Worldvision Song Contest

Generic logo of the contest

The Worldvision Song Contest (often shortened to WSC or Worldvision or WV) is an international song competition which has been organised by the International Eurofan's Countries Organisation (IECO) annually since summer 2022. It is held in a different city each six months, however the same city can host the contest more than once.

At one time, the competition brings together Euro-fans and ordinary music lovers from all over the world. Now the geography of the curators of the competition includes Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, as well as those geographically residing in Austria, Greece, Malta, Poland and the United Arab Emirates.

Origins and history

The Worldvision Song Contest's founding stemmed from a desire to promote cooperation between euro-fans from different parts of the world. As in the previous edition, one of the ideas of the association was to include fans outside the post-Soviet zone. The new edition of the competition begins its countdown on March 6, 2022, when it was decided to transfer the activity of communication between the curators of the countries from VK to the Telegram platform.

2022

The Worldvision Song Contest Q4-2022 was the first edition of the contest, organised by Televisión Española (TVE) and held on 22 November 2022 at the Palau Sant Jordi Arena in Barcelona, Spain. 13 countries entered the inaugural contest, with entries received from Australia, Hungary, Japan, Kazakhstan, Montenegro, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Thailand and the United Kingdom. Voting in this competition consisted of a single set of jury votes from each participating country. United Kingdom's Calum Scott was crowned the contest's first winner, with the song "Rise".

2023

Annalisa, winner of the Q1-2023 contest and placed on 4th place in the Q2-2023 contest for the San Marino.

The Worldvision Song Contest Q1-2023 was the second edition of the contest, organised by British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and held on 25 January 2023 at the AO Arena in Manchester, the United Kingdom. 24 countries took part in the second edition of the competition, among which the first participation was for Canada, China, Croatia, Denmark, Greece, Israel, Lebanon, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Serbia and the United States. Voting has undergone changes, according to which now two sets of points had to be given from each participating delegation of the country: the jury and the audience. Also, another additional set of points was formed from the total voting result of five independent observers of the competition. San Marino was voted the winner, represented by Annalisa with the song "Bellissima". The United States was the only participating country whose voting results were not received in full, for which the country was not admitted to the next competition.

The Worldvision Song Contest Q2-2023 was the third edition of the contest, organised by Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) and held on 2 July 2023 at the John Cain Arena in Melbourne, Australia. According to the rules of the competition, the season was supposed to take place in San Marino, but due to the lack of proper infrastructure to host the event, it was decided to move the competition to Australia, which won second place in the early season. 26 countries took part in the competition. Canada, Montenegro, North Macedonia and the United Kingdom decided not to compete in this edition, however Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Poland, Uzbekistan and Vietnam made its debut. Germany gained its first win in the contest, represented by Reve and "Still Dancing".

The Worldvision Song Contest Q3-2023 was the fourth edition of the contest, organised by Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) and held on 14 September (semi-final) and 29 September 2023 (grand final) at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany. This was the first competition with a semi-final. A record 29 countries competed in this edition, which saw the Canada returning to the contest along with new entrants Albania, Cyprus and France, while New Zealand decided to withdraw. 15 countries entered the first Worldvision semi-final, with the top 10 joining the 14 automatic qualifiers in the final. Norway became the fourth country to win the Worldvision title, with band The Score giving their first win with "Head Up".

The Worldvision Song Contest Q4-2023 was the fifth edition of the contest, organised by Norsk rikskringkasting AS (NRK) and held on 26 December 2023 (semi-final) and 6 January 2024 (grand final) at the Telenor Arena in Oslo, Norway. 29 countries took part in the competition, among which the first participation was for Malta and Switzerland, while San Marino and Uzbekistan decided to withdraw. Lebanon became the fifth country to win the Worldvision title, with duo Sasha Lopez and AMI with "Butterfly Dance".

2024

The Worldvision Song Contest Q1-2024 was the sixth edition of the contest, organised by Télé Liban (TL) and held on 28 and 29 February (semi-finals) and 10 March 2024 (grand final) at the Beirut Seaside Arena in Beirut, Lebanon. A second semi-final was introduced at this contest. A record 34 countries competed in this edition, which saw San Marino and Uzbekistan returning to the contest along with new entrants Armenia, Finland and Ireland. Portugal gained its first contest win, represented by Neoni and the song "Darkside".

The Worldvision Song Contest Q2-2024 was the seventh edition of the contest, organised by Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP) and held on XX and XX June/July (semi-finals) and XX June/July 2024 (grand final) at the TBA in en:Guimarães, Portugal. The number of participants remained the same - 34 participating countries. United States returning to the contest along with new entrant Iceland. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan withdrew from the competition.

Format

Original songs representing the participating countries must be released no later than one year from the first day of the month of the contest (thus, for the contest, the final of which took place on July 23, 2022, compositions must be released no earlier than July 1, 2021). However, in the first contest, the final of which took place on July 23, 2022, the contest organizers allowed the selection of songs with a release date no older than January 1, 2021. A "country" as a participant is represented by one curator, an IECO member and usually a broadcaster from that country. The number of stages in the competition is determined based on the number of countries that have submitted their applications for participation.

Selection

Each participating country, at its sole discretion, determines the process they may use to select their entry for the competition. Typical entry selection methods include an open national selection using public voting and an international jury; internal selection; and through a mixed format, when some decisions are made internally by the curator of the country, and the public takes part in others.

Participation

Active members (as opposed to observer members) of the IECO are eligible to participate. IECO members who wish to participate must fulfil conditions as laid down in the rules of the contest, a separate copy of which is drafted annually. A maximum of 26 countries ^{(to be specified)} can take part in any one contest.

Thirty nine countries have participated at least once. These are listed here alongside the year in which they made their debut:

Season Country Q4-2022 Australia Hungary Japan Kazakhstan Montenegro Norway Portugal San Marino South Korea Spain Sweden Thailand United Kingdom

Season Country Q1-2023 Canada China Croatia Denmark Greece Israel Lebanon Netherlands North Macedonia Serbia United States Q2-2023 Germany Italy

Season Country Q2-2023 New Zealand Poland Uzbekistan Vietnam Q3-2023 Albania Cyprus France Q4-2023 Malta Switzerland Q1-2024 Armenia Finland Ireland Q2-2024 Iceland

Hosting

The winning country traditionally hosts the following season's event. Preparations for each contest typically begin at the conclusion of the previous season's contest, with the winning country's head of delegation receiving a welcome package of information related to hosting the contest at the winner's press conference.

The host broadcaster will subsequently select a host city, typically a national or regional capital city, which must meet certain criteria set out in the contest's rules.

Organizational group

Members of the reference group are involved in organizing various competitions within the framework of IEKO, as well as resolving controversial situations, developing and adopting new rules. The reference group consists of permanent active members, current winners of competitions within the framework of IEKO, as well as one member elected by election among the remaining active curators of IEKO. Starting from the Q2-2024 season, the reference group includes active members and current winners of competitions within the IECO.

As of June 2024, the reference group has 4 members:

• Mark Nightingale (Supervisor, since Q4-2022)
• Denis Vorobyov (Supervisor Special Music, Wikipedia, since Q2-2023, current winner of Worldvision Q1-2024)
• Nikolay Serb (Invited member of the reference group, Q2-2024)
• Igor Kapsharin (Invited member of the reference group, Q2-2024)

Reference group observers:

• Pasha Kulik (Wikipedia, between Q2-2023 for Q4-2023 and since Q2-2024)
• Nikita Belonogov (Current winner of IEСO minor projects - Conquiz Tournaments Q1-2024)

Rules

Further information: Rules of the Worldvision Song Contest

The contest is organised annually by the International Eurofan's Countries Organisation (IECO), together with the participating broadcaster of the host country. The event is supervised by a reference group which is represented by the Executive Supervisor, the Executive Secretary (appointed by the IECO) and the Head of Delegation of the host country of the current season. The reference group resolves important and controversial issues during the entire season. The current Executive Supervisor as of Summer 2022 season is Mark Nightingale.

Song eligibility and languages

Further information: Languages in the Worldvision Song Contest

All competing entries must be no longer than four and a half minutes. This rule only applies to the live performance version. In order for the entries in this year's contest to be considered eligible, they must not be released on the YouTube platform before the first day of July of the previous year (for the summer season) and before the first day of January of the previous year (for the winter season). All competitive entries must include vocals and lyrics, and purely instrumental works are not allowed. Participating broadcasters have the right to send a composition in the national or official language of the country. Also, the rules of the competition are available in public languages for all participating countries: English and French.

Artist eligibility and performances

A participating broadcaster has the right to nominate a solo performer, a duet or a musical group. There are no restrictions on the nationality or country of birth of competing artists, and participating broadcasters are free to choose an artist from any country. No performer may compete for more than one country in a given year.

Running order

From the very beginning of the competition, the order of performance of the participating countries is determined and approved by the reference group of the competition before the public announcement. This was done as a random draw to ensure the best experience for TV viewers and to ensure that all countries stand out, avoiding cases where songs of a similar style or tempo are played consecutively. The only place where a random draw is involved is the determination of the part of the performance of the participating country and the serial number for the host country in the final.

Voting

Edition	Points	Voting system
Q4-2022	(12, 10, 8–1) × 2	The jury and the televote each award an independent set of points. First the jury points are announced and then the televoting points are calculated together before being added to the jury points, effectively doubling the points which can be awarded in total.
Q1-2023 - Q2-2023	(12, 10, 8–1) × 2 +1	In the final, the jury and the televote each award an independent set of points. Also, an additional set of points have international viewers who were not represented by any of the participating countries.
Q3-2023 -	12, 10, 8–1 (semi-finals) (12, 10, 8–1) × 2 +1 (final)	In the semi-finals, only the televote is used to decide which songs receive points. In the final, the jury and the televote each award an independent set of points. Also, an additional set of points have international viewers who were not represented by any of the participating countries.

Winning entries

Season		Date	Host	Winner	Language(s)	Points	Runner-up
I	Q4-2022	22 November 2022	Spain, Barcelona	United Kingdom: Calum Scott - Rise	English	172	Portugal
II	Q1-2023	25 January 2023	United Kingdom, Manchester	San Marino: Annalisa - Bellissima	Italian	235	Australia
III	Q2-2023	2 July 2023	Australia*, Melbourne	Germany: Reve - Still Dancing	English	220	New Zealand
IV	Q3-2023	29 September 2023	Germany, Cologne	Norway: The Score - Head Up	English	278	Greece
V	Q4-2023	6 January 2024	Norway, Oslo	Lebanon: Sasha Lopez x AMI - Butterfly Dance	English	232	France
VI	Q1-2024	10 March 2024	Lebanon, Beirut	Portugal: Neoni - Darkside	English	286	Israel
VII	Q2-2024	TBD June/July 2024	Portugal, Guimarães	Upcoming
VIII	Q3-2024	TBD August/September 2024	Upcoming