OMSC 15

Online Music Song Contest 15, often referred to as OMSC 15, was the fifteenth edition of Online Music Song Contest, held in Helsinki, after Finland won the previous edition of the contest.

The Semi-Finals of OMSC 15 occured on the 20ᵗʰ June 2021 while the Final occured on the 27ᵗʰ June 2021. Fifty-one* countries participated in the fifteenth contest, under the slogan “#BeStrong!”.

Location
After it's victory in the previous edition, the broadcaster YLE chose to host the contest in the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland, Helsinki, which has a population of 656,000 inhabitants. Called the "Daughter of the Baltic" or the "Pearl of the Baltic Sea", Helsinki is on the tip of a peninsula and on hundreds of islands. The inner city is located on a southern peninsula while outside of it, much of Helsinki consists of postwar suburbs separated by patches of forest. After Stockholm and Oslo, Helsinki is the third largest municipality in the Nordic countries. Finnish and Swedish are both official languages. The city is served by the international Helsinki Airport, located in the neighboring city of Vantaa, with frequent service to many destinations in Europe and Asia.

In the Iron Age the area occupied by present-day Helsinki was inhabited by Tavastians. They used the area for fishing and hunting, but due to a lack of archeological finds it is difficult to say how extensive their settlements were. Pollen analysis has shown that there were cultivating settlements in the area in the 10ᵗʰ century and surviving historical records from the 14ᵗʰ century describe Tavastian settlements in the area. Swedes colonized the coastline of the Helsinki region in the late 13ᵗʰ century after the successful Second Crusade to Finland, which led to the defeat of the Tavastians.

Helsinki was established as a trading town by King Gustav I of Sweden in 1550 as the town of Helsingfors, which he intended to be a rival to the Hanseatic city of Reval, today known as Tallinn. In order to populate his newly founded town, the King issued an order to resettle the bourgeoisie of Porvoo, Ekenäs, Rauma and Ulvila into the town. Little came of the plans as Helsinki remained a tiny town plagued by poverty, wars, and diseases. The plague of 1710 killed the greater part of the inhabitants of Helsinki. The construction of the naval fortress Sveaborg in the 18ᵗʰ century helped improve Helsinki's status, but it was not until Russia defeated Sweden in the Finnish War and annexed Finland as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland in 1809 that the town began to develop into a substantial city. Russians besieged the Sveaborg fortress during the war, and about one quarter of the town was destroyed in an 1808 fire.

Russian Emperor Alexander I of Russia moved the Finnish capital from Turku to Helsinki in 1812 to reduce Swedish influence in Finland, and to bring the capital closer to Saint Petersburg. As elsewhere, technological advancements such as railroads and industrialization were key factors behind the city's growth. Despite the tumultuous nature of Finnish history during the first half of the 20ᵗʰ century, Helsinki continued its steady development. A landmark event was the 1952 Olympic Games, held in Helsinki. Finland's rapid urbanization in the 1970s, occurring late relative to the rest of Europe and tripled the population in the metropolitan area. The relatively sparse population density of Helsinki and its peculiar structure have often been attributed to the lateness of its growth.

Nowadays, Helsinki it's Finland's most important center for politics, education, finance, culture and research. It has one of the world's highest urban standards of living. In 2011, the British magazine Monocle ranked Helsinki the world's most liveable city in its liveable cities index. In the Economist Intelligence Unit's liveability survey, Helsinki was ranked 9ᵗʰ among 140 cities.

Participants
Fifty-one* countries participated in the fifteenth edition of the contest: fifteen European countries (Åland Islands, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, United Kingdom), fifteen Asian countries (Armenia, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, North Korea, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Vietnam), six American countries (Canada, Jamaica, Peru, Puerto Rico, Suriname, United States of America), nine Oceanian countries (Australia, Fiji, Guam, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Tonga, Tuvalu) and six African countries (Egypt, Madagascar, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania).

In this edition Estonia, Lithuania, Madagascar, Slovakia, Syria and Tonga participated for the first time.

Returning Artists
This edition featured one representative who had performed previously as lead vocalists for a country in the contest.

Perfume represented Japan in the tenth edition of the contest with the song "Flash" sung in Japanese, which placed 19ᵗʰ out of 46 participating countries with 48 points. In this occasion, they represented again Japan, this time with the song "Tokyo Girl", sung in Japanese again, trying to achieve a better result.

Marina represented host nation Greece in the tenth edition of the contest with the song "To Be Human" sung in English, which placed 9ᵗʰ out of 46 participating countries with 82 points. In this occasion, she represented Fiji, this time with the song "Venus Fly Trap", sung in English again, trying to achieve a better result.

National Selections
Serbia, South Africa and Taiwan used a National Selection to determine the country's representative for OMSC 15.

Proslava Srpske Pesme (OMSC 15)
Main article: Proslava Srpske Pesme (OMSC 15)

Song for South Africa (OMSC 15)
Main article: Song for South Africa (OMSC 15)

Taipei's Calling (OMSC 15)
Main article: Taipei's Calling (OMSC 15)

Withdrawing Countries
These countries confirmed their non-participation in the fifteenth edition of the contest: