The Origin Song Contest 03

Final date
 Venue
 Interval act
 Entries
 Debuting
 System
 Winner

**The Origin Song Contest 03**, often referred to as TOSC 03, was the third edition of The Origin Song Contest. It was held in Bern, Switzerland, following the country's victory at the second edition with the song "Crumbling Down" by Nuela Charles. It was the first time Switzerland has hosted the contest. SRF chose the PostFinance Arena in Bern as the venue for the contest, along with Susanne Wille as host.

Thirty seven countries participated. Austria, Cyprus, FYR Macedonia, Germany and Liechtenstein all debuted. Andorra, Croatia, Norway, Spain and Ukraine withdrew from the edition whilst Ireland and Lithuania returned after a one-edition absence.

Debutant Germany won the edition with the song "Strangled Love" by Jannine Weigel, with 160 points, a margin of 8 points on the runner-up Moldova. Italy finished third, with Latvia coming fourth and Slovenia and San Marino finishing off the top 6. Sweden was the best performing big six member, finishing tenth, whilst the host country Switzerland placed last. Lithuania was the first country to finish below 0 points, however in the final, so did Switzerland, Cyprus and Hungary.

## Location

*For more information, see Bern.*

**Bern** is the de facto capital city of Switzerland. With a population of 141,762 (November 2016), Bern is the fifth-most populous city in Switzerland. The Bern agglomeration, which includes 36 municipalities, had a population of 406,900 in 2014. The metropolitan area had a population of 660,000 in 2000. Bern is also the capital of the canton of Bern, the second-most populous of Switzerland's cantons.

The official language of Bern is Swiss German, but the most spoken language is the dialect, Bernese German. In 1983, the historic old town in the centre of Bern became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Bern is ranked among the world’s top ten cities for the best quality of life.

### Bidding Phase

Four Swiss cities applied to host the contest. These were Bern with both the PostFinance Arena and the Stade de Suisse, Geneva with the Geneva Arena, Lugano with the Pista La Resega and Zürich with the Hallenstadion.

The host city was revealed as Bern, with the PostFinance Arena, on 3rd September 2017.

 Stade de Suisse | 45,000
 Geneva | Geneva Arena | 9,500
 Lugano | Pista La Resega | 7,800
 Zürich | Hallenstadion | 15,000

## Format

### Semi-final allocation draw

The draw to determine the allocation of the participating countries into their respective semi-finals took place at Bern City Hall on 30th September 2017. The first part of the draw determined in which semi-final the Big Six would have to vote. The second part of the draw decided in which half of the respective semi-finals each country would perform, with the exact running order determined by the producers of the show at a later date. Fifteen countries would participate in the first semi-final, and sixteen would participate in the second. From each semi-final, ten countries would join the "Big 6" in the final, where a total of twenty-six countries would participate.

The thirty-one semi-finalists were allocated into six pots, based on their geographical place and cultural similarities. Drawing from different pots helps in reducing the chance of so-called neighbour voting and increasing suspense in the semi-finals. Each time a country was drawn from the pot, its semi-final and half of the semi-final was determined.

The six pots were the following:

* Bosnia-Herzegovina
* Bulgaria
* FYR Macedonia
* Serbia
* Faroe Islands
* Finland
* Iceland
* Estonia
* Hungary
* Liechtenstein
* Slovakia
 Pot 4
 * Belgium
* France
* Germany
* Ireland
* Monaco
* Italy
* Cyprus
* Portugal
* Romania
* San Marino
* Latvia
* Lithuania
* Moldova
* Poland

### Previews and Betting Odds

The entries from each participating country were previewed in short recaps called *Previews*. The countries were divided into the previews based on when they revealed their entry: the first countries to reveal their entries were in the first preview. Broadcasters can rank each entry in the recap.

The betting odds were based around the country's average rank in its preview. The betting odds represented the chance a country had to win the contest. Finland came first in the betting odds with odds of 2.35, followed by Slovenia and Belarus both with odds of 2.43. The lowest countries in the betting odds were Austria, Lithuania and Iceland with odds of 5.16, 5.38 and 5.83 respectively.

The bottom three all failed to qualify, although Iceland nearly qualified, placing 11th in their semi-final and needing five more points to qualify. For the first time, the betting odds did not correctly predict the winner, with betting odds winner Finland placing 7th and actual winner Germany coming 8th in the betting odds. In the final, the positions of Monaco and Cyprus were predicted correctly, with the least accurate being Latvia, finishing fourteen places higher, and Belarus, placing fourteen lower. The non-qualifier with the highest odds was FYR Macedonia with odds of 4.19, placing 21st overall.

## Participating Countries

Thirty-seven countries participated, marking the biggest edition to date and an increase of two on the previous edition. Austria, Cyprus, FYR Macedonia, Germany and Liechtenstein made their debut, whilst Ireland and Lithuania returned having been absent last edition. Five nations withdrew having participated last edition: Andorra failed to confirm in time, whilst Croatia and Ukraine withdrew due to lack of the contest's popularity and a change in delegation respectively. Norway and Spain were two of four countries who were sanctioned by the OBU following cheating in the previous editions and new delegations were not found in time.

## Results

### Semi-final 1

The Czech Republic, Sweden and Switzerland also voted in this semi-final. The highlighted countries qualified to the final.

### Semi-final 2

The Netherlands, Russia and the United Kingdom also voted in this semi-final. The highlighted countries qualified to the final.

### Final

Twenty-six countries participated in the final, with all thirty-seven participating countries eligible to vote.

## Other Countries

Every edition, the Origin Broadcasting Union invites all its active members to participate at the contest. The countries below have declined their invitations to participate, with the reasons stated.

* Andorra: RTVA was forced to withdraw having failed to make a confirmation announcement before the deadline.
* Croatia: Despite qualifying in the previous edition, HRT confirmed Croatia would not participate, due to lack of popularity of the contest within the country.
* Norway: The Norwegian delegation between the first and second edition was disqualified following the OBU noticing suspicious voting patterns, and was not replaced in time for the edition.
* Spain: The Spanish delegation between the first and second edition was disqualified following the OBU noticing suspicious voting patterns, and was not replaced in time for the edition.
* Ukraine: UA:PBC announced that Ukraine would not participate this edition, due to change in delegation. A return next edition has not been ruled out.