RULES&CONDITIONS OF THE NATIONAL SELECTION ESC 2019

Eurovision Romania

RULES&CONDITIONS OF THE NATIONAL SELECTION ESC 2019

I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

1.         The Romanian Public Television (SRTv or the Organizer), based on the rights conferred by the European Broadcasting Union (E.B.U.) for participation to the Eurovision 2019 Song Contest (ESC 2019), which is to take place on May 14, 16 and 18 in Tel Aviv, Israel, organizes the National Selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 (NSESC 2019), under the conditions of this regulation and in compliance with other internal rules and with the relevant law.

2.         In order to  organize the NSESC 2019, SRTv appoints the Management Team in order to coordinate the structures appointed within SRTv and make the required diligences to prepare and complete the NSESC 2019, using both internal resources within the allocated budgetary limits and external resources, based on civil contracts signed according to the law with suppliers, services providers, artists and/or their agencies, organizers of shows and venues, partners and sponsors, this list not being  limitative.

 

II. STRUCTURE OF NSESC 2019

1.         The National Selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 (NSESC 2019) has three phases – pre-selection, semi-finals and finals, which can be organized in as many TV shows, with  or without audience, broadcast, as the case may be, live and online, comprising:

a)      The pre-selection phase takes place in December 2018 and consists of the registration and selection among the registered participants of as many as 24 songs, through notes given by an pre-selection jury;

b)     The semi-finals phase takes place in January-February 2019 and consists of selecting 12 songs for qualification into the finals phase, through notes given by a national jury and through televoting;

c)      The finals phase takes place in February 2019, consists of selecting the Romanian representative to ESC 2019, through notes given by an international jury and through televoting.

III. GENERAL RULES

1.         The NSESC 2019 registration period is November 9, 2018 – December 10, 2018 (24:00 h).

2.         Each selected participant, hereinafter called Contestant, shall sign with the Organizer an assignment agreement for participation to the Contest, based on the model contained in the annexes to this regulation: Annex no. 1 – model of Contract for participation to the contest.

3.         Through the contract, the NSESC 2019 Contestants warrant that they hold and assign to the Organizer the patrimonial copyright and the related rights concerning the negative/positive tracks of the songs which they are to present in the contest, as well as concerning the video materials for fixation, audiovisual adaptation, radio broadcast (included in NSESC 2019, live and/or recorded), rebroadcast, public communication, including by making it available to the public (TV, radio, internet, mobile phone, video streaming etc.), reproduction and distribution (for example, on possible CD/DVD promotional compilations), in Romania and internationally, with a maximum legal protection and for an unlimited number of uses, as follows:

a)      The assignment is non-exclusive, including the right to produce and launch audio records in unbundled format, via the digital distribution channels established by EBU, the non-exclusive right to produce digital karaoke albums in unbundled format, the non-exclusive right to use and monetize video record via youtube channels.

b)     The rights assigned to SRTv based on the provisions under letter a) may be transferred by SRTv to EBU, which, in its turn, is authorized to transmit them to the authorized partners.

c)      For the winner of the National Selection, the assignment is exclusive, for a period of five years, in any territory, for the rights to produce, launch and distribute trading items distributed via any distribution channel, as well as audio digital products in bundled format (together with other songs in the Contest), in connection with Eurovision Contest, via the digital distribution channels established by EBU. At the same time, the assignment is exclusive for the audiovisual digital products, both in bundled and unbundled format.

4.         The competing artists and the other holders of the rights authorize the use, reproduction, printing and publication of their names, images, voices, pictures and biographies in the context of promoting,  broadcasting and/or commercial operation of the shows through any means and via any media channel, either currently known or which may become known in the future. The authorization also involves the pictures and any other audio and video materials from the press conferences or from rehearsals and backstage, for DVD compilations, websites and social media accounts of SRTv, of Eurovision or of their  official partners, as well as of any other media product of SRTv or Eurovision.

5.         SRTv acknowledges the right of the artists, composers and producers to be remunerated by the collective management bodies and their freedom to sign any record production contract as long as such contract does not refer to a similar project as the CD/ DVD Eurovision 2019, a digital album, a karaoke digital album or the digital rebroadcast of the performance during the contest.

6.         SRTv provides, as the case may be, for the payment of the negotiated remuneration, reimbursement of the internal and/or international transport expenses to/from the venue, accommodation and meals of the Participants (guests, contestants, presenters, members of the jury, etc.) in the conditions agreed under the civil contracts signed with them/their representatives and/or with the providers of the services required for a good organization of NSESC 2019, within the limits of the allocated budget.

7.         The collection and processing of personal data, such as: name, given name, address, date of birth, telephone, e-mail, Identity Card, passport, data of the manager, composer,  lyricist , arranger, producer, performer, holders of rights is carried out exclusively for the purpose of organization and unfolding of NSESC 2019.

8.         The personal data, the documents and other documentation related to the participation to NSESC 2019 are to be destroyed within the legal term.

9.         The music of the songs registered for NSESC 2019 (composition/orchestration) shall be original, will not affect rights held by third parties, must not have been edited on any audio or video support for the purpose of distribution, must not have been broadcast on any radio, television or internet channel or made available to the public in any way, fully or sequentially, before September 1, 2018.

10.       Based on the conclusions of the commission appointed by SRTv to analyse the evidence submitted by any person having a legitimate interest as concerns the breach of the mandatory and eliminatory condition under point 9 (including cases of plagiarism), the Contestant in breach may be disqualified under the conditions stipulated in the contract signed with SRTv, the liability of any nature for plagiarism belonging exclusively to the Contestant.

11.       In the national phase (semi-finals/finals phase):

a)      The withdrawal of the song or of the Contestant accepted in NSESC 2019 is allowed only as stipulated in the contractual clauses agreed with SRTv, the motivated intention of withdrawal requiring a prior notification to be sent to eurovision.romania@tvr.ro in at most 24 hours after the transmission of the notification for qualification in any of NSESC 2019 phases;

b)     The performing artist having become a Contestant cannot be replaced during the contest, except for the justified situations when, based on a motivated proposal, the Organizer may approve such replacement;

c)      The participation of the performing artists is limited to the performance of only one song;

d)     The number of songs signed by the same composer is not limited, provided that the songs of the same composer should be sung be different artists;

e)     The contestants have the obligation to authorize the use of the recordings for promotional purposes, to participate to press conferences and, as a priority, to promotional TV shows mutually established with SRTv, including participations to shows broadcast via other media channels.

f)       The costs for the  instrumentals  of the songs performed during the NSESC 2019, for the musical arrangements, for the studio recordings (including the necessary technical support) shall be paid by the Participant;

g)     The team of the Contestant shall be supported by the SRTV team to present the song to its best advantage. The team of the performing artist shall comply with the instructions and/or with the artistic/directorial instructions received from the representatives of the Organizer.

h)     The costumes are the responsibility of the Contestants: the stage outfit, established by agreement with the Organizer, must be adequate for broadcast on the SRTv channels;

12.       For the purpose of the participation of Romania’s representative/representatives to ESC 2019, under the conditions agreed in the civil contract signed with them/their agents:

a)      The organizer shall pay the costs related to accommodation and transport, both for the artists on stage and for at most 2 people with documented attributions in the technical staff (e.g.: composer, vocal coach, choreographer);

b)     The artist/management of the artist shall:

i. respect the priorities and conditions required by SRTv as concerns the promotion, preparation of the participation of the artist and his/her performance during the contest (semi-finals and, as the case may be, finals of ESC 2019);

ii. participate to the press conferences organized by SRTv and EBU;

iii. comply with the provisions of the International Regulation EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2019

 

IV. CONDITIONS FOR PARTICIPATION TO NSESC 2019

1.         Performers having turned 16 years of age at the latest on the date of the international finals may participate to the Contest, each with a song whose duration may not exceed 3 minutes and whose instrumental may not contain voices or computerized effects imitating voices.

2.         As many as 6 performers are accepted on the stage of NSESC 2019 (including instrument players, dancers and/or backing vocals).

3.         The language in which the songs are to be performed is at the choice of the authors (creators and/or performers).

4.         The Contest shall take place in the voice and instrumental formula. All the vocal part must be live. Instrumentals cannot contain backing vocals and/or computerized vocal effects. Exceptions are allowed only in the pre-selection phase.

5.         The registration is made in the special section of the website eurovision.tvr.ro, by filling in the Registration form containing both the data related to the holders of copyrights/related rights whose creations and performances are being submitted (composer, lyrics writer, arranger, producer, performer, instrument player, etc.) and the consent on the collection and processing by SRTv of the personal data, allowing for the attachment of the requested documents and materials, as follows:

a)                  Final version of the song (full playback  track);

b)                 Lyrics of the song;

c)                  Participant presentation materials (biography, JPEG 300dpi pictures, video, films or other representative materials, as the case may be);

d)                 Copy of the identity card of the author/authors, artists and of the representative of the producer (as the case may be);

e)                 Live video in direct capture of the song being submitted for the contest, without accompaniment  (a capella);

f)                   Any other information, as per the indications in the registration page.

6.         In case of submission of incomplete documentation, the participant may complete it within 48 after the request made via e-mail and telephone (sms/whatsapp) by the Organizer.

7.         If, for technical reasons, the uploading of the documents and materials on the website is not successful, the participant may contact the organizer at the address eurovision.romania@tvr.ro .

8.         The registration procedure is completed after the receipt by the Participant of the confirmation from the website eurovision.tvr.ro or from the address eurovision.romania@tvr.ro.

9.         Only the Participants complying with all the conditions imposed by the Rules are to be accepted at NSESC 2019, any of the situations below being an instance of elimination:

a)      failure to comply with the mandatory conditions stipulated under chapter III. point 9;

b)     failure to comply with the age requirement of the contestant (16 years of age, at the latest on the date of the international finals: May 18, 2019);

c)      failure to comply with the format and/or with the resolution indicated by the Organizer in the case of the instrumentals /full playbacks;

d)     identification in the instrumental  of voices or computerized effects imitating the voice;

e)     exceeding the maximum 3 minutes duration for the songs in NSESC 2019;

f)       identification and/or maintaining in the lyrics of the song of obscene, political or publicity messages;

g)     unjustified refusal of the participant or, as the case may be, of the Contestant and/or of his/her representative to comply with the regulatory requirements, including those related to the signature of the consensual documents initiated by the organizer;

h)     refusal to complete the documentation or failure to comply with the deadline, as indicated under point 6.

V. JURY AND NOTING SYSTEM

1.         SRTv appoints the members of the NSESC 2019 juries – the Pre-selection Jury, the National Semi-finals Jury, the International Jury for the National Finals, as follows:

a)         in the case of the National Jury (for semi-finals) and of the International Jury (for the National Finals) the number of members shall be uneven;

b)        in the case of the International Jury (for the National Finals), the number of members shall be even;

c)         the juries shall cover the widest and most diverse range of fields and specializations, such as composers, musicologists, performers, lyrics writers, radio and/or TV entertainment shows comperes/producers, specialized journalists, radio and/or TV music directors, this list not being limitative.

2.         The jury assessment of the contestants, in each phase of NSESC 2019, takes place based on the following criteria:

a)    the musical form of the song in the contest, aiming at developing the musical theme, its harmonization, as well as the rhythmic-melodic elements conferring an adequate musical construction;

b)   making of the orchestral arrangement;

c)      innovation and originality of the themes;

d)     stylistic diversity of the songs registered/accepted in the contest;

e)     quality of the sound and of the performance.

3.         In the pre-selection phase:

a)      each member gives a note for each of the songs registered/accepted in the contest;

b)     the assessment consists of grades from 1 to 10, including with grades consisting of units and 50% of a unit (e.g.: 1.50-2.50…9.50, etc);

c)      the result is the arithmetic mean of the grades given, even when, for objective reasons, a member of a jury does not give a grade to one or several songs;

d)     in case of equality, the tie-breaking criterion for the songs is the highest number of grades as close as possible to the maximum grade, 10. If the equality persists, the highest number of grades of 9, then 8, 7 and so on will be taken into consideration, until separation.

4.         In the semi-finals phase:

a)      the  members of the national jury shall give grades from 1 to 12, as follows: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12;

b)     for the same song, each of the points under letter a) may be given only once by each member of the national jury;

c)      the national jury shall qualify maximum 5 songs, distributed in descending order of the points obtained, calculated as follows:

1. the song having the highest number of points receives 12 points;
2. the other qualified songs, in the descending order of the points obtained, shall receive 10, 8, 7, and respectively 6 points;

d)     in case of equality of the results obtained, the separation among the songs shall be done on the basis of the number of points given by the members of the jury, qualifying as follows:

1. the song having received most frequently 12 points or

ii. the song having received most frequently 10 and respectively 8 points , etc.

5. In the finals phase, the international jury shall make the selection in compliance with the jury assessment procedure/noting system indicated under point 4.

VI. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE RESULTS OF THE SELECTION

1.         In the semi-finals/finals phase of NSESC 2019, during the results establishment procedure, complementary to the activity/role of the Juries, SRTV and the viewers play an active role, as follows:

1.1. SRTV as Organizer:

a)      allocates a contest number to each song which, in the situation of the TV broadcast, is displayed in equal and non-discriminatory conditions for all contestants;

b)     may proceed to the qualification of the next contestant classified if a competitor withdraws/is eliminated;

c)      may qualify , by unilateral decision, in each TV show, maximum one song for entry into contest, without the exercise of this right leading to a smaller number of songs qualified by decision of the jury or, as the case may be, by televoting ;

d)     establishes and communicates the running order of each show.

1.2.      The viewers:

a)      In the semi-final phase – may qualify, through televoting, maximum 2 songs among those beyond the classification of the jury, established according to the provisions of chapter V. point 4;

b)     In the national finals phase – will contribute to the appointment of Romania’s representative through televoting,

3.         In the semi-finals and finals phases of NSESC 2019, starting with the message “START VOTE”, the viewers may vote from the same telephone number for one or several songs/contestants, but only once for each song/contestant, as follows:

a)      through SMS, sending a text message with the contest number of the preferred song;

b)     through voice call, pressing the button corresponding to the contest number of the preferred song;

c)      as the case may be, mobile application, downloadable from Google Play and AppStore.

4.         The duration of the vote shall be established by SRTv, and the announcement “START/STOP VOTE” is made by the presenters.

5.         The classification resulting from televoting is established as follows:

a)      the song with the highest number of votes receives 12 points;

b)     the other songs, in descending order of the number of votes, may receive 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 or 0 points;

c)      in case of equality of points obtained through televoting, the separation is given by the final note given by the national or international jury, according to the provisions of chapter V. Point 4

6.   In the final phase of NSESC 2019, the points obtained through televoting shall be assimilated in terms of weight to the points of one member of the jury.  All the qualified songs participate in the assessment by the jury and in the televoting, irrespective of the manner of qualification:

a)      through the points given by the national jury – at most 10 qualified songs;

b)     through public vote, expressed according to the provisions of point 1.2. letter a) in this chapter – at most 2 songs, qualified;

c)      through SRTV decision, as the case may be – maximum one qualified song, under the conditions stipulated under point 1.1. letter c) in this chapter.

7.         The ranking of the final phase of NSESC 2019 shall be established by the sum up of the points resulting from the vote of the audience (televoting) with the points given by each member of the jury for the songs in contests.

8.         The winning song of NSESC 2019 shall be the one obtaining the highest number of points after summing up the results of the jury assessment and of the televoting.

9.         If, after summing up the results of the jury assessment and of the televoting, two songs obtain the same number of points, the winning song is appointed by SRTV, in consultation with the international jury.

10.       The result of each phase of NSESC 2019 shall be communicated to the participants/contestants via e-mail.

11.       The announcement and display of the results shall take place both during the TV shows and online, under the Contest section, on the website eurovision.tvr.ro. At the end of the jury assessment and televoting process, both the result of the jury assessment and the result of the televoting shall be announced, displaying the final ranking.

VII. CONTESTATIONS

1. The participants to the pre-selection and respectively the contestants are entitled to appeal the compliance with the selection procedure (jury assessment and voting) in each phase of the NSESC 2019. The appeals may be submitted also to the e-mail address eurovision.romania@tvr.ro as follows:

a)      within 24 hours after the communication of the results of the pre-selection;

b)     until 11:00 of the next day after the semi-finals and/or after the national finals, as the case may be.

2.  The settlement of the appeals shall be made by the commission appointed by SRTV as Organizer, within 48 hours after the expiry of the appeals submission deadline, the result being communicated as fast as possible to each applicant.

VIII. RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS

1.         During NSESC 2019, the creators and performers participating as contestants, guests, members of the juries, presenters, this list not being limitative, have the right and obligation to comply with these Rules & Conditions and with the schedule of NSESC 2019, according to the clauses agreed through the civil contracts signed, as well as to:

a)      give priority to the activities in the schedule of the selection phases against any other activities;

b)     request the consent of the Organizer for any collaborations with media institutions, bodies and organizations, irrespective of their means and/or forms of communication;

c)      participate to the promotion activities set up by the organizers – press conferences, interviews, photo and autograph sessions;

2.         The rights and obligations of the contestants, authors and/or performers, as the case may be, shall be expressly indicated and detailed in the civil contracts signed with SRTv as organizer, including the editorial, artistic, organizational, public communication and conduct details.

3.         The members of the juries must declare under responsibility that they undertake to comply with the provisions of these Rules & Conditions and, correlatively, to give grades to the contestants in an independent and impartial manner, without having any interest related to the performer or with the song registered/accepted for contest, or, as the case may be, with its authors.

4.         The jury assessment tools shall contain the required information for the correct identification of the song and of the contestant, respectively. The identity of the authors of the songs (composer, lyrics writer) in the contest shall be notified to the members of the jury only after the jury assessment process, upon their express request.

5.         The members of the juries have the obligation to certify under signature the documents related to the jury assessment, including the minutes of the assessed phase.

6.         The Contestants are entitled to benefit from the technical possibilities of the stage, depending on the negotiated contractual conditions. For the performances in the contest schedule, SRTV has the obligation to create the adequate graphics.

IX. FINAL PROVISIONS

1.         The winner of NSESC 2019 has the right and obligation to become involved in the events/actions/efforts to prepare and/or to promote the international phase ESC2019 and may benefit from the facilities indicated by the Organizer in the civil contract signed with the winner.

2.         SRTV shall sanction any failure to comply with these Rules & Conditions, with the NSESC 2019 schedule and/or with the undertaken commitments, according to the clauses contained in the contracts signed with the participants/contestants, including by requesting damages calculated proportionally to the organization expenses.

3.         The editorial products resulting from NSESC 2019, in any/all of its production stages and phases may be used by SRTv in the audiovisual industry, on any existing and future media support, throughout the legal protection duration of copyright and related rights belonging to the creators and performers participating to the contest, to the guests, members of the jury, presenters, etc., hereinafter called Participants, this list being not limitative.

4.         The Organizer is entitled to reproduce and distribute or sell any audio or video edited or non-edited versions from NSESC 2019 and/or from the materials received from the Participants, in Romania and internationally, for an unlimited period and for an unlimited number of uses, based on the consent of the holders of the rights expressed in the contracts signed with them.

5. The Organizer is entitled to amend and complete these Rules & Conditions in justified situations, with the correlative obligation to inform the Participants via the website of the contest.

6. These Rules & Conditions , together with the annex, which is part of the Sd1x0Rules & Conditions, as well as other information concerning the contest, shall be displayed on the website eurovision.tvr.ro , with a link to the official website of EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2019 (eurovision.tv ).