OMSC 37

Online Music Song Contest 37, often referred to as OMSC 37, was the thirty-seventh edition of Online Music Song Contest, held in Gold Coast, after Australia won the previous edition of the contest.

The Pre-Qualification Round of OMSC 37 occured on the 26ᵗʰ March 2023, the Semi-Finals on the 2ⁿᵈ April 2023 while the Final occured on the 9ᵗʰ April 2023. Fifty countries participated in the thirty-seventh contest, under the slogan “Smash Your Competition!”.

Montenegro won the contest with the song "Senida (Сенида)", sung entirely in Serbian, receving a total of 164 points. South Korea finished in second place with a margin of just one point from the winner, while Austria finished in third place. They were followed by Algeria, which reached the fourth place and the Turks and Caicos Islands which reached the fifth place.

Location
After it’s victory in the previous edition, the broadcaster ABC chose to host the contest in the sixth-largest city in Australia, Gold Coast, which has a population of over 600,000 inhabitants. It is located in the southeast corner of Queensland, to the south of Brisbane, the state capital. The Albert River separates the Gold Coast from Logan City, a local government area south of the City of Brisbane.

The Gold Coast is the ancestral home of a number of Indigenous clans of the Yugambeh people, including the Kombumerri, Mununjali, and Wangerriburra clans. Europeans arrived in 1823 when explorer John Oxley landed at Mermaid Beach. The hinterland's red cedar supply attracted people to the area in the mid-19ᵗʰ century. A number of small townships developed along the coast and in the hinterland. By 1873, the town reserve of Burleigh Heads had also been surveyed and successful land sales had taken place. In 1875, the small settlement opposite the boat passage at the head of the Nerang River was surveyed and renamed Southport, with the first land sales scheduled to take place in Beenleigh. Southport quickly grew a reputation as a holiday destination for wealthy Brisbane residents.

Post-World War One Era saw the rise of the “seaside shack”. The seaside shack provided the opportunity for the coastal “getaway” with modest investment. From 1914 to 1946, they popped up all along the South Coast. After the establishment of the Surfers Paradise Hotel in the late 1920s, the Gold Coast region grew significantly. The Gold Coast was originally known as the South Coast (because it was south of Brisbane). However, over-inflated prices for real estate and other goods and services led to the nickname of "Gold Coast" from 1950. The Town of South Coast was formed through the amalgamation of Town of Coolangatta and Town of Southport along with the coastal areas from the Shire of Nerang. The area boomed in the 1980s as a leading tourist destination. In 1994, the City of Gold Coast local government area was expanded to include the Shire of Albert, becoming the second most populous local government area in Australia after the City of Brisbane.

Nowadays, the Gold Coast is a major tourist destination with a sunny, subtropical climate and has become widely known for its world-class surfing beaches, high-rise dominated skyline, theme parks, nightlife, and rainforest hinterland. The city is part of the nation's entertainment industry with television productions and a major film industry. In 2018 the Gold Coast hosted the Commonwealth Games.

Participants
Fifty countries participated in the thirty-seventh edition of the contest: fifteen European countries (Åland Islands, Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Lithuania, Malta, Montenegro, Serbia, Sweden, Ukraine, United Kingdom), thirteen Asian countries (China, Georgia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Macao, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey), nine American countries (Bonaire, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico, Turks and Caicos Islands, United States of America), eight Oceanian countries (American Samoa, Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Marshall Islands, Tonga) and five African countries (Algeria, Comoros, Egypt, São Tomé and Príncipe, Somalia).

In this edition the Comoros and the Cook Islands participated for the first time.

Incidents
• United Kingdom – The United Kingdom had originally planned to participate in the OMSC 37 represented by Freya Ridings and her song "Weekends". However, the singer had to withdraw for unknown reasons, probably due to the sudden disappearence of the head of delegation. ‎‎‎‎‎Following the withdrawal of Freya Ridings, BBC selected internally another representative for the contest during a meeting on the 5ᵗʰ March 2023. SVN was offered the proposal and they eventually accepted the offer to represent the United Kingdom.