OMSC 23

Online Music Song Contest 23, often referred to as OMSC 23, was the twenty-third edition of Online Music Song Contest, held in Santa Cruz, after Bolivia won the previous edition of the contest.

The Pre-Qualification Round of OMSC 23 occured on the 30ᵗʰ January 2022, the Semi-Finals on the 6ᵗʰ February 2022 while the Final occured on the 13ᵗʰ February 2022. Fifty countries participated in the twenty-third contest, under the slogan “Let’s Have A Fiesta!”.

Location
After it's victory in the previous edition, the broadcaster TVB chose to host the contest in the largest city of Bolivia, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, commonly known as Santa Cruz. It has a population of over 1,600,000 inhabitants. It is located on the Pirai River in the eastern Tropical Lowlands of Bolivia. Due to its low elevation at the foothills of the Andes and being situated in the Amazon basin, the city has a tropical climate unlike the other main metro area of La Paz that is thousands of metres higher in terms of elevation.

The city was first founded by Spaniards from Paraguay in 1561. Spanish explorer Ñuflo de Chavez founded it about 200 kilometers east of its current location at what is now San José de Chiquitos, and was moved several times. It was attacked repeatedly by Indians until 1595, when it was finally established on the Pirai River in the late 16ᵗʰ century and renamed Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Its inhabitants declared their independence from Spain in 1811, and the city was recaptured only briefly by royalist forces. For much of its history, Santa Cruz was mostly a small outpost town, and even after Bolivia gained its independence in 1825 there was little attention from the authorities or the population in general to settle the region. In 1950 a highway to Cochabamba was completed. Railways provide access to Brazil, Argentina, and southern Bolivia, and the city’s international airport is the country’s busiest. It was not until after the middle of the 20ᵗʰ century with profound agrarian and land reforms that the city began to grow at a very fast pace.

Nowadays Santa Cruz produces nearly 35% of Bolivia's gross domestic product, and receives over 40% of all foreign direct investment in the country. This has helped make Santa Cruz the most important business center in Bolivia and the preferred destination of migrants from all over the country and from some neighboring countries as well. Santa Cruz is the seat of Gabriel René Moreno Autonomous University (1879) and other educational institutions. It is also home to natural-history, ethno-folkloric, and other museums, as well as several art galleries. Two large national parks are located east and west of the city.

Participants
Fifty countries participated in the twenty-third edition of the contest: fifteen European countries (Belgium, Bulgaria, Crimea, Denmark, France, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Moldova, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Sweden, Ukraine, United Kingdom), fourteen Asian countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey), fourteen American countries (Anguilla, Argentina, Aruba, Bolivia, Bonaire, Canada, Chile, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Paraguay, United States of America, Venezuela), two Oceanian countries (Guam, New Zealand) and five African countries (Algeria, Canary Islands, Madagascar, Morocco, Réunion).

In this edition Anguilla, Bonaire, Martinique and Paraguay participated for the first time.

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

Naïka

Andia

Broods

Froukje

Weird Genius

Jain

EVERGLOW

Michelle Andrade

Lola Índigo

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