OVSC21

## OrbisVision Song Contest #21  *Take flight*

 The national anthem of Brazil, in tribute to the late Edson Arantes do Nascimento, aka Pelé
 Ofelia performing "Samuraj (Helena)"
 **Grand Final:**
 A medley of Polish folk songs to showcase Polish culture.

## Participants

### Returning

 Albania
  Australia
  Cuba
  Denmark
  Greece
  Iran
  Indonesia
  Ireland
  Israel
  Jamaica
  Jersey
  Lebanon
  Lithuania
  Luxembourg
  Nigeria
  Peru
  Russia
  Serbia
  Singapore

### Withdrawing

 Armenia
  Austria
  Bangladesh
  Belgium
  Czechia
  Ecuador
  Gibraltar
  Latvia
  Liechtenstein
  Malta
  Moldova
  Netherlands
  Nicaragua
  Norway
  Palau
  Palestine
  Puerto Rico
  Saint Pierre and Miquelon
  Spain
  Sri Lanka
  Türkiye

## 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

 Morocco
 "Preferisco Te" by CARA and Chadia Rodriguez

After their victory in Paris, the city of Kraków in Poland hosted the 21st OrbisVision Song Contest!

This was Poland's first time hosting and also the eleventh time in a row the contest has been to Europe. Poland was also the second former Communist state after Russia (who hosted OVSC16) to host.

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

43 countries have confirmed their participation.

The contest was won by Morocco with the song "Preferisco Te" by CARA and Chadia Rodriguez. This was Morocco's first ever victory, making the first African country to ever win the contest.

## Location

### Host city

Kraków is the chief city of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship (voivodeship is the name for a Polish administrative region) in the south of Poland.

At its core is a beautifully-preserved medieval town on the banks of the River Wisła or Vistula, and it's Poland's top tourist draw. The modern city, with a population of 780,000 (2021), stretches way beyond, including the communist-era "new town" of Nowa Huta.

    In English, the city's name used to be spelled "Cracow". But 21st-century visitors have discovered it via budget airlines and travel booking sites that always call it "Kraków" so the older spelling isn't used here. The diacritical mark over the "o" changes the pronunciation from "o" to "u".
Kraków is one of the oldest cities in Poland, with evidence showing settlements there since 20,000 BC. Legend has it that it was built on the cave of a dragon whom the mythical King Krak had slain. This dragon is famously known as the Wawel Dragon on which a fire-breathing statue of the legendary dragon, a famous tourist attraction, can be found in the city.

    However, the first official mention of the name was in 966 by a Jewish merchant from Spain, who described it as an important centre of trade in Slavonic Europe.
Through trade with the various rulers of Europe, it grew from a small settlement in 1000 AD to a large wealthy city, belonging to the Vistulans.

    However, through the 9th and 10th centuries, it fell under the influence of the Great Moravians, then the Bohemians, before being captured by the Piast Dynasty of Poland. In 1038, Casimir I the Restorer made Kraków the capital of Poland.

    In 1241, the city was almost entirely destroyed by Tatars. It was rebuilt to a design that remains largely unchanged to the present day. However, after more successful attacks by the Mongols in the late 13th century, Casimir I the Great set about defending the city.

Walls, fortifications, and the original Wawel Castle were added. The Jagiellonian University was also established in 1364.

King Casimir established the district of Kazimierz, the modern city's Jewish quarter, for Jews to live in free from persecution. This area remained mainly Jewish for centuries until the Nazi occupation.

The 16th century was Kraków's golden age. Under the influence of the joint Polish-Lithuanian Jagiellonian dynasty, Kraków became a centre of science and the arts.

In 1569, Poland was officially united with Lithuania and as a result government activity started to move to Warsaw. King Sigismund III Vasa officially moved the capital in 1609.

    However, the 17th century was a return to troubled times for Kraków and Poland. After being invaded by Russians, Prussians, Austrians, Transylvanians, Swedes, and the French, it went through a phase of various forms of political control.
These included being part of the Duchy of Warsaw, established by Napoleon, and becoming an "independent city". However, it mostly fell under the sphere of influence of the Austrian Habsburg Empire, in the historic province of Galicia, not to be confused with the Galicia region in Spain.

    In the First World War, Józef Piłsudski set out to liberate Poland and the Treaty of Versailles (1919) established an independent sovereign Polish state for the first time in more than 100 years.

This lasted until the Second World War, when Germany and the USSR partitioned the country, with German forces entering Kraków in September 1939.

Many academics were killed and historic relics and monuments were destroyed or looted. Concentration camps were established near Kraków, including Plaszow and Auschwitz; see Holocaust remembrance.

    After German withdrawal, the city escaped complete destruction and many buildings were saved.

In the Communist period, a large steel work factory was established in the suburb of Nowa Huta. This was seen as an attempt to lessen the influence of the anti-communist intelligentsia and religious communities in Kraków.

In 1978, UNESCO placed Kraków on the World Heritage Sites list. In the same year, the Archbishop of Kraków, Karol Wojtyła, was made Pope John Paul II.

The communist government collapsed in 1989 and Kraków has undergone another period of regeneration, with historic buildings being restored, but many of the dull post-war buildings still remain.

### Venue

The Tauron Arena Kraków is an indoor arena located in Kraków, Poland. It has a seating capacity of 15,030 for sporting events. It hosted the 2014 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship tournament, 2016 European League of Legends Championship Finals and 2015 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division I.

Tauron Arena Kraków is the largest and one of most modern entertainment and sports venues in Poland.

It allows to host a variety of sports events, including badminton, boxing, curling, acrobatic and artistic gymnastics, indoor football, hockey, basketball, track and field, figure skating, volleyball, handball, martial arts, extreme sports, tennis, table tennis, equestrian competitions, and sports dancing competitions. The arena meets the requirements for the organization of world championship events.

The facility is also adapted to the organization of trade fairs, concerts, performances, congresses, conferences and business events. Events also take place in the area around the venue and in the smaller adjoined arena, which serves both as a training hall and a place for organizing smaller events

The facility area has 61,434 m², with maximum area of the arena court of 4 546 m². The average capacity is 18,000 for concerts, and 15,000 for sport events, with maximum number of spectators being 22,000.

The Arena boasts Poland's largest LED media façade, with a total surface of 5,200 m² of LED strip lighting, wrapping around the stadium, and one of Europe's largest LED screens, measuring over 540 m².

Some of the music stars that have performed here include Michael Bublé, Sir Elton John, Slash, Bryan Adams, Ennio Morricone, Queen + Adam Lambert, Katy Perry, Robbie Williams, Foo Fighters, André Rieu, Hans Zimmer, Il Divo, Maroon 5, Black Sabbath, Justin Bieber, Martin Garrix, Enrique Iglesias, Green Day, Kings of Leon, Rod Stewart, Aerosmith, Linkin Park, System of a Down, Andrea Bocelli, Bruno Mars, David Guetta, Sting, Metallica, Paul McCartney, Shawn Mendes, KISS, Muse, Rage Against The Machine, 5 Seconds of Summer, Harry Styles and Celine Dion.

### Bidding process

Before the switch of broadcaster from TVP to Polsat, TVP announced after the Polish victory in Paris that they would begin a bidding process to find a host city for OVSC21. Six cities were selected to bid for hosting rights for the contest. These cities are Kraków, Gliwice, Gdańsk/Sopot (in a joint bid), Łódź, Katowice and Wrocław.

Krakow was the winning bid having garnered the most votes and they became the host city of OVSC21, with the 22,000-capacity Tauron Arena as the venue.

Winning bid is marked in blue, other bids are marked in magenta.

 Gliwice
 Gdańsk/Sopot
 Łódź
 Katowice
 Wrocław

## Participating countries

### Semi-final 1

Japan, The Gambia and the United States will vote in this semi-final. Qualifiers are marked in blue.

### Semi-final 2

South Korea, Canada and Poland will vote in this semi-final. Qualifiers are marked in blue.