Rules of Wonderful Fantasy Contest

The official rules for the Youro Song Contest can be found here, and all YBU countries are expected to follow these while participating in the contest.

How To Join The Contest

 * 1) The first thing you need to do in order to join the contest is to read the rules that are found on this page.
 * 2) Join the Facebook group which can be found here. Unless you're already a part of it.
 * 3) You need to create your own country and flag. A flag can easily be made on paint, Photoshop or by using an online flag creator. The name of the country can be anything that comes to your mind.
 * 4) Send the name of country and your flag to either Kim or Stefan by private message. You can also just add your country to the wiki by following some instructions here.
 * 5) You are now part of the contest when all the task above are completed. Welcome!

Format
The contest will consist of a grand final, and in the case where there are more participants than can reasonably compete in one show, semi-finals will be introduced. The winning country will host the next edition and therefore be pre-qualified to the final as the hosts. In those cases where a country decline to host the contest, they can become pre-qualified as the winning country along with the host of that respective edition.

A maximum of 57 countries can compete in the contest in the various contests. The amount of participating countries decide whether there will be a semi-final or not, and how many semi-finals, qualifiers and automatic finalists there will be.

Entries
Each participating country can send no more than one song per edition. It must also fit the following criteria:


 * It must be at least two minutes in length, and no longer than six minutes in total. Exceptions can be made, however, permission must be approved first.
 * Covers, remixes, and instrumentals are allowed.
 * The song must not have competed in the Eurovision Song Contest or in a national final.
 * The song cannot have been performed in the Youro Song Content before, including if the song has been sung by a different artist. Check here for a list of former entries.
 * All songs must be free of hateful or political lyrics.
 * Youtube links must be provided for the song you are submitting, which must consist of an official music video or lyric video. Other video types such as live performances or fanmade videos must be approved by the YBU first.
 * Songs with more than 100 million views on YouTube will not be allowed unless it is really unknown for most of us. This means that songs that can be famous in a specific country can be allowed despite having more than 100 m views.
 * The songs can be in any language

Artists

 * An artist cannot be sent twice in the same contest. In the event of a dispute, the Reference Group of the YBU will reach a verdict - taking into account the time of submission, relevant wiki pages, and country info.
 * The YBU also advise the broadcasters to send world known artists, but rather lesser known artists. However, world known artists are not completely banned as exceptions can be made as long as it's approved by the council.
 * There are no limits to how many times an artist can participate in the contest. But there are limitations when it comes to how often an artist can participate in the contest.
 * If an artist has participated once, it must wait at least 2 rounds before it can return to the competition. This means that if the artist participated in YSC 22, it can not participate before in YSC 25.
 * If an artist has participated more than once, it must wait at least 4 rounds before it can return to the competition. This means that if the artist participated in YSC 22, it can not participate before in YSC 27.

Selection
An entry can be selected either internally or by a national selection format. Each broadcaster is free to decide how they will select their entry.

The only rules regarding national selection events are that songs must abide with the contest rules, and in the event that international juries are asked to help with the national choice, their votes must not be tampered with. Any system of voting can be used in National Finals - be it a preferential ranking of the entries by televoting or juries (or a mixture of both), a tournament-style final, or something else. The host broadcaster is given full flexibility with the running of these programs, however voting from other users is optional and cannot be made compulsory.

Voting
All participating countries must vote before the given deadline or may incur penalties such as point reductions, disqualifications, or withdrawal from the contest. This includes countries who have not qualified for final. The voting system in place for Youro Song Contest is 12, 10, 8-1 points to the ten favourite songs. A country cannot vote for its own entry.

Voting must be fair, free, and transparent. Members are absolutely not permitted to discuss their votes before they have been officially revealed and may face consequences if these rules are breached. They must also not try to influence the vote of other members or face permanent removal from the contest.

All direct finalists are obliged to vote in at least one of the two semi-finals, failing to do so will result in a disqualification of their entry.

Winning
The country with the highest score at the end of the contest will be crowned the winner of that edition. In the event of a tie, a countback will take place. The country to receive points from the greatest number of countries will win the contest. If there is still a tie, then a second tie-breaker counts the total number of 12s received. Tie-breaks continue with ten points, eight points, and so on until the tie is resolved.

If the tie cannot be resolved after the number of countries which assigned one point to the song is equal, the song performed earlier in the running order is declared the winner unless the host country performed earlier (in which case the song performed later would be the winner). The same method will be used for other ties within the scoreboard.

Failing to vote
Strikes is a punishment given by the YBU to countries who fail to submit their votes to a semi-final or final in an edition they are competing in. This system was introduced in the 19th edition of Youro Song Contest and will also be applied to the Youro Theme Contest.

Only one strike can be given each edition, and strikes in Youro Song Contest does not count for Youro Theme Contest and vice versa. However, if you manage to vote in the final no strike or ban will be given. This also applies to the semi-finalists who don't vote in the semi-final. To encourage them to vote in the final at least.

Hosting
The winner of the previous edition of the contest is the country who will win the right to host the next contest, and they will do so in collaboration with the YBU.

In the event that the winner declines the opportunity to host, the second highest-scoring country will be offered the chance, and if they reject this offer the third-placed country will be asked, and so forth.

The host of the contest will be responsible for the presentation of the contest including a theme and logo. Assistance may be requested.