Our Perfect Song Contest 17

**Our Perfect Song Contest 17** is the seventeenth edition of Our Perfect Song Contest. The contest took place in **Tokyo** after **Japan** victory with Rina Sawayama in the 16th edition. A total of 42 countries competed in Our Perfect Song Contest 17. Countries from TOP 6 previous edition  Japan  India  France  Italy  Iran and  Chile are directly qualified to the final, while the other competing countries are split into two Semi-Finals.  Albania and  Czech Republic withdrew and  San Marino and  Switzerland returned to the contest . The contest was won by  Norway with 464 points.

To see previous edition, click here. To see the next edition, click here.

## **Location**

### ***Host Country***

**Japan**  is an island country in East Asia. It borders the Sea of Japan to the west, the Pacific Ocean to the east, and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea in the south. Part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, Japan is a stratovolcanic archipelago of nearly 7,000 islands and covers 375,000 square kilometers (145,000 sq mi); its five main islands, from north to south, are Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, and Okinawa. Tokyo is the country's capital and most populous city; other major cities include Osaka, Nagoya, and Fukuoka.

Japan is the eleventh most populous country in the world, as well as one of the most densely populated and urbanized. About three-fourths of the country's terrain is mountainous, concentrating its population of 126.2 million on narrow coastal plains. The largest urban area is the Greater Tokyo Area, which is also the most populous metropolitan area in the world with more than 37 million residents.

### ***Host City***

**Tokyo**, officially **Tokyo Metropolis** , is the capital and most populous prefecture of Japan. Located at the head of Tokyo Bay, the prefecture forms part of the Kantō region on the central Pacific coast of Japan's main island, Honshu. Tokyo is the political and economic center of the country, as well as the seat of the Emperor and the national government. The Greater Tokyo Area is the largest urban economy and the most populous metropolitan area in the world, with more than 37.4 million residents as of 2018.

Originally a fishing village named Edo, the city became a prominent political center in 1603, when it became the seat of the Tokugawa shogunate. By the mid-18th century, Edo was one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population numbering more than one million. Following the end of the shogunate in 1868, the imperial capital in Kyoto was moved to the city, which was renamed Tokyo (literally "eastern capital"). Tokyo was devastated by the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, and again by Allied bombing raids during World War II. Beginning in the 1950s, the city underwent rapid reconstruction and expansion, going on to lead Japan's post-war economic recovery. Since 1943, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has administered the prefecture's 23 special wards (formerly Tokyo City), various bed towns in the western area, and two outlying island chains.

### ***Venue***

#### ***Venue information***

**Tokyo Dome** is a stadium in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. Construction on the stadium began on May 16, 1985, and it opened on March 17, 1988. It was built on the site of the Velodrome, adjacent to the predecessor ballpark, Korakuen Stadium. It has a maximum total capacity of 57,000 depending on configuration, with an all-seating configuration of 42,000. Tokyo Dome's original nickname was "The Big Egg", with some calling it the "Tokyo Big Egg". Its dome-shaped roof is an air-supported structure, a flexible membrane supported by slightly pressurizing the inside of the stadium. It became the first Japanese venue with an American football attendance above 50,000.

#### ***Hosting Bids***

The table below shows the hosting bids of OPSC 17 venues.

## **Format**

### ***Hosts***

**Aimer** is a Japanese pop singer and lyricist signed to SME Records and managed by FOURseam. Her name comes from the verb "Aimer" in French, which means "to love". Her father was the bassist of a band, so Aimer grew up surrounded by music from a very young age. She began studying the piano in elementary school and highly looked up to Ringo Sheena and Utada Hikaru. In junior high school, listening to Avril Lavigne inspired her to take up guitar and began writing English lyrics. At the age of 15, Aimer lost her voice due to over-usage of her vocal cords and was forced to undergo silence therapy for treatment. However, that did not stop her, and after she recovered, she acquired her distinctive husky voice.

**Rina Sawayama** born 16 August 1990 is a Japanese-British singer, songwriter and model. Born in Niigata, she was raised from a young age in London, where she currently resides. Her debut extended play *Rina* was released in 2017, while her debut studio album *Sawayama* was released on 17 April 2020, both of which were critically acclaimed. Rina Sawayama won the previous edition of Our Perfect Song Contest with her song "XS", getting an amount of 443 points.

### ***Allocation Draw***

The semi finalists were divided into six pots based on previous voting patterns. After each country was drawn into its semi final, the half it would perform in was also decided.

The six pots were the following:

* Germany
* Lithuania
* Singapore
* Thailand
* Vietnam
* Greece
* Iceland
* Ireland
* Switzerland
* Ukraine
* Mexico
* Poland
* South Korea
* United Kingdom
* Finland
* Hungary
* Romania
* San Marino
* Sweden
* Faroe Islands
* Kazakhstan
* Moldova
* Norway
* Russia
* Bulgaria
* Israel
* New Zealand
* Spain
* The Netherlands

### ***Visual Design***

On 31st May 2020, the Japanese broadcaster presented the official artwork for the seventeenth edition of OPSC held in Tokyo. The slogan ***"blinding gold"*** basically has one meaning - f\*ck capitalism. It's related to the previous winner, "XS". As Rina Sawayama said:

“‘XS’ is a song that mocks capitalism in a sinking world. Given that we all know global climate change is accelerating and human extinction is a very real possibility within our lifetime it seemed hilarious to me that brands were still coming out with new makeup palettes every month and public figures were doing a gigantic house tour of their gated property in Calabasas in the same week as doing a ‘sad about Australian wild fires’ Instagram post...”

### ***Voting***

The voting format for OPSC is each country awarding points from their professional jury of 12, 10, 8-1. The participants have to give two different sets of votes - One will be jury, the other one will be Televote.

### ***Big 6***

In the contest, the top six from the previous edition make up a **Big 6**, in different way **Pre-Qualified** or **Automatically qualiified** countries. The six countries won't compete in the Semi-Finals, but they will mandatory have to vote in them. The big 6 members of OPSC 16 are:  Japan  India  France  Italy  Iran and  Chile.

### ***Semi-Finals***

In the Semi-Finals, a total of 36 countries will compete. 36 competeting nations from the current edition will be split into two semi-finals. There will be 18 competeting countries in each semi-final. The top 10 songs will make it to the Grand Final and continue fighting for the win.

### ***Grand Final***

The Final will consist of 26 countries that participated in the edition. The countries competeting in the Grand Final will be the Pre-qualified countries and 20 qualifiers from the Semi-Finals. All countries competeting in the edition will have to vote in the show, containing the Non-Qualifiers. The winner will be chosen by the Proffesional Jury votes and Televote.

## **Results**

### ***Semi-Final 1***

The first semi final took place on 3rd June. All SF1 participants and Big 6 members had to vote in the semi-final.

### ***Semi-Final 2***

The second semi final took place on TBA. All SF1 participants and Big 6 members had to vote in the semi-final.

### ***Grand Final***

The first semi final took place on TBA. All countries competeting in the edition, including the non-qualifiers had to vote.