Talk:Rules of the Eurovision Song Contest

Number of songs in final
This article states a maximum of 25 songs in the final contest, but tallies this up thus: The "big five" countries (=5) The previous year's winnder (=1) 10 qualifiers from 1 semi final (=10) 10 qualifiers from a second semi final (=10)

A total of 26. Could someone clarify/clear this up? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.175.155.101 (talk) 11:09, 14 May 2011 (UTC)

1
This article needs to be completely re-written. Following my successful re-write of the main Eurovision article, these sub-articles need the same treatment. Does anyone else want to lend a hand, or is up to me? EuroSong talk 15:31, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

Parody songs
This article mentions that cover songs are not allowed, but does that mean that parody songs are not allowed as well? 24.250.2.248 (talk) 21:48, 3 January 2008 (UTC)


 * Clear cut in the article - as long as the lyrics and tune are original, then it's fine (e.g. the Nick Clegg song or We Are The Winners). Spa-Franks (talk) 11:50, 29 August 2013 (UTC)

Rule changes for breaking ties
The 2009 rules (http://eurovision.tv/upload/esc2009rules.pdf) say:

[Content removed due to excessive copying of copyrighted material. CT Cooper · &#32;talk 20:56, 10 August 2011 (UTC)]

121.90.247.186 (talk) 11:43, 21 March 2009 (UTC)

Lack of historical perspective
This article should be divided into basic rules, i.e. rules that have never changed or have been the same for at least the last 20 years, and rules that have changed through the years. Also, it should clearly state which of the rules that are new, and when they were implemented. As the article currently stands, a reader may, for instance, be lead to think that the two pan-European semi-finals have been around for years, when, in fact, they were introduced for the 2009 contest. Thomas Blomberg (talk) 10:59, 17 May 2009 (UTC)

i removed a broken link
the link linking to the rules for 2008 was broken so i removed it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.208.86.142 (talk) 11:59, 30 January 2011 (UTC)

Musical instruments
"Live music ban"

So, have a look at Finland this year, UK in 2003 (and in 2004) and Bosnia & Herzegovina this year... the list goes on of guitars and pianos (Romania in 2010 & 2011) played. (By the way, Moldova 2010's famous saxophone was faking) What is recognised by the officials? --Spa-Franks (talk) 09:18, 14 August 2011 (UTC)

Purely instrumental songs and live instruments not allowed?
1. Purely instrumental songs: the description here in the article was that instrumentals are considered "tantamount" to cheating (who chose such a horrible word?), anyway, can anyone explain how THAT is considered cheating? It doesn't make any sense and it doesn't reference anything at all, so I'm simplifying that description into the only thing we have as a fact, which is that there has never been a purely instrumental composition in the contest.

2. Now, the thing about live instruments... As Spa-Franks says above me, there have been some instruments in the contest in recent years. Sure, maybe a guitar can be unplugged so that it's only "for show", and the aforementioned saxophone can just be "not blown into" so that it doesn't produce a sound, but what about the drums? You can't really unplug an acoustic drumkit so... I think we need more clarification into the whole "live music ban". Does it apply to everything except percussion instruments or something? Cancerbero 8 (talk) 13:56, 5 April 2012 (UTC)


 * One more thing - in 2003, the Russian entry, Ne ver', ne boysia's studio version features no drums but there are drums in the live performance. Spa-Franks (talk) 14:29, 19 April 2012 (UTC)

Languages section
Does anyone else think the list of years/countries with "unusual" language choices is trivia? What does it take to qualify for that section? Why is Germany's reprise sung in four common Eurovision languages special? And how is Austria's use of German special? It's also terribly out of date. Esma sang in Romani in 2013, for example. Can we just remove this section entirely?  Mr. Gerbear | Talk 08:11, 29 August 2013 (UTC)


 * I agree that it is trivia. But Austrian's use of German is special because these dialects are strange enough so that someone who has learned German on B2-niveau could not possibly understand them. Some of these dialects are even strong enough that most native speakers don't understand them. (1071, 2003 and 2012 entries are difficult to understand for people from Norther Germany and close to impossible to understand for non-natives. The 1996 entry can only be understood by inhabitants of Voralberg, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.) Judith Sunrise (talk) 03:12, 6 November 2014 (UTC)


 * and The section just needs a clean up and bringing to standards as well as updating of course.  Member of WikiProject Eurovision tend to concentrate on updating all the contest articles, and forget about these types (which are like a more in-depth "behind the scenes" genre of article) - and it is a shame that they become neglected.  I am slowly trying to make my way through all of the neglected articles, but it isn't an easy task single-handedly; and nobody from the project seems to even offer to give a hand, I'm just left to work my butt off.  No wonder I take time-outs now, so that I don't feel used.   Wes Mouse  &#124; T@lk 03:19, 6 November 2014 (UTC)

Age
How come was Maarja-Liis Ilus only 15 (born December 24th 1980) in 1996 if the contestants were supposed to be 16 when the competition was held? Were the rules different back then? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.248.68.30 (talk) 20:31, 28 July 2014 (UTC)

Rules Regarding Instrumental Only Songs
The current version of the page says "purely instrumental pieces have never been allowed." however the current version of the rules, for my interpretation, does not explicitly ban songs that are purely instrumental or don't have a lead vocalist. (https://eurovision.tv/about/rules)

For the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, a song by a group that performs in a sign language has been submitted to the selection process for Poland. Is this notable for the discussion on instrumental or "vocaless" songs? Would it be more fair to say that no purely instrumental song has been accepted to the ESC currently? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Two Separate Gorillas (talk • contribs) 10:06, 26 January 2022 (UTC)

Tiebreaker rules
Some parts of the tiebreaker rules are incorrect

The tiebreaker was used in 2002 to decide who would be relegated between The Netherlands and Latvia (both received 16 points in 2001, but Latvia was allowed to participate in 2002 because they had received 2 sets of 8)

The rule that advantage to the country that received points from the most countries was introduced in 2004 at the earliest. Malta was an automatic qualifier in 2005 because in 2004 it received points from more countries than Croatia (even though Croatia's highest set of points was 10) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.47.114.81 (talk) 01:13, 15 May 2022 (UTC)

Do the rules allow instruments?
The source says "plugging instruments to play live on stage shall not be allowed." I don't see how this would mean "no live instrumentation allowed" or make orchestra impossible. C9mVio9JRy (talk) 10:16, 8 June 2023 (UTC)


 * All songs shall be performed live on stage with a recorded Backing track[...]; meaning, as well as the "plugging instruments" section, there can be no live instrumentation because every song has to be performed to a backing track, and therefore, at least according to the current rules, there can be no orchestra, at least for the competition entries. Sims2aholic8 (talk) 10:25, 8 June 2023 (UTC)


 * No, those rules do not prohibit using additional unplugged instruments on top of the backing track. C9mVio9JRy (talk) 10:37, 8 June 2023 (UTC)
 * The entire section 2.2.3(ii) however, taken as a whole, does mean that there can be no live instrumentation during the performances on stage. "Live instrumentation" does not mean you can't use instruments on stage, obviously as many performances feature them, they just can't be picked up by any microphones or the sound that is emitted from them can't be used during the performance. The problem with using "plugging" here is that that term only applies to electronic instruments; you can't plug an acoustic guitar or standard violin or saxophone into anything, but the sounds these instruments make also cannot be used during the performances. Sims2aholic8 (talk) 13:58, 8 June 2023 (UTC)
 * Exactly my point! To me the fact that they put the word "plugging" suggest they are open to instruments that are picked up by microphones, otherwise they would had just say no live instruments. I don't see how the section "taken as a whole" would mean something different. C9mVio9JRy (talk) 18:43, 8 June 2023 (UTC)