Rules:

 

Joining BJSC:

 

**Registration is currently closed for an indefinite period. Keep checking back from time to time to see if it's re-opened**

 

- Members wishing to join must have been a member of Buzzjack for at least 6 months. This is a measure aimed at preventing alias countries. Discovery of alias countries will lead to a permanent ban from BJSC.

 

- Upon registering, members must come up with a country name and capital city. Other information like languages and flags are also welcomed, but are optional.

 

Confirmation of entries:

 

- 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.

* 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).

 

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 entered previously. Covers of Eurovision entries are not permitted. Songs which sample previous BJSC entries are allowed, but songs which heavily sample previous BJSC entries may be vetoed.

 

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. An entry will be vetoed if it is deemed too uninspired or in the case of covers, too similar to a version entered previously. You will be informed by the host if your entry falls into any of these categories and you will be offered the chance to change your entry.

 

As a guideline, the mod team may veto an entry if it falls under one or more of the following categories:

 

* The artist/song is currently or has recently (within the last 12 months) been in the UK Top 40 Singles Chart

* The song is on a current Radio 1 playlist (any playlist published just prior to or during the confirmation period)

* The song has received substantial radio, internet and/or TV exposure.

* The song is a fresh leak or forthcoming single by an artist with a significant following on Buzzjack.

* The song is by an artist, or associated act with an Artist Forum on Buzzjack.

* The song is in the Multichart during the week/s in which the confirmation process is open.

* The song has performed significantly well in another contest on the forum, eg. Unknown Pleasures.

* The song is a similar sounding cover version or contains a heavily used sample of a previous BJSC entry

 

An entry may also be vetoed for another reason not listed above. If this is the case, an explanation will be given as to why it has been banned.

 

-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.

-You must not reveal the artist/song you have submitted until the voting is opened either.

 

Hosting:

 

The right of hosting an edition is automatically passed to the winner of the previous edition. If the winner cannot or does not wish to host, then the right falls to the runner up, then the third placed, then the fourth placed and so on.

 

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 missing, 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.

 

Voting:

 

- All nations must send their votes to the host via PM. 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 a country does not submit their votes on time, a 33% deduction will be applied to their 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.

- 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.

 

In the case of a tie for first place in the final (or ANY tie in the final!), the winner of the tie is determined by the highest number of votes (ie. 14 countries voted for X, whereas only 10 countries voted for Y. Therefore, X wins). If both have received the same number of votes, then it's determined by number of 12s received. If this fails, then it's determined by number of 10s, and so on. However, semifinal ties are first broken by number of 12s. If the tie hasn't been successfuly broken, then it's done by 10s, and so on.

Important information for all participants

 

From this contest onwards, any country that fails to vote in the final will receive a 33% deduction from their score and will be banned from competing in the following edition. We may be slightly more flexible where countries have put in genuine effort into attempting to vote.

 

This rule also applies to countries who fail to progress to the final.

 

 

We've also outlined some factors we take into consideration when assessing whether entries should be banned or not. If your entry falls under one of the following, then it may be declined entry into the contest:

 

* The song is currently or has recently (within the last 6 months) been in the UK Top 40 Singles Chart

* The song is on a current Radio 1 playlist (any playlist published just prior to or during the confirmation period)

* The song is a fresh leak or forthcoming single by an artist with a significant following on Buzzjack.

* The song is by an artist, or associated act with an Artist Forum on Buzzjack.

* The song has received substantial radio and/or TV exposure.

* The song has performed significantly well in another contest on the forum, eg. Unknown Pleasures.

Important information for all participants

 

From this contest onwards, any country that fails to vote in the final will receive a 33% deduction from their score and will be banned from competing in the following edition. We may be slightly more flexible where countries have put in genuine effort into attempting to vote.

 

This rule also applies to countries who fail to progress to the final.

We've also outlined some factors we take into consideration when assessing whether entries should be banned or not. If your entry falls under one of the following, then it may be declined entry into the contest:

 

* The song is currently or has recently (within the last 6 months) been in the UK Top 40 Singles Chart

* The song is on a current Radio 1 playlist (any playlist published just prior to or during the confirmation period)

* The song is a fresh leak or forthcoming single by an artist with a significant following on Buzzjack.

* The song is by an artist, or associated act with an Artist Forum on Buzzjack.

* The song has received substantial radio and/or TV exposure.

* The song has performed significantly well in another contest on the forum, eg. Unknown Pleasures.

 

That's Persephonia out every month then :lol:

 

Thanks for clearing up the rules Ghosty! Hopefully everyone will vote this month now!

That's Persephonia out every month then :lol:

 

Thanks for clearing up the rules Ghosty! Hopefully everyone will vote this month now!

 

:lol: . I'd like to point out though that if a song does happen to match some of the factors for banning, it doesn't necessarily mean it will be banned as we weigh up each song individually. Just don't be surprised if an entry is declined if it does fall into those categories.

 

Where we ban songs under other exceptional circumstances, reasons will be given.

Most of these rules seem pretty fair, I'm definitely for the voting ban if no effort is made to vote as it's not really fair if you don't vote. By confirming a song, I see it as committing and signing up for the whole thing, seeing as people will have given you points the least you can do is designate 10 minutes to vote.

Most of these rules seem pretty fair, I'm definitely for the voting ban if no effort is made to vote as it's not really fair if you don't vote. By confirming a song, I see it as committing and signing up for the whole thing, seeing as people will have given you points the least you can do is designate 10 minutes to vote.

What about the rest then? :o

What about the rest then? :o

The only one I think is debatable is the one about the Radio 1 playlist, because some songs they playlist are like C-List for just a week and don't get any near the top 100 so should be alright to enter, but I suppose the mods can decide that for themselves.

The only one I think is debatable is the one about the Radio 1 playlist, because some songs they playlist are like C-List for just a week and don't get any near the top 100 so should be alright to enter, but I suppose the mods can decide that for themselves.

 

 

I'd like to point out though that if a song does happen to match some of the factors for banning, it doesn't necessarily mean it will be banned as we weigh up each song individually.

 

:)

 

The factors are listed to give participants an idea of what might be banned.

:)

 

The factors are listed to give participants an idea of what might be banned.

I just skim read it, didn't see it just meant those could be a contributing factor to a veto :lol: I see now, so basically my post now means 'all the rules are fair' :P

I'd say that in terms of final voting. It is not fair on those that qualify to receive to 33% ban AND a ban for the next contest as noone genuinely wants to give their song a 33% penalty so I feel these would be the people the genuinely couldn't vote in most cases - I don't think it's fair to penalise them twice. However I'm all for the non-qualifiers getting banned in the next contest as their needs to be that incentive for them to vote and it is easy to get lazy if you didn't qualify. Apart from that, I have no issues with the rules. :D

Getting a 33% deduction hasn't really deterred many of the non-voters for the last few contests...

I think the rule is fair, the non-voters really need a kick up the ass to make sure they do vote. If they have a good excuse, fair enough, but most of the time they blame the host or something when they really just didn't couldn't be bothered or whatever.

I'd say that in terms of final voting. It is not fair on those that qualify to receive to 33% ban AND a ban for the next contest as noone genuinely wants to give their song a 33% penalty so I feel these would be the people the genuinely couldn't vote in most cases - I don't think it's fair to penalise them twice. However I'm all for the non-qualifiers getting banned in the next contest as their needs to be that incentive for them to vote and it is easy to get lazy if you didn't qualify. Apart from that, I have no issues with the rules. :D

 

We want to try and stamp out non-voting all together. A 33% deduction is needed to make it fairer on the other participants who have voted, and the ban from the next contest is a measure to try and galvanize persistant non-voters into doing what is asked of them when entering the contest.

I'm just saying I don't think it's particularly fair to be double penalised. I know I'd be really miffed if I got the 33% deduction (if I ever made the final. :P) because I couldn't vote for whatever reason. However, if I got banned from the next contest too, which I'd more than likely be able to vote in, I'd feel a bit cheated, as as far as I'm concerned, the 33% penalty is enough. If you wanted to ban for non-voters, then surely semi-finalists should be banned too, no? Just my view though, doesn't necessarily mean it's what's right. :P

When participants confirm, they are committing themselves to take part in the whole process. Recently, we've seen a slight upward trend in participants failing to vote, therefore we felt some action was needed hence the new rule. As far as not voting in the semi finals goes, a deduction will be applied due to the fact it puts qualification in jeopardy but participants won't be banned unless they fail to vote in the final also.

So you'll be banned if you don't vote in final whether you voted in semis or not?

Unless you have a VERY good reason, probably.

We used to ban people who didn't vote and that system worked perfectly fine. Like is mentioned specifically in the rule, we won't ban if effort has been made into voting.

The tie-break rule as been edited into the first post (under "Hosting")

 

- In the case of a tie for first place in the final, the winner is determined by the highest number of votes (ie. 14 countries voted for X, whereas only 10 countries voted for Y. Therefore, X wins). If both have received the same number of votes, then it's determined by number of 12s received. If this fails, then it's determined by number of 10s, and so on. However, semifinal ties are first broken by number of 12s. If the tie hasn't been successfuly broken, then it's done by 10s, and so on.

The rule isn't only for determining the winner though.