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The Rules of the Buzzjack Song Contest


Joining BJSC:


The Basics

• Members wishing to join the Buzzjack Song Contest may do so as soon as they join Buzzjack.com
• For the first 3 months after joining Buzzjack.com you may only take part in our spin offs. This is a measure aimed at preventing alias countries.
• After 3 months you may progress to the main contest.
• All nations must register before participating

The Details

To register, please see the post below this one or click here!

When registering we require the following information:

• A name for your nation. (You may change this at any time, but public notification is required. Changing your national thread title, or creating a new national thread will suffice)
• A capital city

Any other information like languages and flags are also welcomed, but are optional.

Please note

We take the creation of alias accounts seriously. If it is discovered you have used an alias to enter BJSC as a second nation, you will be permanently banned from BJSC. If you are discovered to have an alias on Buzzjack.com, but have not attempted to register for BJSC with it, you will receive a 6 month suspension from BJSC that will commence immediately following your site suspension.

Confirmation of entries:


The Basics

• Every edition of BJSC commences with a confirmation thread. This is when you must submit your desired entry to the host of that edition. Please wait until the thread has opened before submitting your entry.

You may submit any artist/song of your choice, providing it fits the following criteria:

• The song must not have been entered into a previous edition of BJSC or a BJSC spin off. A complete list of previous entries can be found HERE.
• The artist must not have finished in the top 3 of the previous edition of BJSC.
• The song must not be a former entry of the Eurovision Song Contest, or currently be in the running to represent a country at the forthcoming contest. Covers of former Eurovision entries are also not allowed.
• Your desired artist must not have been submitted by yourself in the previous contest (ie. You can't send the same artist twice in a row).
• Artists may not be entered more than 7 times to BJSC.

The Details

• It is encouraged that you enter songs that are unlikely to be well known to other participants
• Songs can be in any language and can have been released at any time.
• Cover versions of previous BJSC entries are permitted if moderators judge the cover to be significantly different to the version that was entered previously.
• Songs which sample previous BJSC entries are allowed, but songs which heavily sample previous BJSC entries may be vetoed.
• You must not reveal your proposed artist/song prior to the confirmation opening, but you may post various songs that you are thinking of sending in your national thread
• You must not reveal the artist/song you have submitted until the voting is opened
• The above two includes via the sites Personal Messenger function or via off-site messenger services such as Skype or Facebook messenger and violating this will result in a suspension

Please Note

• Entries are accepted on a first come, first served basis. If your desired entry has already been taken, you will be informed as soon as possible and be offered the chance to submit a replacement entry.
• Artists can only appear once in each contest. If the artist you are planning to send has already been submitted by somebody else to that same contest, then you will be offered the chance to submit a replacement entry.
• All entries will be assessed by the mod team against the Veto framework.
• You will be informed by the host if your entry has been vetoed and you will be offered the chance to change your entry.

Please see the Veto Framework, located three posts down, for our comprehensive guide to the veto process


Hosting:


The Basics

The right of hosting an edition is automatically passed to the winner of the previous edition. The host is expected to take care of voting and results threads, as well as the collection of entries and votes. They must also submit a list of confirmed entries, with the names of countries removed, to moderators on a regular basis during the confirmation period and inform participants if their entries have been vetoed. Screenshots of full scoreboards are also encouraged to be posted once the final results have been announced.

The Details

• All Deadlines must be 23:59 GMT/BST (which ever applies in the UK at the time of the contest)
• Results must follow within 20hours of the original deadline. The BJSC Moderators will waive this at their discretion for extenuating circumstances.

Please Note

In the event of the winner of the contest being unable, or unwilling, to host the following will apply:

• The right to host will pass to the highest finishing nation that has yet to host an edition of the Buzzjack Song Contest.
• If they decline to host the rights will pass to the second highest finishing nation that has yet to host, and so on.
• If there are no eligible, or willing nations, in the final then the rights will follow the previous path of second place, third place etc.
• To have the right to host the next contest, you must have progressed to the final of the current edition.
• If there are no willing nations in the final then a moderator will host the contest.

Co-Hosting:

The Basics

At the moderators discretion, they may allow a collaborative effort to hosting. This discretion will be exercised when the host is willing to host the contest but is unable to host part of the contest due to prior commitments. The moderators expect the 'main' host (i.e. last months winner) to host the Final. If a nation is unable to host the final then they must decline hosting rights and the process above will take place

The Details

• If you would like to co-host the contest please inform a moderator of your intentions at the earliest opportunity.
• If the moderators approve your request to co-host you may ask the highest ranked nation that has yet to host to join you.
• If they decline the process will be the same as for a full host.

Please Note

If you wish to co-host with an allied nation, you may request this from the moderators. However at the time of the request you must detail what added benefits that co-hosting with this particular nation will bring to the contest. Innovation and prior planning is heavily encouraged. If the moderators decide that there is no compelling reason for you to co-host with a particular nation (ease and/or being msn/facebook friends are not compelling reasons) then your request will be rejected.


Voting:


The Basics

• All nations must send their votes to the host via PM.
• You are expected to vote in both the Semi-Final and Final, regardless of if you are an AQ nation or failed to Qualify for the Final.

The Details

• They must order their top 10 entries and award them the following points: 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point
• If the 18 Point System is being used, then they must rank their top 15 entries and award them the following points: 18, 15, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point
• Ties are broken in the Semi-Finals by the 'Most 12's' method. The tie will be broken at first by the number of 12's received by both nations. If the is is unsuccessful then 10's will be used and so on until the tie is broken.
• Ties are broken in the Finals by the 'Most Votes' method. The tie will be broken by the number of votes that the nation receives (for example, if Ashton receives points from 19 countries and Espen receives points from 17 points then Ashton would win the tie). If the tie cannot be broken by this method then the 'Most 12's' method will be used.

Please Note

• If a country does not submit their votes on time, a 33% deduction will be applied to their score.
• If an Automatically Qualified nation fails to vote in the Semi-Finals, a deduction of 15% per Semi-final not voted in will be applied to their final score.
• If a country fails to vote in the final, then the deduction will be applied and that country will be banned from entering the next edition of the contest. We may be slightly more flexible where countries have put in genuine effort into attempting to vote.
• If the deadline is extended before it has passed and a country fails to vote in accordance with the ORIGINAL deadline then a reduced penalty will be applied of 15%.
• If a deadline is extended after it has passed, then anyone voting after the deadline will be subject to a one contest ban.
• Countries that failed to qualify from semi finals must also vote in the final, or they will also be banned from entering the next edition unless an effort to vote is made.
• Revealing your votes before they are officially announced is not acceptable. You must also not post the points you awarded in the semi finals to qualifying countries. Points to non-qualifying countries may be revealed.
• Vote swapping, or any other form of "voting deal" is not acceptable and will be severely punished