Levuka 2097

**Oceanivision Levuka 2097** is set to be the 26th annual edition held in Levuka, Fiji following Fiji's victory in Majuro-Ajeltake the previous year. This was the first time Fiji won the contest, it took the 18 entries to be able to win, the longest it ever has taken a country, beating New Guinea's record from 2082. Victoria and the Solomon Islands are still the only two countries to win more than twice. With Fiji winning, the chance for a country to win **again** is more likely, so will other countries be able achieve another victory?

Sixteen cities were in contention to host this year; they were narrowed down to 8: Ba, Levuka, Monothaki, Nanduri, Solevu, the capital Suva, Viani, and Yalobi. These were further narrowed down to just 4: Levuka, Solevu, Suva, and Viani, then finally between Levuka and Solevu with Levuka ultimately being chosen as 2097's host city.

Kalimari, New Kanangri, Northern Desert, Queensland, South Mesa, and Victoria all returned to the contest after 1 year away. Tasmanija decided not to return this year, making another year without every possible country. Although this year now holds the record for the most participating countries with 27 delegations!

The Solomon Islands achieved its 5th victory, tying Victoria's record, with the song Soggy Pizza (Soggy Pizza). The country gathered 84 points from the song, tying the lowest winning score in the 12-point era, with the exception of the 4-way tie in 2092. Northern Desert and Tuvalu tied for 2nd, with the former receiving more sets of points than the latter, edging them out for the higher placement. Micronesia ended up in 4th for the third time in a row, nearly winning again. The Maldives and Indonesia tied for 5th, but The Maldives edged out Indonesia in terms of sets of points given; this is The Maldives' best placement, but still the only country to not have a top-3 placement.

## Participants

The following countries have confirmed their participation for 2097 as of 01 January 2096:

* Brunei - Hidup dan Berjuang
* Celebes - My Remedy
* Fiji - Tidløs
* Indonesia - Saya Melihat Dunia
* Kalimari - my therapist is a plant - Kyjackal
* Kiribati - Why am I crying for You?
* Malaysia - Menyesali
* The Maldives - Der Herrschaft
* The Marshall Islands - Zero Gravity
* Micronesia - Ingen i Morgen
* New Guinea\* - Feu Dans Mon Sang
* New Kanangri - Notre Dernière Danse
* New Zealand - You're the only one
* Northern Desert - Symphonies
* Pacifica Islands\* - Satisfied
* Palau - Standing in an Empty Room
* The Philippines - Uptown Ballons - Sunporpoise
* Queensland - Come at me!
* Singapore - Penyembuh
* Solomon Islands - Soggy Pizza - Ninjalamby
* South Mesa - Peachy Words
* Sri Lanka - Pearl
* Timor\* - Hey, you
* Tonga - Bytte Sengetrekk
* Tuvalu - Van Zonsondergang Tot Zonsopgang
* Vanuatu - Jive
* Victoria\* - I Would

### 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 03 August 2097. \*indicates an automatic qualifier

### Official Rankings

1. Solomon Islands
2. Northern Desert (Tie-2nd)
3. Tuvalu (Tie-2nd)
4. Micronesia
5. The Maldives (Tie-5th)
6. Indonesia (Tie-5th)
7. Vanuatu
8. Kalimari
9. Malaysia
10. Fiji
11. New Guinea\*
12. Singapore
13. Tonga
14. Victoria\* (Tie-14th)
15. The Marshall Islands (Tie-14th)
16. Timor\*
17. Pacifica Islands\*
18. Kiribati
19. Sri Lanka
20. Queensland (Tie-20th)
21. Brunei (Tie-20th)
22. The Philippines
23. Palau
24. South Mesa
25. New Zealand
26. New Kanangri
27. Celebes

## Withdrawing/Uncertain

* 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* 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 2096 that the East African Islands will not debut in 2097.
* Japan - *JPBC* confirmed on 01 October 2096 that Japan will not debut in 2097.
* Polynesia - *PYNR/PYTV* is not eligible to debut until 2098 due to the 2-Year Independence Rule.
* Siam - *BCSiam* confirmed on 01 November 2096 that Siam will not debut in 2097.
* Tasmanija - *T-TM* confirmed on 03 November 2096 that Tasmanija will not participate in 2097.

## 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
* Bosnia and Herzegovina broadcasts the event
* California broadcasts the event
* Chile broadcasts the event
* Columbia broadcasts the event
* Congo broadcasts the event
* Costa Rica broadcasts the event
* Croatia broadcasts the event
* Czech Republic broadcasts the event
* Finland broats the event
* Hawai'i broadcasts the event
* Kamchatka broadcasts the event
* Kashmir broadcasts the event
* Kenya broadcasts the event
* Kolyma Plains broadcasts the event
* Luxembourg broadcasts the event
* Manchuria broadcasts the event
* Mongolia broadcasts the event
* Norway broadcasts the event
* Okhotsk broadcasts the event
* Peru broadcasts the event
* Sao Republic broadcasts the event
* Serbia broadcasts the event
* Slovakia broadcasts the event
* Slovenia broadcasts the event
* Southern Korea broadcasts the event
* Taiwan broadcasts the event
* Ukraine broadcasts the event

## Trivia

* This year's contest was held on 03 February 2023
* 2097 used a physical draw to determine the placements in the Grand Final
* 2097 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 normal 01-27; points were checked every 9 delegations to make sure everything was up-to-date
* The Maldives obtained the most amount of points than they ever have
	+ The Maldives achieved its best placements, while Solomon Islands tied its best
	+ Malaysia and The Maldives achieved their best non-top 3 placements, while Micronesia tied its best record
* There were some ties this year, one of them was for second place; 4 2-country ties
* The maximum amount of countries that could perform was not present at this contest. 27 out of the maximum 28 countries confirmed their participation.
	+ This was the most ever in a single year
* This was the second time the 1st position in the final won; Queensland was the first holder of this title
* The OBU opened the broadcasting rights to the rest of the world; many countries accepted the offer and now broadcast the event