Special Melody Contest: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 05:05, 1 October 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
Q1-24
Q2-24

Format

The format of the competition is the organization in one stage - the final. The uniqueness of the competition is the use of a specific theme for each season. The theme of the season is determined by the side of the organizers of the competition (supervisor and, if any, assistant supervisor, and the host side of the season (curator of the country). Until season Q1-2025, the limit on the number of participating countries is up to 20, however, during the process of organizing season Q2-2025, assistant supervisor of the competition Denis Vorobyov said that the competition can accept up to 26 countries, which removed the limit of 20 countries per season. Formally, the maximum number of participating countries is not specified, but there is also a format of the competition in one final, which clearly sets a limit of 26 participating countries in one season.

Participation

Further information: Countries of the Special Melody Contest

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

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

Season	Country
Q3-2023	Australia
	Canada
	Cyprus
	Denmark
	Germany
	Greece
	Hungary
	Japan
	Kazakhstan
	Lebanon
	Netherlands
	Norway
	Portugal
	South Korea
	Thailand
	United Kingdom

Season	Country
Q4-2023	Israel
	Italy
	Spain
Q1-2024	Albania
	France
	Poland
	Switzerland
Q2-2024	San Marino
Q2-2024	Vietnam
Q4-2024	North Macedonia
Q1-2025	Cuba
Q2-2025	China
Q2-2025	New Zealand
Q3-2025	Czechia

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 Brisbane 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	7.08.2023	Bangkok Geographical Names	16	Canada The Hardkiss - Antarctica	Ukrainian	120	South Korea
II	Q4-23	15.12.2023	Gangneung Rock Bangers	18	Greece Against The Current - Weapon	English	110	Japan
III	Q1-24	28.01.2024	Thessaloniki Cinematic Beats	20	Australia Stan Walker - I Am	English, Maori	103	Switzerland
IV	Q2-24	6.05.2024	Perth Mystery Forces	20	Australia Darin - Electric	English	103	Thailand
V	Q3-24	27.10.2024	Brisbane Underrated Gems	18	Israel Jude York - Monaco	English	117	Denmark
VI	Q4-24	5.02.2025	Haifa Diversity of Languages	18	United Kingdom Teodora - Most Na Adi	Serbian	110	Denmark
VII	Q1-25	14.06.2025	Glasgow Contest Favorites	20	Lebanon Noa Kirel - Deja Vu	Hebrew	135	Canada
VIII	Q2-25	27.07.2025	Beirut Genre Extravaganza	22	United Kingdom Jennie - Like Jennie	English	112	Australia
IX	Q3-25	28.09.2025	Newcastle upon Tyne A Pair In Despair	22	Japan Mimoza - Young Queen	English	109	Hungary
X	Q4-25	XX.11.2025	TBA TBA	TBA	Upcoming

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 == 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.
+The format of the competition is the organization in one stage - the final. The uniqueness of the competition is the use of a specific theme for each season. The theme of the season is determined by the side of the organizers of the competition (supervisor and, if any, assistant supervisor, and the host side of the season (curator of the country). Until season [[Special Melody Q1-2025|Q1-2025]], the limit on the number of participating countries is up to 20, however, during the process of organizing season [[Special Melody Q2-2025|Q2-2025]], assistant supervisor of the competition Denis Vorobyov said that the competition can accept up to 26 countries, which removed the limit of 20 countries per season. Formally, the maximum number of participating countries is not specified, but there is also a format of the competition in one final, which clearly sets a limit of 26 participating countries in one season.
 == <strong>Participation</strong> ==
@@ Line 101: / Line 101: @@
 |-
 | [[File:Nzl-icon.png|20px]] [[New Zealand#Special Melody|New Zealand]]
+|-
+| rowspan="1" scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | [[Special Melody Q3-2025|Q3-2025]]
+| [[File:Cze-icon.png|20px]] [[Czechia#Special Melody|Czechia]]
 |}
 |}
@@ Line 131: / Line 134: @@
 | 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:;" | 7 August 2023
+| scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | 7.08.2023
 | 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
@@ Line 141: / Line 144: @@
 | 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:;" | 15 December 2023
+| scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | 15.12.2023
 | 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
@@ Line 151: / Line 154: @@
 | 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:;" |  28 January 2024
+| scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" |  28.01.2024
 | scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | [[File:Grc-icon.png|20px]] [[:en:Thessaloniki|Thessaloniki]]<br>Cinematic Beats
 | scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:;" | 20
@@ Line 161: / Line 164: @@
 | 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:;" | 6 May 2024
+| scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | 6.05.2024
 | 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
@@ Line 171: / Line 174: @@
 | 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:;" | 27 October 2024
+| scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | 27.10.2024
 | 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
@@ Line 181: / Line 184: @@
 | 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:;" | 5 February 2025
+| scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | 5.02.2025
 | 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
-| [[File:Gbr-icon.png|20px]] [[United Kingdom#Special Melody|United Kingdom]]<br>Teodora - Most Na Adi
+| [[File:Gbr-icon.png|20px]] [[United Kingdom#Special Melody|United Kingdom]]<br>[[:en:Teodora Džehverović|Teodora]] - Most Na Adi
 | Serbian
 | 110
@@ Line 191: / Line 194: @@
 | scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:;" | VII
 | scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:;" | [[Special Melody Q1-2025|Q1-25]]
-| scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | 14 Juny 2025
+| scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | 14.06.2025
 | scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | [[File:Gbr-icon.png|20px]] [[:en:Glasgow|Glasgow]]<br>Contest Favorites
 | scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:;" | 20
-| [[File:Lbn-icon.png|20px]] [[Lebanon#Special Melody|Lebanon]]<br>Noa Kirel - Deja Vu
+| [[File:Lbn-icon.png|20px]] [[Lebanon#Special Melody|Lebanon]]<br>[[:en:Noa Kirel|Noa Kirel]] - Deja Vu
 | Hebrew
 | <b>135</b>
@@ Line 201: / Line 204: @@
 | scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:;" | VIII
 | scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:;" | [[Special Melody Q2-2025|Q2-25]]
-| scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | 27 July 2025
+| scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | 27.07.2025
 | scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | [[File:Lbn-icon.png|20px]] [[:en:Beirut|Beirut]]<br>Genre Extravaganza
 | scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:;" | 22
-| [[File:Gbr-icon.png|20px]] [[United Kingdom#Special Melody|United Kingdom]]<br>Jennie - Like Jennie
+| [[File:Gbr-icon.png|20px]] [[United Kingdom#Special Melody|United Kingdom]]<br>[[:en:Jennie (singer)|Jennie]] - Like Jennie
 | English
 | 112
@@ Line 211: / Line 214: @@
 | scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:;" | IX
 | scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:;" | [[Special Melody Q3-2025|Q3-25]]
-| scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | TBA September 2025
+| scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | 28.09.2025
 | scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | [[File:Gbr-icon.png|20px]] [[:en:Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle upon Tyne]]<br>A Pair In Despair
+| scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:;" | 22
+| [[File:Jpn-icon.png|20px]] [[Japan#Special Melody|Japan]]<br>Mimoza - Young Queen
+| English
+| 109
+| [[File:Hun-icon.png|20px]] [[Hungary#Special Melody|Hungary]]
+|-
+| scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:;" | X
+| scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:;" | [[Special Melody Q4-2025|Q4-25]]
+| scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | XX.11.2025
+| scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:;" | [[File:Jpn-icon.png|20px]] TBA<br>TBA
 | scope="row" style="text-align:center; background:;" | TBA
 | style="text-align:center; background:#ddddff;" colspan="4" |Upcoming