OMSC 13

Online Music Song Contest 13, often referred to as OMSC 13, was the thirteenth edition of Online Music Song Contest, held in Odessa, after Ukraine won the previous edition of the contest.

The Semi-Finals of OMSC 13 occured on the 9ᵗʰ May 2021 while the Final occured on the 16ᵗʰ May 2021. Thirty-six countries participated in the thirteenth contest, under the slogan “!”.

Location
After it's victory in the previous edition, the broadcaster UA:PBC chose to host the contest in the third most populous city of Ukraine, Odessa. Odessa is located on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. It has a population of around 1,000,000 inhabitants and stands on a shallow indentation of the Black Sea coast at a point approximately 30 kilometers north of the Dniester River estuary and about 440 kilometers south of Kyiv.

Before the Tsarist establishment of Odessa, an ancient Greek settlement existed at its location. A more recent Tatar settlement was also founded at the location by Hacı I Giray, the Khan of Crimea in 1440 that was named after him as Hacibey or Khadjibey. After a period of Lithuanian Grand Duchy control, Hacibey and surroundings became part of the domain of the Ottomans in 1529 and remained there until the empire's defeat in the Russo-Turkish War of 1792.

In 1794, the city of Odessa was founded by a decree of the Russian empress Catherine the Great. From 1819 to 1858, Odessa was a free port—a porto-franco. During the Soviet period, it was the most important port of trade in the Soviet Union and a Soviet naval base. On the 1ˢᵗ January 2000, the Quarantine Pier at Odessa Commercial Sea Port was declared a free port and free economic zone for a period of 25 years.

During the 19ᵗʰ century, Odessa was the fourth largest city of Imperial Russia, after Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Warsaw. Its historical architecture has a style more Mediterranean than Russian, having been heavily influenced by French and Italian styles. Some buildings are built in a mixture of different styles, including Art Nouveau, Renaissance and Classicist.

Nowadays Odessa is a major tourism center, seaport and transport hub. It is also the administrative center of the Odessa Raion and Odessa Oblast, as well a multiethnic cultural center. Odessa is sometimes called the "pearl of the Black Sea", the "South Capital" (under the Russian Empire and Soviet Union), and "Southern Palmyra". The city is a warm-water port. The city of Odessa hosts both the Port of Odessa and Port Yuzhne, a significant oil terminal situated in the city's suburbs. Another notable port, Chornomorsk, is located in the same oblast, to the south-west of Odessa. Together they represent a major transport hub integrating with railways. Odessa's oil and chemical processing facilities are connected to Russian and European networks by strategic pipelines.

Participants
Thirty-six countries participated in the thirteenth edition of the contest: fifteen European countries (Åland Islands, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Sweden, Ukraine), twelve Asian countries (Armenia, Bangladesh, China, Georgia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, North Korea, Oman, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand), four American countries (Brazil, Canada, Greenland, United States of America), three Oceanian countries (Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea) and two African countries (Mauritius, South Africa).

In this edition Bangladesh, Iceland, Mauritius, Mongolia and Oman participated for the first time.

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

Artem Pivovarov represented Ukraine in the previous edition of the contest with his song "No. 1" sung in Russian, which placed 7ᵗʰ out of 27 participating countries with 66 points. In this occasion, she represented Argentina again, with her song "Chemicals", sung again in English, placing 8ᵗʰ out of 44 participating countries.

Oonagh represented Germany in the eighth edition of the contest with her song "Phantome (ゆーれいずみー)" sung in Japanese, which placed 6ᵗʰ out of 37 participating countries with 103 points. In this occasion, she represented Japan again, with her song "Give Me A Break Stop Now (ギミアブレスタッナウ)", sung again in Japanese, placing 36ᵗʰ with 47 points in its semi-final.

Carla Fernandes represented Portugal Spain in the tenth edition of the contest, with her song "Duszki" sung in Polish, which placed 2ⁿᵈ out of 46 participating countries with 129 points. In this occasion, she represented Poland again, with her song "2:00", again in Polish, placing 17ᵗʰ with 61 points.

National Selections
Greece, Greenland, Norway, and the Philippines used a National Selection to determine the country's representative for OMSC 13.

Greek National Final (OMSC 13)
Main article: Greek National Final (OMSC 13)

Grønlands Kvalifikationer (OMSC 13)
Main article: Grønlands Kvalifikationer (OMSC 13)

Melodi Grand Prix (OMSC 13)
Main article: Melodi Grand Prix (OMSC 13)

Kanta ng Pilipinas (OMSC 13)
Main article: Kanta ng Pilipinas (OMSC 13)