OVSC4

## 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

 Brazil
 "Não Te Amo" by Jão

After their win in Copenhagen, the OrbisVision Song Contest returned to the UK, this time in the capital London.

43 countries have confirmed their participation.

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

Originally, 44 countries were to participate with the Åland Islands supposed to be making a debut, but they didn't send their song on time so they were disqualified.

The winner was Brazil with the song "Não Te Amo" by Jão. This was their first victory, becoming the first South American country as well as the first country in the Southern Hemisphere to win the contest.

## Location

### Host city

Noisy, vibrant and truly multicultural, **London** is a megalopolis of people, ideas and frenetic energy. The capital and largest city of England, and of the wider United Kingdom, it is also the largest city in Western Europe.

Situated on the River Thames in South-East England, **Greater London** has an official population of a little over 8 million, but the estimate of between 12 and 14 million people in the greater metropolitan area better reflects its size and importance. Considered one of the world's leading "global cities", London remains an international capital of culture, music, education, fashion, politics, finance and trade.

Settlements have existed on the site of London since well before Roman times, with evidence of Bronze Age and Celtic inhabitants. The Roman city of *Londinium*, established just after the Roman conquest of Britannia in the year 43, formed the basis for the modern city (some isolated Roman period remains are still to be seen within the City).

After the end of Roman rule in 410 and a short-lived decline, London experienced a gradual revival under the Anglo-Saxons, as well as the Norsemen, and emerged as a great medieval trading city, eventually replacing Winchester as the royal capital of England. This paramount status for London was confirmed when William the Conqueror, a Norman, built the Tower of London after the conquest in 1066 and was crowned King of England in Westminster.

London went from strength to strength with the rise of England to first European then global prominence, and the city became a great centre of culture, government and industry. London's long association with the theatre, for example, can be traced back to the English renaissance (witness the Rose Theatre and great playwrights like Shakespeare who made London their home).

With the rise of Britain to supreme maritime power in the 18th and 19th centuries (see Industrial Britain) and the possessor of the largest global empire, London became an imperial capital and drew people and influences from around the world to become, for many years, the largest city in the world.

England's royal family has, over the centuries, added much to the London scene for today's traveller: the Albert Memorial, Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, Royal Albert Hall, Tower of London, Kew Palace and Westminster Abbey being prominent examples.

Despite the decline of the British Empire, and suffering during the Second World War when London was heavily bombed by the German Luftwaffe in the Blitz, the city remains a top-tier world city: a global centre of culture, finance, and learning.

Today London is easily the largest city in the United Kingdom, eight times larger than the second largest, Birmingham, and ten times larger than the third, Glasgow, and dominates the economic, political and social life of the nation. It's full of excellent bars, galleries, museums, parks and theatres. It is also the most culturally and ethnically diverse part of the country, and arguably of the whole of Europe as well, making it a great multicultural city to visit.

Samuel Johnson famously said, "when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life". Whether you are interested in ancient history, modern art, opera or underground raves, London has it all.

### Venue

After the UK's win and the BBC's subsequent appointment as host broadcaster, they chose the O2 Arena in London to host the 4th OrbisVision Song Contest in a break from the usual bidding process.

The O2 Arena, temporarily known as the North Greenwich Arena at the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games due to IOC and IPC regulations on sponsorship names, is is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the centre of The O2 entertainment complex on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London. It opened in its present form on 24th June 2007. It has the second-highest seating capacity of any indoor venue in the United Kingdom, behind the Manchester Arena (currently the AO Arena), and in 2008 was the world's busiest music arena.

The arena was built under the former Millennium Dome, a large dome-shaped building built to house an exhibition celebrating the turn of the third millennium; as the structure still stands over the arena, *The Dome* remains a name in common usage for the venue.

The arena is capable of hosting a range of events such as live music, entertainment, comedy and sports. Notable musicians that have performed here include Lady Gaga, the Pet Shop Boys, Keane, Celine Dion, Prince, Billie Eilish and Sir Elton John. Since 2011, it has been host to the biggest night in British music, the BRIT Awards.

It was also used during the 2012 Summer Olympics for the basketball finals as well as the artistic and trampoline gymnastics. For the Paralympics that took place after the Olympics, it hosted the wheelchair basketball events.

The arena also has the highest number of ticket sales, more than New York's Madison Square Garden and Manchester's AO Arena.

## Participating countries

### Semi-final 1

Venezuela, Italy and Brazil will vote in this semi-final. Qualifiers are marked in blue.

### Semi-final 2

The United Kingdom, Honduras and the United States will vote in this semi-final. Qualifiers are marked in blue.