OMSC 38

Online Music Song Contest 38, often referred to as OMSC 38, was the thirty-eighth edition of Online Music Song Contest, held in Podgorica, after Montenegro won the previous edition of the contest.

The Pre-Qualification Round of OMSC 38 occured on the 30ᵗʰ April 2023, the Semi-Finals on the 7ᵗʰ May 2023 while the Final occured on the 14ᵗʰ May 2023. Fifty countries participated in the thirty-eighth contest, under the slogan “Fight For Your Life!”.

Qatar won the contest with the song "Indigo", sung in English, receving a total of 170 points. Ireland finished in second place with a huge margin of 33 points from the winner, while Norway finished in third place. They were followed by Austria, which reached the fourth place and Panama which reached the fifth place.

Location
After it’s victory in the previous edition, the broadcaster RTCG chose to host the contest in the capital and largest city of Montenegro, Podgorica, which has a population of about 150,000 inhabitants. It is located in the Zeta Plain, just north of Lake Skadar and close to coastal destinations on the Adriatic Sea. The surrounding landscape is predominantly mountainous terrain at the confluence of the Ribnica and Morača rivers and at the meeting-point of the fertile Zeta Plain.

The oldest settlement in the area is that of Doclea, about three kilometers from the city, already known at the time of the Greeks and the Roman Empire. The settlement was the center of the homonymous medieval Serbian principality that existed until the 13ᵗʰ century and was called Duklja, Duklea or even Zeta. The current center instead was born in the 11ᵗʰ century with the name of Birziminium, later called in the Slavic language Ribnica and only from the first half of the 14ᵗʰ century Podgorica. The city grew at the crossroads of several important communication routes favored by the fertility of the valley of Lake Scutari and by the presence of numerous rivers.

Established as a commercial center, under Turkish rule a fortress was built to defend the commercial routes and attacks by rebel Slavic tribes. In 1864 it was recognized as a city belonging to the Scutari vilayet with the Turkish name of Böğürtlen. In 1878 the Congress of Berlin recognized the independence of the Principality of Montenegro and the city was integrated there experiencing a remarkable commercial development even though it was not the capital of the country. With the outbreak of the First World War, the city suffered a bombing by the Austro-Hungarian air force on 10ᵗʰ August 1914 which caused the death of about twenty people. The following year Podgorica was bombed again. Between 1916 and 1918 it was occupied by Austria-Hungary like the rest of the Montenegrin kingdom. After the conflict, a city assembly sanctioned the union of Montenegro with Serbia in the newborn Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later known as Yugoslavia. Between the two wars, the city's population was around 13,000. During the Second World War the city was bombed and was then liberated on 19ᵗʰ December 1944. Starting from 13ᵗʰ July 1946 it became the capital of the Socialist Republic of Montenegro, federated with Yugoslavia, with the name of Titograd, in honor of Marshal Josip Broz Tito. On 2ⁿᵈ April 1992 it resumed the name of Podgorica and on 21ˢᵗ May 2006 it became the capital of the newly established independent state of Montenegro.

Nowadays, Podgorica is not only the administrative center of Montenegro but also its main economic engine, as most of Montenegro's industrial, financial, and commercial base is located there. Further cultural and historic monuments in and around Podgorica are Sahat-Kula Adzi-Pasa Osmanagica, the ruins of the Ribnica fortress, remnants of the city of Doclea, Stara Varoš, and Vezirov.

Participants
Fifty countries participated in the thirty-eighth edition of the contest: fifteen European countries (Austria, Belgium, England, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, Norway, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine), twelve Asian countries (Azerbaijan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Israel, Mongolia, North Korea, Palestine, Qatar, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Turkey), twelve American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Falkland Islands, Greenland, Martinique, Panama, Puerto Rico, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Turks and Caicos Islands, United States of America), three Oceanian countries (Australia, Fiji, Solomon Islands) and eight African countries (Algeria, Canary Islands, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Zimbabwe).

In this edition the Isle of Man participated for the first time.

Other Countries
• Kazakhstan – Kazakhstan was set to participate as they confirmed their participation on the 11ᵗʰ April 2023, however, the broadcaster announced their withdrawal from the competition on the 18ᵗʰ April 2023 due to unknown reasons.