The 116 year history of Nation Song Contest has seen countless episodes of drama, both on and off the hosting forum. This page documents the most noteworthy incidents.
Contest or edition specific controversy
Escotia and the birth of the confirmation PM
In NSC 1 Escotia failed to vote, but disguised this fact by pretending that there was an error on the forum which caused the private message to fail to be delivered. As a result of this, it was decided that all votes should be confirmed by PM in order that this would no longer be a valid excuse.
Venera voting
In NSC 7 Venera voted in the contest by giving points to the first ten countries in precisely the draw order. While this is in itself possible, Venera was banned from NSC as a result, leaving a legacy that made Venera synonymous with cheating.
NSC 19
There is a degree of controversy regarding Ugaly's win in NSC 19 with the song "Europa" which only came to light decades after the edition itself. Martin, the founder of the country Mooseland, revealed that the host Robin (also known under the username r_SpEeD) had approached him after he had sent his votes, asking him to give his 12 points to Ugaly instead of Vorhota. Robin had wanted Ugaly to win the edition, and this was enough to put Ugaly in first place. Martin did as he was told.
In addition to this, Reignland had voted incorrectly and only managed to correct their votes at the last minute. Robin refused to accept these votes, and it is speculated that this is because they would knock Ugaly off the top spot.
NSC 43
29th finalists
The Waiting List length
The length of the Waiting List has been causing controversy for several years. Since around early 2011, the Waiting List boomed in size, reaching a peak of around 30 nations on occasion. Some nations have waited for over a year, or around 20 editions, to move onto the roster.
Habitual non-voters
NSC 91
NSC 91 in Perryfornia was one of the most controversial ones ever. The issue which caused most dissent was the deadline that was specified as 18:20 CET+1. Many people didn't realize CET+1 actually meant EET (the host's time zone) and voted within one hour after it. None of the votes were accepted despite protests. This lead to unusually high number of non-voters and the first ever 0 pointer. One of the semis only required 45 points to qualify. The host was accused of intentionally leaving the deadline ambiguous in order to sabotage the contest. He was also accused of rigging the semi allocation in order to help certain nations to qualify.
In the final show, Rumia and Horehronieland, whose owners were vocal against the host, sent two identical sets of votes.
NSC 110
Off-topic controversy
The Macedonians
Some time after NSC 10, the nations of Phinechendza, Romeria and Astoria were noticed to have all used the same IP address at some point, and it was suspected that the same person may be behind each of the countries. The users were banned with immediate effect. They claimed that they knew each other personally, and so they had all used the same computer at various points, but this was not taken to be a valid excuse. MSN conversations provided evidence that Phinechendza and Astoria in particular were managed by different people, since both members frequently participated in conversations simultaneously. The user behind Romeria was not a particularly active member, however.
The Originality Crisis
Lime Song Contest
Maja
Maja first joined the contest in NSC 10 under the username LadyUrlika and with the country Astique.
The death of the old forum and the ascension of Matt
Video Game Spinoff
The Video Game Spinoff, hosted in Ugaly, began in the spring of 2009. The show was a success and everyone voted, but the results hadn't being publicised for 12 years. Finally, on 8 July 2021 they were revealed.
The Polish police incident
In November 2012, during Nation Song Contest 89, the host of the contest suddenly went disappeared after leaving what could be understood as suicidal messages online. This led to users contacting the host's local suicide charities and local police to find out information. The host eventaully returned after a week, and the edition resumed as normal.
The banning of Bacchus
In December 2012, allegations came to light that the popular forum member, Cooler, who played for Bacchus in the contest, had accessed another forum user's account. As this was a violation of general forum rules, he was banned. However, debate still raged on about whether the user should be allowed to continue in NSC as he hadn't broken any contest rules. Bacchus was stripped of its place in the NSC roster and replaced by Chessland. However, the user continued on in an unofficial capacity as part of the Waiting List nation of Randomia.
The confessions thread
In July 2013, a confessions thread appeared in the NSC subforum. This thread let users anonymously say whatever they wanted about other forum members and themselves. The thread was highly popular for a day or so, before being shut down by the admins, for the official reason that people were breaking the main forum's Rule #4 - the rule which states that moderators can not be criticised. It resulted in temoporary bannings and an NSC moderator being removed.
Sclan
Brughentwerp's double country
The 'Controversies and Dramas of Nation Song Contest' wikipage
In November 2014, doctormalisimo created a wikipage to document controversial moments. As the page makes reference to past events, it is possible that taboo discussions may resurface, or their descriptions within the wiki may be construed as violations of forum rules. It is also possible that nothing will happen, but come on, this is NSC!