Melody Festival

Melody Festival Song Contest
Melody Festival Song Contest logo.
Genre	Song contest
Created by	Jon Sandman
Presented by	Various
Country of origin	List of Countries
Original language(s)	English and several others
No. of episodes	contests
Production
Production location(s)	Various
Running time	3 hours
Production company(s)	Trivision
Release
Picture format	4K (UHDTV) (1929–present)
Original release	26 July 1929 (1929-07-26) – present
External links
Official website

The Melody Festival Song Contest, often shortened to MFC or the Melody Festival, is an annual song competition held among countries in the Empire of the Trident since 1929. The format was based on the Hellonian Melodie Festival/Melodifestivalen.

History

In 1927, the HLT (Hellander Televisie) and the TBU (Tridential Broadcasting Union) came up with the idea of an international song contest whereby countries, represented by their respective public broadcasters, would participate in one television show, to be transmitted simultaneously in all represented nations (and others). The competition was based upon the Hellonian Melodie Festival/Melodifestivalen, held for the first time in 1910. The contest was also created for the broadcasters to show their newest knowledge, and the Melody Festival always uses the newest technology.

The first international Melody Festival was held in Hellona in 1929. The first winner was the Nambalonian band Ninja Sex Party with Take On Me.

Format

The format of the contest are: participant countries submit new original songs, which are performed live in a television programme transmitted across the Trident by the TBU 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. Following all of the performances, the juries and more recently televoters of each participating country vote for their favourite entry. The winning country also reserves the right to host the following year's competition, however nations are not obligated to do so. The show is held annually, usually in April or May. It is one of the most watched television programmes on Ullar.

Hosting

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. Some countries abolished their normal visa requirement for visitors to coincide with its hosting of the event.

Preparations for the event start a matter of weeks after the host wins in the previous year, and confirms to the TBU that they intend to—and have the capacity to—host the event. A host city is chosen—often a national or regional capital city—and a suitable concert venue is identified. The hotel and press facilities in the vicinity are also always a consideration when choosing a host city and venue.

The winning country of the previous contest may host the next contest.

Melody Festival logo and theme

The generic logo was introduced to create a consistent visual identity. The host country's flag appears in the heart of the generic logo. Each year of the contest, the host country creates a sub-theme which is usually accompanied and expressed with a sub-logo and slogan. The theme and slogan are announced by the TBU and the host country's national broadcaster.

Slogans

The slogan is decided by the host broadcaster and based on the slogan, the theme and the visual design are developed.

Year	Host Country	Host City	Slogan
1927	Hellona	Owidal	"Creating Fantasies"
19??	Nambalonia	Novak	"Unite as one"

Editions

Year	Host country	Host city	Winning country	Winning song	Winning artist	Points	Host broadcaster
1927	Hellona	Owidal	Nambalonia	"Take On Me"	Ninja Sex Party	90	Hellander Televisie (HLT)
19??	Nambalonia	Novak	???	???	???	Nambalonian Broadcasting Agency (HBA)