Rules of Wonderful Fantasy Song Contest

The official rules for the Wonderful Fantasy Song Contest.

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 therefor 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.

The amount of participants of an edition will decide the following aspects of that edition:

Qualifiers

 * < 29 participants: Edition will have only one final.
 * ≥ 29 participants: Edition will have semi finals and a final.
 * 29-35 participants: 9 qualifiers + IJ favorite from each semi. (25 finalists)
 * 36 -or more participants: 10 qualifiers + IJ favorite from each semi. (27 finalists)

Automatic finalists

 * 29-35 participants: The host country is pre-qualified to the final, while the rest are split into two semi finals.
 * 36 or more participants: The top 5 of the previous edition will be pre-qualified to the final, while the rest of the participants are split into two semi finals.

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 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.
 * 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, relavent wiki pages, and country info.
 * 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.
 * World known artists are not allowed to compete in the contest.
 * The songs can be in any language

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 is 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 preferential ranking of the entries by televote 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 from the semi-finals voting in the 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.

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.