It’s a question I was wondering after seeing a pattern with some relatively new nations failing to qualify, is it simply a lack of quality in their entries or is there something else that makes it seem like it takes longer for new nations to build up a decent qualification streak?

Knowing the field probably!

Speaking from the perspective of a relatively new nation, I agree with Jupiter that knowing the demographic is one of the hardest in BJSC. Adding on to that is also the vast variety of songs that you could send as well, and that you only have one slot per month to do that. It took me at least a year to at least get a decent streak (and the expulsion of Why So Sirius) and that is one I won't take for granted!

 

I would go far and say this contest is probably the hardest for me, because simply you have an extremely diverse genre of songs that can do well in this contest! This is why the contest interests me a lot and is one of the most unpredictable contest for me. You have the pop bloc that could be riding high like now and would have its low like late 2021, and in place of that you have the dance bloc which enjoyed a decent run in late 2021 and maybe not quite so earlier, and then you could also consider the indie bloc, rock bloc, niche bloc etc. To conclude, I like how this contest brings up the niche entries from time to time and how unpredictable it can be.

 

Up to this point I still don't have a good clue on the formula for a guaranteed qualification. I do think there is a tendency that radio-friendly pop songs with a bit of a twist with the instrumentation tend to make you qualify more, or a decent accessible dance track with a catchy beat would do too, but I'm certainly no expert to this so I can't guarantee anything!

Edited March 30, 20223 yr by uhsting

It's definitely not 'always' (Lookylion debuted with a top 3!) but I think in general it makes sense that new participants wouldn't innately have an idea of what kind of songs are unlikely to do well so are less likely to filter out such choices if that's something they care about. It's not too often that new nations' DNQs are particularly surprising from the standpoint of being a geek who's entered the contest for over a decade and has a pretty decent idea of people's tastes.

It's partly unfamiliarity with the contest, but both ways. We know what other nations like to enter so there's a slight familiarity with what nations are best suited to us and yes everyone has a slight bias towards nations they normally give points to. We don't have familiarity with new nations, therefore they need to send something that will grab our attention and they don't really know how to do that.

It's about knowing the demographic...I still flop most of the time lol (with the exception last year I guess).

I feel like Eastovka in particular is trying really hard to send different genres and work out what sort of sound resonates with the general populace. It’s a hard road to begin with, but please do persist and you’ll find that one entry that dazzles the voters!

I’m probably the least qualified to speak about struggling from the get go (especially when I managed to qualify on my first go) but it was weird trying to pick something that would suit the contest and introduce my music taste, but then I eased myself into the contest as I learned people’s tastes. I’d imagine it would be harder now with music tastes being so diverse vs. in 2015 when the divides were there yet it was easy to find a crossover of some sorts

It's one reason why I don't look at the country names until after I've listened and ranked the songs...but even so, I don't often find the newer countries in my top 10 or top 15, so I'd agree the lack of knowing what does/doesn't do well has a lot to do with it. I certainly struggled with that my first year with a long DNQ streak!

bc whether people like to admit it or not they will prioritise voting for certain other nations first regardless of the song that's been sent that month

 

I think we should have blind semi finals and then as the qualifiers are announced we get to know who's behind the songs we voted for. It would be interesting to see how much the semi votes match the final ones :kink:

We did a blind voting experiment, granted it was 12 years ago, and all it did was absolutely kill off any and all discussion around the contest.

 

Given the current posting levels a drop off wouldn’t be as catastrophic now as it was then so we could rerun that experiment again, I am very happy to be proved wrong that it’s utterly ineffective.

 

 

 

As for the main question, it depends on how you term success. If you mean a nation coming top 10 and having a mega Q streak then the main reason is because it often takes a few months for newcomers to tune into the mood and get a feel for the Contest and thus takes a little bit for them to start sending songs for success. If you think of success in terms of the actual aims of BJSC then most Are immediately successful because they come in and drop something they adore and they show us their unique tastes unfiltered and people get to discover something cool they otherwise wouldn’t have

Dont worry about qualifying, is my advice, and go for stuff you love rather than select entries to deliberately do well (I have the Crown for DNQ's and streaks, no contest). You do get a feel for what will do well after a while, but I'd rather other people enter those ones cos I know they will enjoy doing well and I dont really try to win - but I do throw one in from time to time if it's being ignored (Tove Styrke was one I expected to do well, and was happy to see her outperform predictions). Singerpurear have made a habit out of being under-predicted with more off-the-wall entries, probably because the expectation is we will DNQ, and then we suddenly get a good showing with a surprise that might not necessarily look like one - like The Ritchie Family or Buffy Sainte-Marie. That's part of the fun! I love it when voters go for something a bit left-field :D

 

I do think expectations can be an issue, though, there are some nations I expect to be more to my taste than others, so I try to avoid bias by noting who's not had points from me for a while and who has. It's not going to affect the big points, but in a bit of a tie amongst a few tracks I might give benefit to the more interesting or the nation who hasnt had a nod for a while.

Block voting.

 

My 5 DNQ to win streak forever iconic xo

It's one reason why I don't look at the country names until after I've listened and ranked the songs...but even so, I don't often find the newer countries in my top 10 or top 15, so I'd agree the lack of knowing what does/doesn't do well has a lot to do with it. I certainly struggled with that my first year with a long DNQ streak!

 

Me either! Last year I rarely gave the same people the tops! I remember I actually kept a record for once

bc whether people like to admit it or not they will prioritise voting for certain other nations first regardless of the song that's been sent that month

 

I think we should have blind semi finals and then as the qualifiers are announced we get to know who's behind the songs we voted for. It would be interesting to see how much the semi votes match the final ones :kink:

 

That would be interesting!

Pestolia have sent my favourite entry of the year so far (Mareux - 'The Perfect Girl' a couple of editions back) so new nations ftw :heart:

bc whether people like to admit it or not they will prioritise voting for certain other nations first regardless of the song that's been sent that month

 

I think we should have blind semi finals and then as the qualifiers are announced we get to know who's behind the songs we voted for. It would be interesting to see how much the semi votes match the final ones :kink:

 

actually really like this idea!

I would also be behind trying this, I don’t think it would kill discussion as much this way as you’d know by the final who’s who and at that point people could start plugging their entries in their national threads as usual etc. I expect people speculating who sent what would also be a big talking point at the semi stage too.

 

And this would make the semi results super interesting - as Lindsey says it would be fun to see the correlations in votes between the semi and final to see if any people do end up bumping friendly nations in their votes once they know the identity.

Edited April 1, 20223 yr by gooddelta

bc whether people like to admit it or not they will prioritise voting for certain other nations first regardless of the song that's been sent that month

 

I think we should have blind semi finals and then as the qualifiers are announced we get to know who's behind the songs we voted for. It would be interesting to see how much the semi votes match the final ones :kink:

 

Great idea. I remember a few years back hearing of nations saying that they automatically blacklist certain countries during listen throughs on PLug.dj... Even without hearing songs.

Pestolia have sent my favourite entry of the year so far (Mareux - 'The Perfect Girl' a couple of editions back) so new nations ftw :heart:

:heart: so pleased that you enjoyed it so much!

 

Yeah I'd basically say the same as everyone else, as a new country I'm definitely trying out different sounds to see what sticks! I don't particularly feel that other nations are overlooking newer nations - I guess it depends how you listen to the songs but I just go through the Spotify playlist so I have absolutely no idea who's sent what, at least during the semis.

I think as well it maybe just *looks* like newer countries are struggling - the more contests you enter, the less each individual contest matters to your overall performance if that makes sense? So DNQing with only 4 entries is more noticeable than DNQing with 20 entries.