Majuro-Ajeltake 2096

**Oceanivision Majuro-Ajeltake 2096** is set to be the 25th annual edition held on the island of Majuro in Ajeltake, The Marshall Islands following The Marshall Islands' victory in Melbourne the previous year. This was the second time the Marshall Islands won the contest, and the third time a country won twice, the first since Gold Coast 2084. Victoria and the Solomon Islands are still the only two countries to win more than twice. With The Marshall Islands finally winning a second time, will other countries be able follow suit?

Sixteen cities were in contention to host this year; they were narrowed down to 8: Ebon-Toka, Enewetak, the capital Jaluit-Jabor, Kwajalein, Majuro-Ajeltake, Maloelep-Kaven, Namu-Mae, and previous host city Wotje. These were further narrowed down to just 4: Ebon-Toka, Jaluit-Jabor, Majuro-Ajeltake, and Wotje, then finally between Ebon-Toka and Majuro-Ajeltake with Majuro-Ajeltake ultimately being chosen as 2096's host city.

No country debuted this year, ending a 3-year debutant streak. Although this year a record number of countries withdrew from the contest; Kalimari, New Kanangri, Northern Desert, Queensland, South Mesa, Tasmanija, and the first "First 4" country to withdraw, that being Victoria. Luckily the 3 countries that withdrew in 2095, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vanuatu, all returned, bringing the total number of participants to 21 countries; the lowest since Muara 2090.

Fiji achieved its 1st victory after 18 entries (the most as of 2096) with the song Kom Deg opp av Vanner! (Get Out of the Water!). The country gathered 106 points from the song, a new record amount of points ever scored; beating Victoria's record by 1 point and beating Northern Desert's record-winning margin by 2 with a 24-point gap with second place. Celebes came in 2nd, another amazing placement for a newer country (South Mesa and The Philippines come to mind). Sri Lanka came third, finally beating their tied for first 4th place in 2092, Micronesia ended up in 4th, achieving this placement for the second time in a row, and New Zealand rounded out the top 5, their second-best placement since their return in 2091 (where they placed 4th).

## Participants

The following countries have confirmed their participation for 2093 as of 01 January 2094:

* Brunei -
* Celebes -
* Fiji -
* Indonesia -
* Kiribati -
* Malaysia -
* The Maldives -
* The Marshall Islands -
* Micronesia -
* New Guinea\* -
* New Zealand -
* Pacifica Islands\* -
* Palau -
* The Philippines -
* Singapore -
* Solomon Islands -
* Sri Lanka -
* Timor\* -
* Tonga -
* Tuvalu -
* Vanuatu -

### Allocation Draw

Each country randomly draws a number, that number being their performing placement. The host draws their placement first, then the automatic qualifiers draw their placements, finally, every other country draws theirs.

### Grand Final

All countries voted. The final took place on 08 August 2091. \*indicates an automatic qualifier

### Official Rankings

1. **Fiji**
2. Celebes
3. Sri Lanka
4. Micronesia
5. New Zealand
6. New Guinea\*
7. Indonesia
8. Timor\* (Tie-8th)
9. Singapore (Tie-8th)
10. Kiribati (Tie-10th)
11. Tonga (Tie-10th)
12. Malaysia (Tie-12th)
13. The Marshall Islands (Tie-12th)
14. The Philippines
15. Vanuatu
16. Palau
17. Tuvalu
18. Solomon Islands
19. Pacifica Islands\*
20. The Maldives
21. Brunei

## Withdrawing/Uncertain

7 countries decided to withdraw due to the Australian Continental Broadcaster Meeting, a yearly conference for every Australian Broadcaster. This meeting requests that all broadcasters not participate in that year's Oceanivision and instead use the money to help fund it. Kalimari, New Kanangri, Northern Desert, Queensland, South Mesa, Tasmanija, and Victoria\* are the 7 countries.

* Bengal - *BNRT* applied for an OBU membership on 01 February 2096, which was accepted on 02 March 2096 making them eligible to debut in 2099 if they so please.
* Bengal/Kashmir - *BNKM-BU* applied for an OBU membership on 01 February 2096, which was accepted on 02 March 2096. *BNKM-BU* is a joint broadcaster between 2 or more countries, so it cannot participate unless it belongs to only one country. *BNKM-BU* joining as a member allows Kashmir to broadcast the contest, but if Kashmir wants to participate, they must apply with their own separate broadcaster.
* East African Islands - *RTV-EAI* confirmed on 01 September 2095 that the East African Islands will not debut in 2096.
* Japan - *JPBC* confirmed on 01 October 2095 that Japan will not debut in 2096.
* Kalimari - *KAMTV* confirmed on 23 November 2095 that Kalimari will not participate in 2096.
* New Kanangri - *NKTV/NKRC* confirmed on 23 November 2095 that New Kanangri will not participate in 2096.
* Northern Desert - *NDDRT* confirmed on 23 November 2095 that Northern Desert will not participate in 2096.
* Polynesia - *PYNR/PYTV* is not eligible to debut until 2098 due to the 2-Year Independence Rule.
* Queensland - *QRT* confirmed on 23 November 2095 that Queensland will not participate in 2096.
* Siam - *BCSiam* confirmed on 17 September 2095 that Siam will not debut in 2096.
* South Mesa - *SMERT* confirmed on 23 November 2095 that South Mesa will not participate in 2096.
* Tasmanija - *T-TM* confirmed on 23 November 2095 that Tasmanija will not participate in 2096.
* Victoria\* - *VITE* confirmed on 23 November 2095 that Victoria will not participate in 2096.

## Other Countries

These are countries that aren't part of the OBU but are still in association with them.

* Alaska broadcasts the event and has applied to participate in the event (they are very avid fans of the contest), but have been declined by the OBU citing that the country is too distant and may disrupt voting. The OBU mentioned that it's possible for Alaska to join in the future, but only when the contest becomes more solid and the participants increase in number.
* Bangladesh broadcasts the event
* California broadcasts the event
* Chile broadcasts the event
* Columbia broadcasts the event
* Costa Rica broadcasts the event
* Hawai'i broadcasts the event
* Kamchatka broadcasts the event
* Kashmir broadcasts the event
* Kolyma Plains broadcasts the event
* Manchuria broadcasts the event
* Okhotsk broadcasts the event
* Peru broadcasts the event
* Southern Korea broadcasts the event
* Taiwan broadcasts the event

## Trivia

* This year's contest was held on 12 January 2023
* 2096 used a physical draw to determine the placements in the Grand Final
* 2096 continued to use computer-based randomization for voting, although country names would not be added, instead just a simple "Every Country" took each country's place
	+ Randomizations were kept somewhat anonymous to prevent pre-contest spoiling
* The order of revealing points was the not normal 01-21; points were checked every 7 delegations to make sure everything was up-to-date
* Celebes, Fiji, and Sri Lanka obtained the most amount of points than they ever have
	+ Celebes, Fiji, and Sri Lanka achieved their best placements
	+ The Philippines achieved its best non-top 3 placements, while Micronesia tied its best record
* There were fewer ties this year, all of which were in a row; 3 2-country ties
* The maximum amount of countries that could perform was not present at this contest. 21 out of the maximum 28 countries confirmed their participation.
	+ This was the lowest since Muara 2090
	+ This breaks the record for most withdrawals in one year and on one day.
* The 7 withdrawing countries:
	+ Victoria is the first original 4 and (big) 4 country to withdraw, ending a [perfect] 24-year participation streak; they've had it since their debut.
	+ New Kanangri broke their [perfect] 23-year participation streak; they've had it since their debut. They chose to send both of their official broadcasters to the *ACBM* instead of letting only one take on the responsibility of their delegation.
	+ Northern Desert broke their [perfect] 10-year participation streak; they've had it since their debut. They also hope that this can rebound from their bad 2095 result.
	+ South Mesa broke their [perfect] 3-year participation streak; they've had it since their debut. This withdrawal will most likely keep them as one of the best countries in the '90s.
	+ Tasmanija, Kalimari, and Queensland haven't withdrawn since the '80s; Tasmanija when it was still Tasmania; Kalimari when it wasn't confident in it's performance in the contest; and Queensland when the country needed to end its streak for lower placements.
* This was the first time the 21st position in the final won
* {This year had the first country to reach above 1,000 total points, New Kanangri}