marshall Islands tied their best record
* There were fewer ties this year; 3 2-country ties
* The maximum amount of countries that could perform was not present at this contest. 25 out of the maximum 28 countries confirmed their participation.
* This was the first time since Airai 2089 that there was an odd number of participating countries
* This year had the first country to reach above 1,000 total points, New Kanangri