United States of Song - Rules (please read!)

CONTEST ORGANIZATION

1. The song contest manager is Gregory (inactive) . The song contest manager can make amendments or additions to these rules at any time.

2. A small, unofficial committee of forum and non-forum members help fulfill additional duties, such as finding songs for lesser-known states and cross-website promotion. The committee are Gregory (inactive) , Derek , and Chante™ .

3. The contest features all fifty United States and up to six U.S.A. territories.
a) The six territories are: 1) American Samoa, 2) District of Columbia, 3) Guam, 4) Northern Mariana Islands, 5) Puerto Rico, and 6) U.S. Virgin Islands.
b) The contest does not feature any other land or territory.

4. The contest is held on an annual basis, similar to Eurovision.

5. The contest comprises two semifinals with at least 25 songs, and one final round of 25 songs. The top 12 songs with the most points proceed to the final round.

6. The winning state from the previous edition accepts the responsibility to host the contest the following year. The song of the host state automatically qualifies to the Final Round.

7. The Final Round Results video is the conclusion of the contest. It is released on YouTube. It is inspired by Eurovision finals, with the contest manager presiding the show.


PARTICIPATION

1. Any forum or non-forum user is a potential participant. You can participate by a) confirming participation, b) submitting songs, c) voting, or all the above.
a) The Contest Manager will provide the first name/location of the non-forum participant. You may inquire for more information about these members if needed.

2. This contest is non-committal. You can confirm participation to claim a state, but are free to withdraw at any time.


SONG SUBMISSION & CONFIRMATION PERIOD

1. Organization for a new edition of the contest begins when the Song Submission and Confirmation period is opened. This is a two to three month period where everyone is welcome to send songs for use in the contest.

SONG SUBMISSION
2. During the Song Submission period, participants can send as many songs as they want for as many states and territories as they want. Songs must meet the rules outlined below for eligibility.
a) The Confirmation period ends before the Song Submissions period closes, which is traditionally most of January.
b) If a participant confirms with a state/territory, they may still submit songs for other states and territories, and they can vote for those states if their song is chosen.
c) If a participant submits one or more songs for a single state song selection, the Committee must include at least one song from that participant (as long as it meets the requirements outlined below.)


3. The song that represents each state or territory is chosen by a) the confirmed participant, b) the Committee, or c) by state selection.

CONFIRMATION
4. When the Confirmation period opens, you may confirm for one (1) state/territory by replying to the thread or messaging the contest manager.
a) This is the state/territory that you are solely responsible for sending the entry for.
b) You cannot confirm for a state/territory that has a song selection planned. These states are announced when confirmations open.
c) You cannot confirm with the host state.
d) You cannot vote for the state you've confirmed with.

5. If you confirm for a state/territory, you can:
a) send a song to Committee for acceptance.
 Your song must meet the requirements outlined below, and must be accepted by the Committee.
b) choose the song from those that have been submitted. Committee will share these with you, and you would get to pick which one.

If Committee declines a song's participation, we must explain why.

The Song Selection Committee determines the rest of the entries for all remaining, unconfirmed states and territories. 


STATES AND TERRITORIES

1. An edition of the contest cannot be held unless all states (50) have a valid song. The song submission deadline will be extended until this rule is met.

2. A territory can optionally participate if a valid song can be found by the song submission deadline.


ARTISTS

1. The artist must be 14 or older as of January 1st of the given year of the song contest. For 2022, this means they can't be born later than January 1st, 2008. Four groups, all members must be 14 or older (this rule was implemented during the 2022 edition; previously announced acts grandfathered in.)

2. Although flexible, preferences are given to artists who are from the given U.S. state. They should either have been born in, were raised in, or established long-term residence in that state.
a) They may reside in a different location and/or released/wrote the song in a different location that year.
b) Featured artists cannot represent the sole connection to the U.S. state.
c) An act consisting of at least two artists can represent a state if at least one of the two acts satisfies this rule.

3. Artists cannot participate if they placed in the Top 10 of the previous edition.
a) For 2021, these are: Kat Cunning, Aron Wright, UNSECRET, Stela Cole, Anna Graceman, Gregory Dillon, Marisa Maino, Neoma, Silver Sphere (Sophie Cates), Amy Allen, and Will Jay.

4. The artist or band must not have had a Top 40 hit single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart prior to the contest.

5. The artist or band must not have had a Top 10 hit single on any popular U.S.A Billboard singles chart.
a) Examples of singles charts are the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Pop Songs, Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, Hot Country Songs, and Hot Rock & Alternative Songs. Airplay charts do not count toward this.
b) They are allowed to have had a Top 40 album on the Billboard 200.
c) The artist *can* participate if they are no longer part of a group that had a Top 40/Top 10 hit, or if they were only a collaborating artist.

6. With some exceptions, the artist's main audience/market should not be for foreign listeners only.
a) For example, this song would not be accepted. Although the artist is from Oklahoma, because the song was wholly produced and released in South Korea, in Korean, by an artist who is now working in Korea, it has an inauthentic connection to Oklahoma.
b) This artist would be accepted, despite singing in an African language, because the band lives in Vermont and performs there regularly, thus establishing an audience/market within America.

7. Artists cannot participate if they are also someone who is participating and/or voting in the contest. 

8. Artists can only represent one state/territory per edition.


SONGS

1. The song must be no longer than four minutes.
a) Specifically, the last note must be sung or played prior to the 4:00 mark.

2. The song must have been "officially" released in the previous 12 months of the given year of the song contest. For 2022, all entries must have been released between January 1st and December 31st, 2021.
a) A song with a music video released in 2022 can participate if the song itself (whether as a single or album release) was released in 2021.
b) A song released in 2020 can participate if the music video was released in 2021.
c) A song released in 2019 or earlier cannot participate.

3. The song must be originally composed and/or produced. No covers are allowed.

4. Songs can be sung in any language, or no language at all (instrumental).

5. AVOID CONTROVERSIAL SONG LYRICS. Avoid songs about religion, politics, pandemic "hot takes", or songs with profane lyrics. The main point is that the song should be acceptable for anyone and everyone; the lyrics cannot throw the song's quality into question.
a) A song being declared 'too profane' for participation in the contest is at the discretion of the contest manager.
 
6. It is not recommended to send songs from "fringe" genres such as heavy metal, hardcore rap, deep house, and so forth. If you wouldn't see it on the Eurovision stage, then it's probably not a good choice for USoS.

7. Songs with an accompanying music video are preferred but not required. If the song does not have a music video, the song must have been uploaded to YouTube in a video format.


VOTING

1. Any forum or non-forum user can vote.

2. There are two types of voters: jury voters, and public voters.
a) Jury voters use the Eurovision voting scale to select their favorite ten songs from a semifinal or final round. Jury voters account for 100% of the semifinal vote and 50% of the final round vote.
b) Public voters rate songs on a 1-7 scale, with 7 being their favorite song. These rates are turned into points. Public voters only participate in the Final Round and account for 50% of the vote.

3. Voting forms are made available by the contest manager. You must use the voting form to submit your vote.

4. You cannot vote as both a jury and public voter. Your votes will be disqualified if it is discovered you voted both ways.

5. After the contest ends, a full picture of the semifinal and final round vote (voting grids) will be published to the contest's wiki page.

---

If you have any questions about the above information, please contact Gregory (inactive) . Thank you for your interest!