Rules

On this page you can find the official **rules of the Flora Song Contest**. Every participant has to read and agree to them.

## Participation

1. The country must be a member of the Flora Broadcasting Union with an active broadcaster. If the country is not a member, then an application must be made to the organization with the appropriate information.
2. In order to take part in one edition, the country must confirm within the given deadline for confirmation. If the country does not confirm their participation before the deadline, then they are not allowed to participate. Exceptions can be made in very rare cases after the organization reviews the country's request.
3. If there are more than 46 participating countries, a waiting list for new players will be introduced.

## Entries

1. Songs that have taken part in the Eurovision Song Contest or its Junior version (including interval acts) are not allowed to take part in the contest. Furthmore, songs from (J)ESC preselections are forbidden.
2. Songs that have been released before 2010 are not allowed to take part in the contest.
3. Songs that cover or sample another song that has been released after 2009 are not allowed to take part in the contest. Covers or new versions of older songs are allowed.
4. There are no restrictions regarding the language; the song can be in any language, no matter the country it represents. Fictional languages are also allowed.
5. The YouTube views limit for borrowing countries is five million, for associate members 10 million and for the other countries 50 million.
6. World chart songs and songs by world chart artists (Sia, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, ...) are not allowed to participate.
7. Overused songs are not allowed. The council decides whether or not a submitted entry is overused. Songs are usually considered overused if they've participated in more than four contests.
8. The entry must have a music video or an official lyrics video. The music video can be fan-made.
9. The song must not have participated in the NorthVision Song Contest and the Mondevision Song Contest.

## Selection process

### Internal selections

1. The song must be submitted to the FBU before the given songs deadline.
2. The song must be presented within the given songs deadline.

### National selections

1. All the artists must be native from or have strong connections to the country the selection takes place in.
2. There are no rules regarding the amount of songs, the length or the voting system of the selection.
3. The national selection can start only after the confirmations of the edition have opened.
4. The results of the selection have to be presented before the given songs deadline.

## Artists

1. If a country sends a foreign singer and the singer comes from a country that takes part in the contest (e.g.  Helene Fischer for Russia), the foreign act must be approved by both the Head of Delegation of the respective country and the FBU.
2. Singers that have represented or have attempted to represent another country in the Eurovision Song Contest are allowed to take part for that country even if it's not their native country (e.g. Serhat can compete for San Marino).
3. The singer must be over the age of 16 on the day the song was released. Singers below that age are allowed to compete in the junior version of the contest.
4. Singers that have died cannot compete in the contest.
5. Overused artists are not allowed to participate. Some examples are: Loreen, Demy, Eleni Foureira, Julie Bergan, Francesca Michielin, G.E.M., Samantha Jade

## Voting

There are some rules regarding the voting procedure in each of the editions of the contest. The broadcasters have to send one set of votes in each show they're participating in.

The voting result must be submitted within the given voting deadline. Unless the Head of Delegation gives a *valid* reason for their inability to vote, he will receive a strike.

Valid reasons are:

* A sudden disease
* The death of a close person

Valid reasons are *not*:

* Forgetting to vote
* Not having enough time because of school, university or work

The votes will be presented with a scoreboard and one spokesperson from each competing country announcing their country's points.

## Borrowing

Some countries that have smaller music industries are allowed to borrow from neighbouring or countries they have connections with. These countries are the following:

* Åland Islands from  Sweden
* Andorra from  Spain (only Catalonia)
* Faroe Islands from  Denmark
* Liechtenstein from  Austria and  Switzerland
* Luxembourg from  Germany
* Monaco from  France
* San Marino from  Italy
* Vatican City from  Italy

Note that the YouTube views limit for borrowing countries is five million and that these countries can only compete with native artists from the country they're borrowing from.

## Punishment

*→ See also: Strikes*

In case of any country breaking the above rules, the country is punished by either receiving a strike or getting banned from the contest, depending on the rule that was broken. If a broadcaster gets three strikes, the Head of Delegation is suspended for one edition and the country is available for other HoDs.

A broadcaster can get a strike for:

* Failing to submit their song/votes before the given voting deadline.
* Sending an entry without getting approval from the FBU.
* Failing to present their entry before the given songs deadline
* Cheating in a national selection.
* Failing to confirm/withdraw for an edition.

A HoD can be temporarily banned for:

* Getting three strikes.
* Cheating once on voting.
* Molesting other HoDs.

A broadcaster can be banned forever for:

* Cheating repeatedly in the voting process of the contest.
* Getting five strikes.