Rules of the Borealis Song Contest

The official rules of the Borealis Song Contest have been changed and developed a few times throughout the history of the contest. The Borealis Broadcasting Union is responsible for the rules of the contest.

Number of songs
Each country in the contest is entitled to enter just one song. No country is automatically pre-qualified for the final. Since edition 3, the final is limited to 24 songs. The finalists consist of the following:
 * 12 qualifiers from Qualification 1
 * 12 qualifiers from Qualification 2

Artist(s)
The chosen artist(s) or featured artist(s) need(s) a connection to the country. World chart singers are not allowed to take part in the contest. The performer, or at least one of the performers, must be aged 16 or older on the day of the song release on YouTube.

Song & Music Video
The entering song is not allowed to be a complete cover of an already existing song. Songs of the Eurovision Song Contest and national final songs as well as significant overused songs of other contests are not allowed. The song requires a high definition music video, a replacement video in high definition or a professional lyric video. The song may not have been released on YouTube before 1 January 2019. A song is not allowed to have more than 50 million views on the day of the song approval. The timeslot for each song is restricted to 20 seconds. In case of audio copyright claims, the BBU is entitled to reject the song. In case of video copyright claims, the BBU has to inform the HoD of the respective country, whether the video should be blurred or the country wants to submit a new entry.

Selection method
The artist(s) and the respective song can be chosen internally by the broadcaster or with the help of a national final. In case of an internal selection, the broadcaster is obliged to submit the entry to the executive supervisor. If the broadcaster wants to hold a national final, the participating songs and the name of the national final have to be submitted to the executive supervisor as well. A national final can be either accomplished as a video on YouTube or as a poll on Discord. Only full members of the BBU are allowed to vote in a national final. A country can’t vote in its own national final.

In order to approve the proposed songs of the respective countries, the Borealis Council was founded on 12 April 2020.

Edition 1-3
All full members of the BBU had to vote in both Qualifications and in the Final. To make the voting faster, easier and more exciting, the voting method has been changed after edition 3.

Edition 4-
Since edition 4, the participating countries are only eligible to vote in their own Qualification. In the final, all participating countries of the edition have to vote. The countries have to give a score between 1 (worst score) and 10 (best score) points to every entry. The participants can’t award any points to their own entry.