Rules

This page has the rules of the Visionary Music Festival. Since the creation of the rulebook on 16 August 2015, the rules have been modified several times, and was majorly revised on 6 November 2016.

Entrants

 * In order for artist(s) to be eligible to represent a country, at least one of their parents must have been born in the country. They can also represent the country if they have citizenship or lived there for over five years (and are still living there)
 * Only artists aged sixteen and higher in the time the song was released are eligible to participate
 * At least 33% members of a band must be from the country in order to represent it
 * Only songs from January 1, 2011 to present are eligible to participate
 * Highly known, or overused songs are highly discouraged and may not be accepted
 * Covers or remixes are not allowed, with an exception for remixes and covers officially released by the main artist
 * Eurovision songs cannot compete, however national selections can once out of the running (JESC national selection songs do not follow the age rule)
 * Twenty-five second time slots should be given for the songs, or they will be chosen by the host

Countries

 * Any of the 193 member states of the United Nations are allowed to compete, with an exception made for Taiwan
 * Countries vote with the usual ESC format (12 points to your favorite song, then 10, 8 and all the way down to 1 to your 10th favorite song), unless otherwise stated in the official thread
 * Up to 60 countries can participate in an edition, with a maximum amount of around 20 countries per semi-final
 * Grand finals will consist of 26 countries, 20 from semi-final qualifiers, and 5 from the ‘Big 5’ (the previous top five placed countries). A wildcard battle featuring the eleventh placed countries will take place to determine the final qualifier. (Note: Varies depends on amount of participants)
 * As of the 3rd edition, countries are no longer reserved as the contest will become a first-come, first-serve contest (with an exception for the winner of previous edition)
 * As of the 3rd edition, an account on ovsc.proboards.com is required to participate in the contest

Warning points
By receiving three strikes, you'll be banned for an edition. You'll be contacted if more is received for negotiations, which could also result in a permanent ban.
 * Failing to confirm an entry: 1 point
 * Revealing votes: 1 point
 * Failing to vote: 2 points
 * Friendly/bloc votes: 3 points
 * Anything else that can harm the contest

List

 * 1) The strike is not final and can still be appealed.