Internatia Song Contest: Difference between revisions

Internatia Song Contest
	Official logo of Internatia Song Contest since 29th edition
Genre	Song contest
Country of origin	List of countries
Language(s)	English
Production
Location(s)	List of host cities
Running time	3 hours
Production company(s)	IBU
Distributor	Internatia
Broadcast
Picture format	1080i (HDTV)
Original run	4 December 2011 – present
Chronology
Related shows	Internatia Second Chance Contest; Junior Internatia Song Contest
External links
	Official website

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Revision as of 18:24, 4 February 2015

The Internatia Song Contest is a monthly singing competition held among many of the active member countries of the Internatia Broadcasting Union (IBU).

Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and radio and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition. The Contest has been broadcast every edition since its inauguration in 2011. It is also one of the most watched non-sporting events in the Internatia.

Origins

The contest was based on the Eurovision Song Contest. The first Contest was held in the town of Sansails, Spirevo, on 4 December 2011. Eight countries participated — each submitting one songs. This was the only Contest in which less than ten song was performed: since 2nd edition all Contests have more than 18 participants. The 1st Contest was won by Territrius.

Format

The format of the Contest has changed over the editions, though the basic tenets have always been thus: participant countries submit songs, which are performed live in a television programme transmitted across the Internatia Network by the IBU simultaneously to all countries. A "country" as a participant is represented by one television broadcaster from that country: typically, but not always, that country's national public broadcasting organisation. The programme is hosted by one of the participant countries, and the transmission is sent from the auditorium in the host city. During this programme, after all the songs have been performed, the countries then proceed to cast votes for the other countries' songs: nations are not allowed to vote for their own song. At the end of the programme, the winner is declared as the song with the most points. The winner receives, simply, the prestige of having won, and the winning country is invited to host the second next edition.

The programme is invariably opened by one or more presenters, welcoming viewers to the show. Most host countries choose to capitalise on the opportunity afforded them by hosting a programme with such a wide-ranging international audience, and it is common to see the presentation interspersed with video footage of scenes from the host nation, as if advertising for tourism. Between the songs and the announcement of the voting, an interval act is performed. These acts can be any form of entertainment imaginable.

As national broadcasters join and leave the IBU feed, the IBU/Internatia logo is displayed.

Participants

Eligible participants include Active Members (as opposed to Associate Members) of the IBU. Active members are those who are located in states that fall within the Internatia Broadcasting Area, or are member states of the Council of Internatia.

Active members include broadcasting organisations whose transmissions are made available to at least 98% of households in their own country which are equipped to receive such transmissions. If an IBU Active Member wishes to participate, they must fulfil conditions as laid down by the rules of the Contest.

As of ISC 31, 95 countries have participated at least once. These are listed here alongside the edition in which they made their debut:

Edition	Country making its début entry
1st	Grolskira, DPR Jindalea, Nicolas' Neighbour, Saint Eva & Lepland, Spirevo, Tashkveny, Territrius, T.E.T.R.I.S
2nd	Anselmsuusonia, Brickistan, Dulcet Ebullience, Eriod, H Kim Jong Il's AD Hangug, Kosma, Luzze, San Monique, Sibinia, Sockistan, Sunetti, Symphony Isles, Tikata, Tonallán, Üürnikoise, Volnytaria, Winterlune, Xhanostania
3rd	Irlandia, Mukaltin, Randomia, Swelatie
4th	DimkaRUS
5th	Novatlantida
6th	Dinokratys & Shrikidai, Rötenrod
7th	Bitland, Irdminia, Oalia, Yazminia
8th	Canedonia, Carpathia, Kwonia, Lacrea, Marvelia, Puntíkov, San Remo
9th	Alexandria, Chruno, Edoriada, Harlequenia, Keohretcha Lost Islands, Pebbleland, Thorway
10th	Daǔlska, Monteverde, Republic of St. Olaf, West Bombo
11th	Kaledonii
12th	Aonach, Hanzyuki, Karuex and Qargering, Ova Anova, Spitzenbergen
13th	Amsteris, Beige, Fervorosia, Nouvelle-Acadie, Yutuland
14th	Tjärsklanjska
15th	Angellandia, Caprika, Fierce, L.M Lažovi, Stylé
17th	Haven, Pen Island, Rata Sum
18th	Atsoumpalia
19th	Evergreen Lands
20th	Ahraspen, Dvipantara, Leshia
21st	Porielana, Zephyrus
23rd	Bubblique, Huania, Valdron
24th	Kaeros Islands, Kaministiquia
25th	Green Apple, Men̈́sa
26th	Alteus
30th	Alma Livre, Ruthsina
31st	RC Laranjeiras
32nd	Háttųka

Hosting

The winner of the contest will have the opportunity of hosting the second next edition. If they decline to host, the country who placed 2nd will host. If that nation also declines to host, the line of hosting rights goes to the next country on the list until a suitable host is found (situation like that happened only once, when Kosma hosted ISC 6, despite placing fourth in ISC 4).

Most of the expense of the Contest is covered by commercial sponsors and contributions from the other participating nations. The Contest is considered to be a unique opportunity for promoting the host country as a tourist destination.

Preparations for the event start a matter of days after the host wins in the two previous editions, and confirms to the IBU that they intend to—and have the capacity to—host the event. A host city is chosen—usually the capital—and a suitable concert venue.

Voting systems

The voting systems used in the Contest have changed only once during contest run. Since 2nd edition countries award a set of points from 1 to 8, then 10 and finally 12 to other songs in the competition — with the favourite song being awarded 12 points. Due lower number of participants in 1st edition voting system was different.

Edition	Points	Voting System
1st	12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 1 points	Some countries had jury members and some countries used televote to decide which songs would get points.
2nd – present	12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 points	Some countries had jury members, some countries used televote and some 50/50 combination of jury and televoting to decide which songs would get points.

Presentation of votes

After the interval act is over, when all the points have been calculated, the presenter(s) of the show call upon each voting country in turn to invite them to announce the results of their vote. Often the opportunity is taken by each country to show their spokesperson standing in front of a backdrop which includes a famous place in that country.

Currently, the votes from 1 to 7 are displayed automatically on screen and the remaining points are read out in ascending order by the spokesperson, culminating with the maximum 12 points. Countries must announce the country names and points in English the scores are repeated by the Contest's presenters in the other language.

The order in which countries would present their votes during Final is decided by host country. Voting order has to create as much suspense as possible when the votes were revealed.

There is no specific rule if country has to use 100% jury, 100% televote or 50/50 combination of jury and televoting.

Regional block voting

According to one study of Internatia voting patterns, certain countries tend to form "clusters" or "cliques" by frequently voting in the same way. Yet another study concludes that as of 10th edition voting blocs has, no occasions to crucially affected the outcome of the Contest.

Another statistical analysis of the results between 6th and 10th edition suggests the occurrence of regional block voting; it is a matter of debate whether it is primarily explained by conscious political alliances or by a tendency for culturally close countries to have similar musical tastes. Historically, Kosma and Tonallán would exchange points at an average of 11.4 points per contest. Several countries can be organised into voting blocks which regularly award each other high points:

Kosma and Tonallán (Kosmallán)
Kosmallán, Luzze, Yazminia and Yutuland

Expansion of the Contest

Participation since 2nd edition:
  Entered at least once

  Never entered, although eligible to do so

  Entry intended, but later withdrew

The number of countries participating each edition has steadily grown over time, from eight participants in 1st edition to over 25 in the 7th edition, when twenty-six countries participated in the competition.

Because the Contest is a live television programme, a reasonable time limit must be imposed on the duration of the show. In recent editions the nominal limit has been three hours, with the broadcast occasionally overrunning.

Semi-finals

Because 35 countries announced intention to participate in Internatia Song Contest, a qualification round, known as the semi-finals, was introduced for the 8th Contest.

In each of the semi-finals the voting is conducted among those countries which participate in that semi-final in question, a draw is conducted to determine in which semi-final each of countries will participate. In contrast, every participating country in a particular year may vote in the grand final — whether their song qualified from the semi or not.

After the votes have been cast in each semi-final, the countries which received the most votes—and will therefore proceed to the grand final—are announced by name by the presenters. Full voting results are withheld until after the grand final, whereupon they are published by host country.

In ISC 8, 10 countries from each semi qualified to grand final, which joined host country, setting a total number of songs in final to 21. In ISC 9 number of qualified nations were increased to 12 from each semi, increasing a number of finalists to 25. Due to large number of participants - over 50 countries in ISC 15 - the number of qualifiers were increased again, this time to 13 from each semi, making the total amount of 27 countries in the grand final.

Winners

There have been 31 contests, with one winner each edition. Twenty-six different countries have won the contest. Territrius won the first contest. The countries with the highest number of wins are Sibinia, Chruno, Kosma, Luzze and Territrius, with two each (the only countries that won contest twice to date). Grolskira is the only country that participated in every edition of ISC and still awaiting a win.

Edition	Country	Performer	Song	Points	Margin	Runner-up	Date	Host city	Part.
1st	Territrius	Katzenjammer	"Hey, Ho (On the Devil's Back)"	44	4	Spirevo	4 December 2011	Sansails	8
2nd	Sunetti	Nina Zilli	"Per Le Strade"	93	7	HKJIADH	18 September 2012	Zinzolin	24
3rd	Sibinia	Alan Dawa Dolma	"Kuon No Kawa"	101	9	HKJIADH	13 October 2012	Aquaticia	23
4th	Sibinia	NOX	"Szeretem"	104	17	Tashkveny	4 November 2012	Affetto	21
5th	San Monique	Of Monsters & Men	"Little Talks"	120	18	Sunetti	26 November 2012	Meijar	19
6th	Symphony Isles	Magazin	"Sijamski blizanci"	87	8	San Monique	16 December 2012	Luna	23
7th	Saint Eva & Lepland	Kristina	"Life is a Game"	128	24	Sibinia	16 January 2013	Lördsberg	26
8th	Bitland	The Bird and the Bee	"Love Letter to Japan"	177	42	Symphony Isles	14 February 2013^{[N 1]}	Violetta	35
9th	Marvelia	Two Steps From Hell	"Archangel"	133	3	Yazminia	23 March 2013	Woodchester	43
10th	Novatlantida	Luar Na Lubre	"Romeiro Ao Lonxe"	143	14	Dulcet Ebullience	15 May 2013	Pixopolis^{[N 2]}	47
11th	Harlequenia	The Romanovs	"White Flag"	117	4	Spirevo	31 May 2013	Amor	43
12th	Luzze	Bebe Black	"Never Forget"	153	6	Carpathia	1 July 2013	Platonia	49
13th	Tikata	Dulce Pontes	"Canção do Mar"	162	1	Kosma	3 August 2013	Siegeslinde	47
14th	Anselmsuusonia	Jetta	"Start A Riot"	168	12	Chruno	1 September 2013	Lovendalen	49
15th	Yazminia	Czesław Śpiewa	"Pożegnanie małego wojownika"	166	12	Chruno	30 September 2013	Tramandi	55
16th	Kosma	Jenni Vartiainen	"Junat ja naiset"	162	22	Alexandria	31 October 2013	Pensa	49
17th	Pebbleland	The Storm	"Lost in the Fire"	228	39	Chruno	30 November 2013	Liechgrado	52
18th	Kaledonii	The Piano Guys feat. Shweta Subram	"Khushnuma"	163	8	Irdminia	30 December 2013	Astrée	52
19th	Monteverde	Katy Carr	"Mała Little Flower"	190	21	Grolskira	1 February 2014	Rosetown	50
20th	Beige	Katy B	"Crying For No Reason"	201	43	Dvipantara	1 March 2014	Śānti	54
21st	Alexandria	Yiruma	"River Flows In You"	175	1	Yazminia	30 March 2014	Stettino	52
22nd	Territrius	Soweto Gospel Choir	"Baba Yetu"	190	16	Sunetti	3 May 2014	Tuscan City	53
23rd	Leshia	KeshYou	"Rizamyn"	153	10	Keohretcha	1 June 2014	Dalistra	50
24th	Chruno	First Aid Kit	"My Silver Lining"	205	28	Yutuland	29 June 2014	Aquaticia	52
25th	Pen Island	The Pierces	"Kings"	172	9	Tjärsklanjska	30 July 2014	Leshkent	54
26th	Chruno	The Saturdays	"All Fired Up"	171	9	Bubblique	28 August 2014	Yottobán	53
27th	Kosma	Loituma	"Ievan polkka"	181	8	Yazminia	2 October 2014	Lumturi	55
28th	Bubblique	Laïs	"'t Smidje"	163	1	Alteus	30 October 2014	Burbuja / Costalis	54
29th	DPR Jindalea	Corlea Botha	"Wie Ek Is"	175	1	Chruno	1 December 2014	Pallas	55
30th	Luzze	Jennifer Lawrence	"The Hanging Tree"	156	3	Nicolas' Neighbour	1 January 2015	Bulle	54
31st	Zephyrus	Giorgia	"E' L'Amore Che Conta"	144	2	Edoriada	3 February 2015	Sanggumdang	51
32nd							February 2015	Ljuvdam	52

By country

Wins	Country	Editions
2	Sibinia	3rd, 4th
	Territrius	1st, 22nd
	Chruno	24th, 26th
	Kosma	16th, 27th
	Luzze	12th, 30th
1	Sunetti	2nd
	San Monique	5th
	Symphony Isles	6th
	Saint Eva & Lepland	7th
	Bitland	8th
	Marvelia	9th
	Novatlantida	10th
	Harlequenia	11th
	Tikata	13th
	Anselmsuusonia	14th
	Yazminia	15th
	Pebbleland	17th
	Kaledonii	18th
	Monteverde	19th
	Beige	20th
	Alexandria	21st
	Leshia	23rd
	Pen Island	25th
	Bubblique	28th
	DPR Jindalea	29th
	Zephyrus	31st

By language

Wins	Language	Editions	Countries
13	English	1st, 5th, 7th, 8th, 11th, 12th, 14th, 17th, 20th, 24th, 25th, 26th, 30th	Territrius, San Monique, Saint Eva & Lepland, Bitland, Harlequenia, Luzze, Anselmsuusonia, Pebbleland, Beige, Chruno, Pen Island
2	Polish	15th,^{[N 3]} 19th ^{[N 3]}	Yazminia^{[N 3]}, Monteverde^{[N 3]}
	Instrumental	9th, 21st	Marvelia, Alexandria
	Finnish	16th, 27th	Kosma
	Italian	2nd, 31st	Sunetti, Zephyrus
1	Japanese	3rd	Sibinia
	Hungarian	4th	Sibinia
	Croatian	6th	Symphony Isles
	Galician	10th	Novatlantida
	Portuguese	13th	Tikata
	Hindi	18th^{[N 4]}	Kaledonii^{[N 4]}
	Swahili	22nd	Territrius
	Kazakh	23rd	Leshia
	Dutch	28th	Bubblique
	Afrikaans	29th	DPR Jindalea

Logo

Since its inception, Internatia Song Contest has changed logo many times:

Editions	Image	Notes
1st – 2nd	No official logo
3rd – 7th		Big star with caption: Internatia Song Contest
8th – 11th		Big star with caption "Internatia Song Contest", encircled by square flags of all nations that participated in ISC.
12th – 28th		Abbreviation "ISC" in center, encircled by round flags of all nations that participated in ISC.
since 29th		The current generic logo was introduced for the 29th Internatia Song Contest in Kosma, to create a consistent visual identity. The host country's flag appears in the first "a" of the generic logo. Each edition of the contest, the host country creates a sub-theme which is usually accompanied and expressed with a sub-logo and slogan.

Spin-offs

Internatia Second Chance Contest (2013 – present), a contest dedicated to non-winning NF songs of Internatia Song Contest.
Internatia Song Contest -1 (2014 - present), a contest dedicated to retro entries released mainly before 1990.
Junior Internatia Song Contest (2014 – present), a contest dedicated for Internatian artists aged 16 and under.

Notes and references

Footnotes

^ Since 8th edition, contest has included two televised semi-finals.
^ Final results show was held in Esonáth, Lost Islands.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d This song was partially sung in English.
^ ^a ^b The first verse of the song is a Sanskrit prayer.

References

[semi_final-1] Since 8th edition, contest has included two televised semi-finals.

[Results-2] Final results show was held in Esonáth, Lost Islands.

[Czesław-3] This song was partially sung in English.

[Hindi-4] The first verse of the song is a Sanskrit prayer.

[N 1]

[N 2]

[N 3]

[N 4]