"1st October" rule turns on "1st September" rule!

[AlekS]

http://www.escflashmalta.com/index....e-group-makes-decisions&catid=2:news&Itemid=2
nice
It would allow broadcasters to extend their NFs. On the other hand there are bigger chances that the song which is released in September can be overplayed before the NF (if NF starts in 2011 for instance). Imo, it's a positive thing for new performers (independent or signed) because they can "test" the song before submitting it to the NF, when a small group of people knows about this release before it will be released on the local market.

 

[Matt]

That's quite a big change. It may "just" be a month but we saw quite a few entries disqualified just because of that exact same reason.


And the article also talks about the Big Four being the only countries to prequalify so Turkey has to go through the Semi next year.

 

[MyHeartIsYours]

I am very glad they have recognised the effort Norway put into the show this year coz it was truly great .
I think it is good that the EBU has increased the date of song release but I still think that the rule should be that any song released after the previous contest should be allowed.
I am very happy that Turkey doesnt pre-qualify but I would rather there just be an extra qualifier from the Semis rather than one less country in the final.

 

[94ayd]

The 1st September rule doesn't sound bad at all but I don't want to return to a 24-countries final. :-(

 

[Milos-BC]

I support this change as well, but I think Turkey should be prequalified, as they were second, and as Germany is a big 4 country, it is only logical to let them in the final directly. But, anyway....

 

[DominikS]

I'm happy with the change, but I think the deadline should stay the way it is now - August would be too early! I hope we will be able to hear some songs on Wednesday already!

 

[Matt]

Well, if I am not mistaken the rules state that the Big Four + the host nation would qualify. Since germany is part of the Big Four and is also the host it just makes perfect sense to let only the big four qualify instead of giving turkey a rather random pre qualification just to increase the number of entries in the finals.
Of course I support the idea of having more songs in the semi (meaning keeping an extra country happy) but from a rule and common sense standpoint the decision is quite reasonable.

 

[NinjaLove]

I believe I'm the first one who is not in favor of the September 1st rule: some countries start their search for their Eurovision entry already, and that's way too early I'd say. The major part of the audience does not think of Eurovision yet, I even hear people complaining in January (!) "is the Eurovision already coming? I thought it was in May". So to be honest I'm in favor of the October 31st rule...

 

[Matt]

Actually I kinda agree with you. I personally would have preferred to leave it the way it was. While I admit it's "good" in that sense that people can already get excited about the contest even earlier than ususal I find the window myself a little bit too big. Not the end of the world but my preference would be to stick with the old rule.

 

[AlekS]

So far nobody's gonna reveal songs until December
Extending it on 1 month won't influence the usual process.
Cyprus has already started choosing their performer in ... March and selected him in September! (you can imagine the window - 7.5 months) and selection started before these changes.
So it's not really that influential. Songs can be published in September and it's useful for big NFs - this is extension of the promotional cycle, people can entertain themselves before the NF instead of just sitting and waiting. It was so boring previously, now when we have an early NF people search for music, people want to listen to songs before the live performance on the NF, it can be a nice opportunity to provide preview shows, broadcast snippets of auditions etc

 

[MrJadeEwen]

On the Turkey qualification, i think No turkey didn't win so didn't earn their place, but as Germany is host they should allow the country which makes the next biggest contribution to enter on the 5th place

 

[ParadiseES]

Turkey will qualify anyway, but I'm sorry for the 25th country cause it won't qualify

 

[goktengri]

And the article also talks about the Big Four being the only countries to prequalify so Turkey has to go through the Semi next year.

Oh it's bad...

 

[Muireanne]

The 1st September rule doesn't sound bad at all but I don't want to return to a 24-countries final. :-(

I could understand the EBU decided not to add an additional finalist. The rule was that the Big-4 (France, Spain, UK and Germany) + the host qualified authomatically for the final. With Germany being the host as well as a Big-4 country, it's only natural the 2011 final has only 24 participants. I guess that will be changed again next year (if a non-Big4 country wins offcourse).

 

[Cole]

This rule does not matter anyway when it comes to certain countries. just look at UK 2006; Teenage life was released 2 years earlier :/