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Special Melody Contest

From IECO - International Eurofan's Countries Organisation
Generic logo of the contest

The Special Melody Contest (often shortened to SMC or Special Melody) is a competition of thematic seasons with special conditions for applications.

Origins and history

The Special Melody was conceived and implemented in order to diversify song competitions by adding various requirements and rules to them, making the selection of applications more difficult, however, the conditions of the competition change every quarter and have its own special theme (in each episode of the competition). This idea was implemented in July 2023, but was invented back in April 2023 by the current curator of Portugal

Visual Identity

It was decided by the IECO that the contest shall follow a simple style with no theme and a permanent logo. Permanent logo was designed and presented to the IECO prior to the contest and got instantly approved. It comprises with the cursive wording of the wordmark "Special" where letter S shapes a heart and a music treble clef, followed by a country flag inside the heart and sans-serif geometric writing "Melody". Each year the heart changes flag to the host nation

Format

The format of the competition is unique and each episode of the competition has its own specific rules and restrictions in terms of applications, their release date, performers, languages, number of views, presence in the Billboard chart, etc.

Participation

Any accredited country IECO can participate in the competition. The maximum limit on the number of countries in a quarter is 20 countries.

Hosting

The venue for the first season was selected from among the countries that confirmed their participation in the season. Of the 16 participating countries, 6 candidates were approved by the IECO Council: Denmark, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Norway and Thailand. During the discussions and voting, the right to host the first season went to Thailand. The host city was Bangkok - the capital of the chosen country.The venue for the competition was the Impact Arena Bangkok

In the second episode of the competition, instead of Canada, which won the last episode, the competition was hosted by South Korea, which took 2nd place, due to the fact that Canada was unable to host the second episode of the competition

In the third episode of the competition hosted by Greece, winner of second episode Special Melody.The host city was Thessaloniki. The venue for the competition was the PAOK Arena

In the fourth and fifth episodes of the competition hosted by Australia, winner of third and fourth episodes Special Melody. The host city of fourth episode was Perth with venue was RAC Arena. The host city of fifth episode was Brisben with venue was Brisbane Entertainment Centre

In the six epsode of the competition hosted by Israel

Rules

Further information: Rules of the Special Melody Contest

Voting

Winning entries

Season Date Host City & Theme Countries Winner Language(s) Points Runner-up
I Q3-23 7 Aug 2023 Bangkok
Geographical Names
16 Canada
The Hardkiss - Antarctica
Ukrainian 120 South Korea
II Q4-23 15 Dec 2023 Gangneung
Rock Bangers
18 Greece
Against The Current - Weapon
English 110 Japan
III Q1-24 28 Jan 2024 Thessaloniki
Cinematic Beats
20 Australia
Stan Walker - I Am
English, Maori 103 Switzerland
IV Q2-24 6 May 2024 Perth
Mystery Forces
20 Australia
Darin - Electric
English 103 Thailand
V Q3-24 27 Oct 2024 Brisbane
Underrated Gems
18 Israel
Jude York - Monaco
English 117 Denmark
VI Q4-24 Jan 2025 Haifa
Diversity of Languages
18 Unknown Country
TBD

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