Our Perfect Song Contest 18

**Our Perfect Song Contest 18** is the eighteenth edition of Our Perfect Song Contest. The contest took place in **Trondheim** after **Norway's** victory with Susanne Sundfor in the 17th edition. A total of 42 countries competed in Our Perfect Song Contest 17. Countries from TOP 6 previous edition  Norway  Australia  Chile  San Marino  United States and  Kazakhstan are directly qualified to the final, while the other competing countries are split into two Semi-Finals.  Hungary withdrew and  Taiwan debuted to the contest . The contest was won by  Canada with 300 points.

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

## **Location**

### ***Host Country***

**Norway** , officially the **Kingdom of Norway**, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe whose mainland territory comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula; Mainland Norway and the remote island of Jan Mayen as well as the archipelago of Svalbard form Metropolitan Norway. The subantarctic Bouvet Island is a dependent territory of the Kingdom of Norway. Norway also lays claim to the Antarctic territories of Queen Maud Land and Peter I Island.

Norway has a total area of 385,207 square kilometres (148,729 sq mi) and a population of 5,312,300 (as of August 2018). The country shares a long eastern border with Sweden (1,619 km or 1,006 mi long). Norway is bordered by Finland and Russia to the north-east, and the Skagerrak strait to the south, with Denmark on the other side. Norway has an extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea. The maritime influence also dominates Norway's climate with mild lowland temperatures on the sea coasts, whereas the interior, while colder, is also a lot milder than areas elsewhere in the world on such northerly latitudes. Even during polar night in the north, temperatures above freezing are commonplace on the coastline. The maritime influence brings high rainfall and snowfall to some areas of the country.

### ***Host City***

**Trondheim**, historically **Kaupangen**, **Nidaros** and **Trondhjem**, is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It has a population of 199,039 (27/02/2020), and is the third most populous municipality in Norway, although the fourth largest urban area. Trondheim lies on the south shore of Trondheim Fjord at the mouth of the River Nidelva. The city is dominated by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), the Foundation for Scientific and Industrial Research (SINTEF), St. Olavs University Hospital and other technology-oriented institutions.

The settlement was founded in 997 as a trading post, and it served as the capital of Norway during the Viking Age until 1217. From 1152 to 1537, the city was the seat of the Catholic Archdiocese of Nidaros; since then, it has remained the seat of the Lutheran Diocese of Nidaros and the Nidaros Cathedral. It was incorporated in 1838. The current municipality dates from 1964, when Trondheim merged with Byneset, Leinstrand, Strinda and Tiller.

### ***Venue***

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

**Trondheim Spektrum** (formerly **Nidarøhallen**) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Trondheim, Norway. It is located on the peninsula of Øya next to the Nidelven river. It is the home arena for women's handball team Byåsen HE. A new arena was completed in 2019 and replaced the largest multi-use hall in the same location. The eight former halls originally went by the name Nidarøhallen.

Next to the halls is the athletics facility Øya stadion and the Trondhjems Tennis Club (TTK) with four outdoor clay courts and indoor tennis hall.

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

The table below shows the hosting bids of OPSC 18 venues.

 Trondheim
 Baerum
 Hamar

## **Format**

### ***Hosts***

####

#### **SKAAR**

**Hilde Skaar**, mostly known as **SKAAR**, is a Norwegian pop singer/songwriter from the island of Stord. Born **Hilde Skaar** aka **SKAAR** from the small west coast island Stord in Norway, surrounded by fjords, forests, and mountains, she began writing music and playing guitar at a very young age. On this little island, she grew up experiencing total freedom and the feeling of belonging somewhere.**Hilde Skaar** entered the music scene at the age of 18 when she featured on TRXD’s smash hit “Wherever You Go”. Three years later she’s written tons of new music, including her debut single “Higher Ground”.

#### **Ylva Olaisen**

Ylva Johnsen Olaisen (born 19 June 2000 in Kristiansand ), known by the artist name YLVA , is a Norwegian artist . She became known through her participation in The Stream 2016, where she ended up in second place. There she got a record deal with Universal Music on live TV. Olaisen attended a music clinic at Vågsbygd High School in Kristiansand. Ylva's father and manager, Daniel Olaisen , is also a musician, albeit in a slightly different segment than her. He is a metal guitarist, and has played in bands such as Zerozonic, Blood Red Throne andSatyricon .

### ***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:

* China
* Denmark
* Poland
* Romania
* Sweden
* Israel
* Italy
* South Korea
* Switzerland
* Vietnam
* Japan
* Lithuania
* Moldova
* Singapore
* Faroe Islands
* India
* Iran
* Mexico
* Taiwan
* Germany
* Greece
* The Netherlands
* New Zealand
* Russia
* France
* Ireland
* Spain
* Thailand
* Ukraine

### ***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:  Norway  Australia  Chile  San Marino  United States and  Kazakhstan.

### ***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 SF2 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.