Tubevision Contest 23

Tubevision Contest 23, often referred to as TVC 23, was the twenty-third edition of the Tubevision Contest.

Information
The edition was held in Qormi, Malta after the victory of the country in the twenty-second edition with the song "If I Could Do It All Again" by Raquela. The Philippines won the edition with "Up Up and Away" by Blush marking the first victory for the country.

Participants
The submissions opened right when the twenty-second edition started. Twenty-six countries confirmed participation with Singapore making its debut appearance.

Location
Qormi, also known by its title Città Pinto, is a city in Malta. It has a population of 16,849 (as of March 2013), which makes it the fifth largest locality in Malta. The town is located southwest of Valletta, in the centre of Malta.

The bordering towns of Qormi are Marsa, Luqa, Żebbuġ, Siġġiewi, Ħamrun, Birkirkara, Attard, Santa Venera and Balzan.

Qormi has two parishes, dedicated to Saint George and Saint Sebastian. Saint George's parish was the first one. However, when Qormi was growing, there was the need for the city to be split into two parishes to facilitate growth. Saint Sebastian was chosen because Qormi had turned to him during times of plague infestation, since he is the protector and patron saint of people ill from plague, according to Catholic tradition. This led to many Qormi citizens carrying the name of Ġorġ (George) and Bastjan (Sebastian) and their equivalents and derivatives.

Nowadays Qormi is the third largest locality in the nation of Malta, with two parishes, several institutions and a local council that governs the locality. Elder inhabitants of Qormi speak a thick Qormi Dialect, yet this is now in decline.

Returning artists

 * 🇰🇷 South Korea 2NE1 have previously represented South Korea three times.
 * 🇨🇦 Canada Carly Rae Jepsen has previously represented Canada once.
 * 🇲🇹 Malta Lyndsay has previously represented Malta once.
 * 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka M.I.A. has previously represented Italy once.
 * 🇨🇺 Cuba Pitbull has previously represented United States and Cuba once.
 * Kosovo Rita Ora has previously represented Kosovo once.
 * 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan Safura has previously represented Azerbaijan twice.

Voting
The first and second semi-finals were published on 22 and 28 September 2012 respectively with their results being published on 28 September and 1 October. The final started the same day and the result was published four days later, on 4 October 2012. Blush with the song "Up Up and Away" was the winner marking the first victory for the Philippines.