Special Melody Contest: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 23:09, 19 January 2025

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

Q3-23
Q4-23
Q1-24
Q2-24
Q3-24
Q4-24

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

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+[[File:Special-melody.jpg|thumb|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.
-== <strong>Origins and history</strong> ==
+== 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
-== <strong>Format</strong> ==
+== 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
+<gallery widths=200>
+File:SM-Q3-23.jpg|Q3-23
+File:SM-Q4-23.jpg|Q4-23
+File:SM-Q1-24.jpg|Q1-24
+File:SM-Q2-24.jpg|Q2-24
+File:SM-Q3-24.jpg|Q3-24
+File:SM-Q4-24.jpg|Q4-24
+</gallery>
+== 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.
-== <strong>Participation</strong> ==
+== Participation ==
 Any accredited country IECO can participate in the competition.
 The maximum limit on the number of countries in a quarter is 20 countries.
-== <strong>Hosting</strong> ==
+== 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 [[:en:Bangkok|Bangkok]] - the capital of the chosen country.The venue for the competition was the [[:en:Impact, Muang Thong Thani|Impact Arena Bangkok]]
@@ Line 21: / Line 34: @@
 In the six epsode of the competition hosted by [[Israel]]
-== <strong>Rules</strong> ==
+== Rules ==
 ''Further information: [[Rules of the Special Melody Contest]]''
 ===Voting===
-== <strong>Winning entries</strong> ==
+== Winning entries ==
 {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
 ! scope="col" colspan="2" | Season
-! scope="col" | Theme
 ! scope="col" | Date
-! scope="col" | Host
+! scope="col" | Host City & Theme
+! scope="col" | Countries
 ! scope="col" | Winner
 ! scope="col" | Language(s)
@@ Line 37: / Line 50: @@
 | scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:;" | I
 | scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:;" | [[Special Melody Q3-2023|Q3-23]]
-| scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | Geographical Names
 | scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | 7 Aug 2023
-| scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | [[File:Tha-icon.png|20px]] [[:en:Bangkok|Bangkok]]
+| scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | [[File:Tha-icon.png|20px]] [[:en:Bangkok|Bangkok]]<br>Geographical Names
+| scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:;" | 16
 | {{CAN}}<br> [[:en:The Hardkiss|The Hardkiss]] - Antarctica
 | Ukrainian
@@ Line 47: / Line 60: @@
 | scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:;" | II
 | scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:;" | [[Special Melody Q4-2023|Q4-23]]
-| scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | Rock Bangers
 | scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | 15 Dec 2023
-| scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | [[File:Kor-icon.png|20px]] [[:en:Gangneung|Gangneung]]
+| scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | [[File:Kor-icon.png|20px]] [[:en:Gangneung|Gangneung]]<br>Rock Bangers
+| scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:;" | 18
 | {{GRC}}<br> [[:en:Against the Current (band)|Against The Current]] - Weapon
 | English
@@ Line 57: / Line 70: @@
 | scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:;" | III
 | scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:;" | [[Special Melody Q1-2024|Q1-24]]
-| scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" |  Cinematic Beats
 | scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" |  28 Jan 2024
-| scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | [[File:Grc-icon.png|20px]] [[:en:Thessaloniki|Thessaloniki]]
+| scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | [[File:Grc-icon.png|20px]] [[:en:Thessaloniki|Thessaloniki]]<br>Cinematic Beats
-| {{AUS}}<br> [[:en:Stan Walker|Stan Walker]] - I AM
+| scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:;" | 20
-| English
+| {{AUS}}<br> [[:en:Stan Walker|Stan Walker]] - I Am
+| English, Maori
 | 103
 | {{CHE}}
@@ Line 67: / Line 80: @@
 | scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:;" | IV
 | scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:;" | [[Special Melody Q2-2024|Q2-24]]
-| scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | Mystery Forces
 | scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | 6 May 2024
-| scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | [[File:Aus-icon.png|20px]] [[:en:Perth|Perth]]
+| scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | [[File:Aus-icon.png|20px]] [[:en:Perth|Perth]]<br>Mystery Forces
+| scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:;" | 20
 | {{AUS}}<br> [[:en:Darin|Darin]] - Electric
 | English
@@ Line 77: / Line 90: @@
 | scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:;" | V
 | scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:;" | [[Special Melody Q3-2024|Q3-24]]
-| scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | Underrated Gems
 | scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | 27 Oct 2024
-| scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | [[File:Aus-icon.png|20px]] [[:en:Brisbane|Brisbane]]
+| scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | [[File:Aus-icon.png|20px]] [[:en:Brisbane|Brisbane]]<br>Underrated Gems
+| scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:;" | 18
 | {{ISR}}<br> Jude York - Monaco
 | English
@@ Line 87: / Line 100: @@
 | scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:;" | VI
 | scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:;" | [[Special Melody Q4-2024|Q4-24]]
-| scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | Diversity of Languages
 | scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | Jan 2025
-| scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | [[File:Isr-icon.png|20px]] [[:en:Haifa|Haifa]]
+| scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | [[File:Isr-icon.png|20px]] [[:en:Haifa|Haifa]]<br>Diversity of Languages
+| scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:;" | 18
 | {{XXU}}<br>TBD
 |