OVSC31

## 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

 Guam
 "What Was I Made For?" by Billie Eilish

After their long-awaited 2nd victory in Belgium, the OrbisVision Song Contest returned to the United Kingdom for the 31st OrbisVision Song Contest, for the first time in the Scottish city of Glasgow!

This is the 3rd time the UK hosted the contest, the first time it's been hosted outside of England and the 16th time the contest had been hosted in Europe. It's also the second time in a row that OVSC had been to Europe after the previous edition in Antwerp, Belgium.

The contest consisted of 3 shows, 2 semi-finals and a Grand Final.

44 countries have confirmed their participation.

Armenia were to originally participate in the contest, but due to their HoD's personal problems, they withdrew and left the Discord server with Armenia eventually being replaced by Israel.

The contest was won for the first time by Guam, with the song "What Was I Made For?" by Billie Eilish. This is the first time a territory of the United States won and the sixth time a country in Oceania won.

## Location

### Host city

Glasgow (**Glesga** in Scots, **Glaschu** in Scottish Gaelic) is the biggest city in Scotland, with a population more than 600,000 in the city itself, or over 2 million if the surrounding towns of the Clydeside conurbation are taken into account.

Located at the west end of Scotland's Central Belt on the banks of the River Clyde, Glasgow's historical importance as Scotland's main industrial center has been challenged by decades of change and various regeneration efforts.

The third largest city in the entire United Kingdom (by population), it remains one of the nation's key economic centers outside London.

Glasgow has been awarded the European titles of City of Culture (1990), City of Architecture and Design (1999), and Capital of Sport (2003).

In 2008, Glasgow became the second Scottish city to join the UNESCO Creative Cities initiative when it was named a UNESCO City of Music (joining Bologna and Seville).

In preparing its bid, Glasgow counted an average of 130 music events a week ranging from pop and rock to Celtic music and opera.

The city has transformed itself from being the once mighty powerhouse of industrial Britain to a center for commerce, tourism, and culture. Glasgow was the host city for the Commonwealth Games in 2014.

Glasgow has become one of the most visited cities in the British Isles, and visitors will find a revitalized city center, the best shopping outside London without a doubt, excellent parks and museums (most of which are free), and easy access to the Highlands and Islands.

The area around Glasgow has hosted communities for millennia, with the River Clyde providing a natural location for fishing.

The Romans later built outposts in the area and, to keep Roman Britannia separate from the Gaelic and Pictish Caledonia, constructed the Antonine Wall, the remains of which can still be seen in Glasgow today.

Glasgow itself was founded by the Christian missionary Saint Mungo in the 6th century.

He established a church on the Molendinar Burn, where the present Glasgow Cathedral stands, and in the following years, Glasgow became a religious center.

Its name is derived from the Gaelic Glas chu which translates literally as "green hollow"; over the centuries this has become romanticized to mean "dear green place" which is often cited as a nickname for the city.

By the 16th century, the city's trades and craftsmen had begun to wield significant influence and the city had become an important trading center with the Clyde providing access to the city and the rest of Scotland for merchant shipping.

The access to the Atlantic Ocean allowed the importation of American tobacco and cotton, and Caribbean sugar, which were then traded throughout the United Kingdom and Europe.

The de-silting of the Clyde in the 1770s allowed bigger ships to move further up the river, thus laying the foundations for industry and shipbuilding in Glasgow during the 19th century.

The abundance of coal and iron in Lanarkshire led to Glasgow becoming an industrial city, and it eventually came to be known as "the Second City of the Empire". Cotton factories and textile mills became large employers in Glasgow and the local region.

Trading allowed Glasgow to become one of the richest cities in the world, and the merchants constructed spectacular buildings and monuments and reinvested their money in industrial development, a municipal public transport system, parks, museums, and libraries.

As the city's wealth increased, its center expanded westwards as the lush Victorian architecture of what is now known as the Merchant City area began to spring up.

As this new development took place, the focus of Glasgow's central area moved away from its medieval origins at High Street, Trongate, Saltmarket, and Rottenrow, and these areas fell into partial dereliction, something which is in places still evident to the present day.

However, the city's industrial dominance would eventually come to an end.

Glasgow did not escape the effects of the Great Depression, and though the outbreak of the second world war temporarily arrested the ongoing decline, the period after the war saw the greatest decline in its industrial base.

Although ships and trains were still being built on Clydeside (as of today, only three major shipyards remain on the River Clyde, two of which are owned by BAE Systems Naval Ships), cheap labor abroad reduced the competitiveness of Glasgow's industries.

By the 1960s, Glasgow had gone into economic decline, and Glasgow's function as a port diminished with the introduction of containerized freight.

Facing a future without the dominant heavy industries which had brought it much wealth in the past, the city began to depopulate the overcrowded center, dispersing the population to outer areas and new towns and building new motorways in order to allow a new service-based economy to flourish.

The infamous tenement slums (many of which had been destroyed or badly damaged by wartime bombs) were replaced by a new generation of high-rise housing and large suburban housing estates (known locally as "schemes").

Whilst the hundreds of new tower blocks changed the city's skyline forever, the high-rise edifices broke up long-established community relationships and social structures.

Coupled with poor design and low-quality construction, some of the blocks created as many problems as they solved and became magnets for crime and deprivation.

Facing a future without the dominant heavy industries which had brought it much wealth in the past, the city began to depopulate the overcrowded center, dispersing the population to outer areas and new towns and building new motorways in order to allow a new service-based economy to flourish.

The infamous tenement slums (many of which had been destroyed or badly damaged by wartime bombs) were replaced by a new generation of high-rise housing and large suburban housing estates (known locally as "schemes").

Whilst the hundreds of new tower blocks changed the city's skyline forever, the high-rise edifices broke up long-established community relationships and social structures.

Coupled with poor design and low-quality construction, some of the blocks created as many problems as they solved and became magnets for crime and deprivation.

Since the 1980s, Glasgow has been rebuilding both its image and its architecture, with extensive efforts to clean and refurbish surviving tenement flats, redevelop the western end of the central area into a financial district, and host renowned festivals.

Glasgow now boasts the largest contemporary art scene in the UK outside of London, which is centered around the annual Glasgow International arts festival.

### Venue

The OVO Hydro is a multi-purpose indoor arena located within the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow, Scotland.

The arena was initially named The Hydro after its main sponsor Scottish Hydro Electric.

The arena was known as The SSE Hydro until October 2021, when it was announced that the name was to change to "OVO Hydro", after its new sponsor OVO Energy, with a focus on making the venue more sustainable.

The arena was officially opened on 30 September 2013, with a concert by Rod Stewart.

The OVO Hydro arena is located adjacent to the SEC Centre and the SEC Armadillo and hosts international musical stars, global entertainment and sporting events; with a maximum capacity of 14,300 and aims to attract one million visitors each year.

The arena was the largest entertainment venue in Scotland, before the opening of Aberdeen's P&J Live in 2019, and the fifth largest in the UK.

It was home to the netball and gymnastics events at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

In 2016, the arena handled 751,487 ticket sales; making it the eighth-busiest music arena in the world in terms of ticket sales. It also hosted the UFC's first event in Scotland.

In 2019, the Hydro was the second busiest venue in the world behind Madison Square Garden in New York City. The venue attracts over 1 million visitors per year, making it a regular feature in the top ten arenas globally.

## Participating countries

### Semi-final 1

Croatia, the United Kingdom and Andorra will vote in this semi-final. Qualifiers are marked in blue.

### Semi-final 2

Chile, Somalia and Italy will vote in this semi-final. Qualifiers are marked in blue.