Sugary Song Contest

**Sugary Song Contest** (abbreviated **SSC**), is a song contest held on YouTube.

Each member country submits a song to be performed and then votes for the other countries songs to determine the best song in the competition. The contest has started on 8th September, 2014 it is inspired by Eurovision Song Contest, which is an annual competition held among many of the active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

## Origins

The inaugural competition marked a historic moment in Bratislava, Slovakia, with the grand final launching on September 14, 2014, and the final results unveiling on September 19, 2014. A total of 11 countries participated in this first edition, where the host country, Slovakia, emerged as the winner, with Poland securing second place and the United Kingdom clinching the third spot.

In the subsequent editions of the competition, 18 different countries went on to claim victory. Notably, the nineteenth edition witnessed a record-breaking performance, with Australia's entry, "What I Live For" by Kya, receiving remarkable 141 points, solidifying its place in the competition's history.

## Selection procedures

Every participating country is required to submit a single song for representation in a specific edition. The selection process must be internal to the country. Public contests or national selections where the other participants can vote for songs are not allowed. The submission deadline, set by the hosts, must be adhered to; failure to submit a song will result in the country's withdrawal. There are no constraints on song length, language, or the use of samples and remixes. However, covers will not be accepted as well as songs released more than 10 years before the submission start date.

Starting from the eighth edition, songs that have previously participated in the Eurovision Song Contest or its Junior version are no longer allowed in the competition. This rule also applies to songs that have been featured in the Sugary Song Contest before, ensuring a fresh and original lineup for each edition.

## Voting

The voting system is the same used in Eurovision Song Contest, which has been in place since 1975, and is a positional voting system. Countries award a set of points from 1 to 8, then 10 and finally 12 to other songs in the competition — with the favourite song being awarded 12 points.

### **Ties for the first place**

In the event of a tie for first place at the end of the evening, a count is made of the total number of countries who awarded any points at all to each of the tied countries; and the one who received points from the most countries is declared the winner. If the numbers are still tied, it is counted how many sets of maximum marks (12 points) each country received. If there is still a tie, the numbers of 10-point scores awarded are compared—and then the numbers of 8-points, all the way down the list. In the extremely unlikely event of there then still being a tie for first place, the song performed earliest in the running order is declared the winner. The same tie-break rule now applies to ties for all places.

## Autoqualifiers

In the tenth edition, there was introduced "The Top 6". According to the top 6 of the previous edition, the Top 6 changes every edition.
In the tenth edition, 7 countries were automatically qualified to the grand final due to only 10 countries participating in the Qualification Round.

Number of auto-qualifications, by country

## Qualification Round

In the tenth edition, it was decided to introduce the Qualification Round due to increased interest from participants. To advance to the Grand Final, countries were now required to participate in the QR. The host country and the top five countries from the previous edition are automatically qualified for the Grand Final.

Typically, 16 countries compete in the event. After the QR votes are cast, the top ten countries with the most votes, announced in a random order, proceed to the Grand Final. The detailed voting results are kept confidential until after the Grand Final, at which point they are released by the host.

So far, only two songs managed to break the 100 points mark in the Qualification Round. This achievement belongs to Norway's entry in the sixteenth edition, Adelén's "Spell on Me", as well as Armenia's song in the twenty-first edition, Malèna's "Flashing Lights", both scoring exactly 100 points.

## Winners

So far, 24 songs have emerged victorious in the contest. Below is a list of the winners, along with the amount of points they received, as well as their running order in the grand final and the qualification round.