Our Sound

**Our Sound** often shortened to **OS**, is a song contest on Youtube held among the members of the Our Broadcasting Union since September 2018. The current and official executive supervisor is ESC Kuba. The current executive supervisor is Jenifer Brening**.**

Each country's head of delegation gets to select an entry for each
edition, either by internal or national selection. The countries get to
vote in a number of shows (semi-finals and a final) to determine the
qualifiers and the winner of the edition.

## History

On 23rd September 2018, Kuba, executive supervisor of the Our
Broadcasting Union decided to open an international music contest in
which every member of the OBU can take part by sending artists
representing their countries with songs. It was called Our Sound. In the beginnings the contest was not fully developed so there
were a lot of rules changing in that phase. Currently, the OBU Council
has the control over the contest, recaps, staging and results videos.
The first ever Our Sound started on 30th September 2018. It was held in the Saint Petersburg, Russia also was the first ever
country to host the Our Sound and also one of the first
ever direct qualifiers for the final. 33 nations took part in the
 first edition each submitting one entry to the contest. Each country
awarded one set of points from 1, 4-6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 17, 20: from their
professional jury. The voting procedure
has not changed since then.

### Logo and theme

The generic logo for the contest was introduced in the first edition.
The logo featured the contest's name as well as host information. The
edition-specific logo also includes the flag of the host country in a
letter "O" in the word "sound".

### Slogans

 #02 |  Skopje

## Participation

Any full member of the OBU
 is allowed to send a song for the Our Sound. Countries
that are not full members can apply for becoming one. The Our Broadcasting Union has already accepted some countries that were not full members of the OBU at the beginnings of the OS. However, the OBU
 has also already declined a lot of nations and states that wanted to
become a full member - and to participate in the Our Sound.

## Format

The contest's format was the same during the first editions; two semi-finals and a final were held. The top ten scored countries from each semi-final advanced to the final. In the first edition, there was a big 1 that were the sponsors for the start of the contest and were automatic qualifiers; Russia. However, for the next editions the top 6 from each edition will be a part of the Big 6.

### The "Big 6"

In the second edition it was already decided that certain countries would be members of the "group" called "Big 6". The Macedonian broadcaster MRT, the organizers of the first edition, announced that Denmark, Hungary, Israel, North Macedonia, Russia and Ukraine would be the members of the first Big 6.

## Our Sound season

Our Sound season is a term often used to refer to the days "around" the contest. It usually lasts one or two months and the most national selections are held that time. Also, various events are hosted during the season like parties or press conferences.

### Our Sound in Concert

Main article: Our Sound in ConcertThe Our Sound in Concert, the concert created by the Head of Delegation of Turkey is an event held during the Our Sound season. Every nation that is participating in the current has the right to take part unless their entry is not selected before the deadline which is decided by the host of the concert.

### Rehearsals and press conferences

Each country has two rehearsals before the contest. The rehearsals start with the semi-final countries nine days before the first semi-final. During the first two days, the rehersals for the first semi-final countries take place while during the next two days the rehearsals for the second semi-final countries take place. The second rehearsals for each country take place on the fifth and sixth days. On the seventh day, the big 5 countries have their first rehearsal taken. On the ninth day, the big 5 have their second rehearsal taken. Apart from the regular rehearsals, there are also three dress rehearsals for each show where the full show is rehearsed. The dress rehearsals for the semi-finals and the final take place in two days: twice on the day before the show (one in the afternoon and the other in the evening) and once on the day of the show. The third dress rehearsal, the one before the contest, is the show that is taken place for the jury, which means that the 50% of the result is decided before the live contest. The table below shows the schedule that is used for every edition with some adjustments made for each edition.

After the rehearsals, the delegations of each country meets with the artistic director of the edition to preview the performance of the country. They watch the footage of the country's rehearsal, discussing about possible changes in stuff such as camera angles, lighting and choreography. Also, the Head of Delegation is able to know what special effects the performance would require and requests them from the host broadcaster. Right after this meeting, the delegation has a press conference held where members of the accredited press ask them question. The conferences are held at the same time with the rehearsals and while the first country is in the press room, the second country is already rehearsing. A printed summary of the questions and answers which emerge from the press conferences is produced by the host press office, and distributed to journalists' pigeon-holes.

### Sneak peeks and betting odds

Main article: Sneak Peeks and Betting OddsAproximately two weeks before the semi-finals, the host broadcaster uploads six or seven sneak peeks. The countries used to be divided according their geographical place like the pots for the semi-final allocation draw. However, they are now divided by the order of announcing their entries. Most of the participating nations open a poll on the broadcaster's site and let people vote for their favorite in each sneak peek.

The betting odds are mostly based on the nations' average result for each sneak peek. The betting odds were introduced in the first edition and has predicted several winners.

### Presentation of votes

 File:Os1votestba.png
Since the first edition, all the participating countries have been voting in the final, including the countries that failed to qualify from the semi-finals.

The order of the voting nations are often randomly. After the interval act is over, when all the points have been calculated, the presenter(s) of the show call upon each voting country in turn to invite them to announce the results of their vote. Often the opportunity is taken by each country to show their spokesperson standing in front of a backdrop which includes a famous place in that country. Firstly, the points 1–17 are shown together and the spokesperson continues with the high points, the top 20. The song which receives the 12 from the country is usually played along with a bar below showing the top 3 at that moment.