Rules: The SCF Fantasy Song Contest inspired by DSFE

[Daniel]

Hosting Rules

■ Each user is randomly assigned two countries at origin.

■ It is up to the host's discretion whether or not to go with "randoms" or "picks".

Random

Each user will sign up and will randomly receive one "good" and one "bad" country. The system is based on if you get one of the strongest countries, you will also receive one of the weakest. If you get a "middling" good tier country, you shall get the same for your bad country.

Picks

Sign up with a list of at least five countries, with the host assigning you one of your requested countries. You can either have "one" list in total, or you can offer people to make two lists, one list for their "good" country and one list for their "bad" country. It is also possible to sign up for random countries in a pick edition, should the user choose to do so. Only request a "microstate" should you wish to send a song eligible for the country in question.

■ The list of participating countries is up to the discretion of every host. However, the recommended list of good and bad countries are as follows:

Good
[Category 1]
[Category 2]
[Category 3]

Bad
[Category 4]
[Category 5]
[Category 6]

■ As the host, you are also allowed to invite any nation to participate as a borrowing country of another country, as long as your country is within the same category as the "parent" nation.

■ Countries are not allocated on a first-come-first-serve basis, so the time in which you sign up is irrelevant as to what countries you will receive.

■ If there are still countries remaining to be handed out after every user received their two countries, it is recommended, but up to the host's discretion to give out "third" countries.
You can use many methods in assigning third countries, but it is generally best to go with one of the following methods:

First-come-first-serve, countries public	Announce a date and time for the countries to be published and for everyone to take a country on a first-come-first-serve basis. You are allowed to choose yourself whether or not a user must submit a song for the third country before having that country assigned to them.
First-come-first-serve, countries private	You can also assign thirds by not revealing what third country is available prior to making the announcement. This leaves users in a sense of suspense as to what they will randomly receive in this lucky dip.

■ There are many other ways that thirds can be handed out, which will be edited in detail at a later date. But be creative! You'll be informed if you're taking the piss.

■ As users send in their songs, it is highly recommended that the host of the edition post each competing song in what is termed Song Reveals.

■ You can just post the country and the song, you can give a short blurb on the artist, you can allow everyone competing to write up their own blurb, the possibilities are limitless.

■ You are entitled to come up with whatever slogan you wish in your thread! You are also allowed to choose any host city within the territory of the winning country. If you wish to take the contest to space, or have a dual hosting between two countries, these are options as well.

■ You are allowed to host results in whatever fashion you wish, however they should be held within 48 hours of the deadline. Recommendations include posting the results on the thread or using a screen-sharing service.

■ It is up to the discretion of each host to also host a 'bonus round'. This would act as an additional Quarter/Semi final as the ones already existing. You are entitled to choose whatever theme you like, and you are also entitled to choose whether the qualifying entries will advance automatically to the final, or instead compete within the semis.

■ Examples of "bonus rounds" include:

Africa/Americas/Asia round	Send a song from an African/American/Asian country - each user would randomly be assigned a country
Minority language	Send a song in a minority language representing a region
Microstate	Send a song that is fully native to a microstate
Musical challenge	Send a song requiring the prominence of a particular instrument

■ As the winner, you will have first-right refusal to determine whether or not you would like to host the upcoming edition. That means that, should you wish, you will be hosting the following edition of SCFFSCIBDSFE. As long as you keep within the rules mentioned above, you have enough reign to do as you please.

■ Should the winner decline hosting, the hosting rights go down to the second place, then third, and so on until the highest placing available user accepts the hosting rights.

■ An emergency council will be here to assist you with anything you need should you request it. If you do not have the time to host, or hold the edition up for too long, they also will assist the running of the contest to ensure a smooth transition.

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Entry Submission and Participation Rules

■ Your song is not allowed to have charted in the Top 40 of any of the following countries:
- United Kingdom
- United States

■ Your song must not be published before the year 2000

■ Eurovision and Eurovision National Selection Songs are not allowed

■ Covers ARE allowed as long as the original version also adheres to the rest of the rules (excluding nationality rules).

■ At least one of the artists in your entry must be
- Born in, or spend a significant amount of their life in the country
- a permanent resident, or hold citizenship of that country
- Have at least one parent/grandparent that were born in the country

■ You are NOT allowed to reveal publicly what country you are at any stage of the competition until the results. Publicly revealing who you are will result in a disqualification of your entry, as well as a percentage warning on your SCFFSCIBDSFE chart.

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Voting Rules

■ You are required to vote in all rounds your entry is in, or else your entry will unfortunately be disqualified from the edition, regardless of the round it is competing in. Replacement votes do not exist in SCFFSCIBDSFE. If you do not have the time to listen to the songs and vote in the allotted time (a schedule will be posted at the beginning of the edition), we recommend you not to sign up until you will be able.

■ Any user is entitled to vote in any round they wish, regardless of whether or not it is a requirement. There is no Rest of the World, all votes are counted as equal in every round.

■ SCFFSCIBDSFE will likely NOT be having any recaps due to the sheer scale of the competition. While it is theoretically possible they be made, in most circumstances - a recap will not exist. However, as the format of doing a full listen to so many songs is new to a lot of SCF, deadlines will be adapted to keep this in mind.