Contest Rules

## Representation

The player can only represent their own country. They must either live there for a longer period or have a strong relation to the country, such as at least one parent. Ambiguous relations must be discussed with the manager.

Once the country is claimed, another player cannot take it without the permission of the current holder or until the player withdraws or becomes inactive.

## Submissions

The spots can be taken by anyone who has an acceptable connection to the country they want to partake with in the contest.

Once a person claims a country, it is bound to them until the player withdraws, swaps with another player, or becomes inactive for two consecutive editions. Anyone from the country can then take it.

An inactive player does not submit, nor vote as The Rest of The World (RoTW) jury for two or more consecutive editions.

If two players from the same country submit, the one who was faster gets the position even if the entry isn't valid. In case the first player doesn't replace the entry, the spot goes to the second player.

The minimum amount of participants is 15 and the maximum is 31 unless the host decides otherwise. The maximum rule does not apply in the Special Editions.

The contest currently goes by the "first-come, first-serve" principle - whoever submits faster gets the spot and the country.

If the contestant has submitted an entry that is not eligible close to the deadline, they have a grace period of 24 hours to replace it.

In case of more than 31 participants, everyone submitted after will be automatically entered in the following edition with that entry. If they wish to change it, they need to submit the new entry normally - by submitting it in the following edition as everyone else. If the entry doesn't fit the following edition, they get a reserved slot (without an entry) until the submission deadline.

The winning nation gets a reserved spot in the next edition.

The submissions close after all spots are taken in the regular editions (not in the Special Editions) or after the deadline has passed.

Special Edition takes place at the end of each decade (#10, #20, #30, and so on). The theme is selected from the player's suggestions and then voted for in a poll/survey, or it is decided by the host.

Special Edition will have semi-finals if there are more than 31 entries submitted.

After each Special Edition, there are Awards, where all past podium placements go against each other to crown the best of the decade. The 4th award has a different theme each time.

Every participant with a bound country can vote. Partaking countries must vote, while countries who have missed out, may vote. Each RoTW vote will count separately just like the votes of the partaking countries.

The entry must be submitted to an appropriate thread on the forums; on Discord, or via personal messages on either site to Laurinda .

## Entries

Your entry must be released before the year 2012.

There are two editions each decade where everyone must send pre-2000 entries regardless of the pre-2012 rule. These editions will be the 3rd and the 7th of each decade.

Your entrant must be at least 50% native to represent your country. The whole act with more than one person must be at least 25% native.

Example 1: 50% native person can be in a duet with a non-native person.

Example 2: One fully native person can be in a band with 3 other non-native people.

One exception to the rule is if the artist in question had their whole career in another country - they can take part for this country.

Covers, remixes, and other versions (instrumental/karaoke versions, parodies, sampled songs) are allowed as long as the original or another version of the song hasn't been sent yet. Keep in mind that also songs having participated in the sub-contests (or any versions of them) can't be sent and vice versa.

Songs that have more than 100 million views across all videos on YouTube are not allowed to compete.

Videos that are taken into consideration are official videos, lyric videos, performances, topic videos and official remixes/versions by the same artist.

Videos that are not taken into account: reaction videos, covers by other artists, remixes by other artists, samples by other artists, karaoke videos, and instrumentals (assuming the entry you are sending is not instrumental).

You can't send entries that have been used in WWWSC or any other sub-contest that exists at the moment or will exist in the future within WWWSC. At the moment there are 2 others.

Check the entries here:
WWWSC Wiki

Retro Wiki

Themed Wiki

Eurovision and Junior Eurovision songs are not allowed and neither are any of their versions! You can send National Selection songs or songs from other similar competitions.

You cannot send the same artist two editions in a row. Even if you take a break for any number of editions, you must send a different act. This also comes into account for the singers who can take part for multiple countries. Just like one artist cannot take part for two countries in the same edition, they also can't take part for two countries in two editions!

## Voting

As a participant, you're obliged to vote before the deadline.

Send your Eurovision-style (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 12) votes to Laurinda .

You may request a replacement voter, but it must be for a good reason and at least 24 hours before the deadline.

Non-voting will result in a disqualification of the partaking entry.

## National Selections

There are no restrictions or rules about national selections. The player should make sure all the participating songs fit all of the contest rules.

National Selections can be hosted at any time. Example: During edition #71 you can host a National Selection for edition #73.

You can reuse a song that hasn't won the National Selection and didn't take part in any of the WWWSC contests.

## Withdrawal

You can withdraw at any point between the editions.

If you don't submit an entry, you are forced to withdraw.

If you withdraw by making sure the manager knows, you will no longer be tagged in future editions.

If you don't say anything, you will be tagged two editions after your withdrawal. After that, the country becomes free.

In case one player skips an edition, it's possible to get a replacement player from the same country, but the parties and admins have to agree with it.

## Other

If you're not respectful to the manager and/or players, they have the right to ban you from the contest temporarily or permanently.

A private warning system has been established. If an offense is committed, the host decides how severe it is and how high the percentage of the warning is. When the person reaches 100% they are banned from the contest permanently. This is private and it won’t become public if there is no reason for it.

None of the new rules apply retroactively.

*Rules were last updated on December 8th, 2023, and are fully in consideration since the 150th Edition of Retro WWW Song Contest.*