As every Eurovision fan knows the competition has a ton of rules. A song can't be longer than 3 minutes, there can't be more than 6 people on stage and so on.
If you're not completely updated on the rules and regulations you can read them all here.
Following the simple rules I just mentioned is really never a problem for the contestants. I can't remember a single time someone was disqualified for smugling an extra person on stage...
However...
What seems to be more difficult is writing an original song that does not have some sort of political message. And year after year after year contestants are disqualified for these exact reasons.
And 2016 is no exeption.
As it turns out Frans wasn't even the first plagiarising Swede this year.
Anna Book was supposed to compete in Melodifestivalen with her song "En himmel för två",
but after the Swedish national broadcaster SVT published a little snippet of her entry, observant viewers pointed out that it bore a striking resemblance to the song "Taking care of a broken heart" by artist Felicia Dunaf.
This song was an entry in the Moldovan national competition in 2014, although it didn't go through. (I must say I'm amazed at how serious and updated the hardcore Eurovision fans are.... I may need to step up my game a little bit...)
As a resault Anna was disqualified.
The exact same thing happened to Stéphanie Palazzo from Switzerland. Her song "Perché mi guardi cosi?" was releasen in 2013, sung in a different language.
Hungarian band Misztrál and their song "Reggeli reggea" was thrown out for releasing the song before September 1. 2015, which is also strictly forbidden.
A far more stupid example from the national competitions is Norways Freddy Kalas, who "accidentally" plagiarised himself...
Turned out the chorus of his song "Happy rush" was pretty much exactly the same as a song he wrote in 2011.
He was, unlike the other plagiarisers, alowed to re-write his song a little bit and stay in the competition. Luckilly he didn't make it through to the international final, as his "new" song "Feel da rush" is God awfull.
Here you have it with sign languge interpretation for maximun entertaiment
On a more serious note, Germanys first choice, Xavier Naidoo, was also sort of disqualified this year. But not by breaking the rules per se.
After Naidoo was chosen by the radio station NDR to represent Germany, a lot of accusations of him beeing homofobic, racist and anti semitic surfaced. There are several things that have contributed to this reputation, and I wont go in to all of them, but one example is that he had a hidden track on one of his earlier releases with lyrics that seem to equate homosexuals with paedophiles.
(Why he would even want to participate in what is basicly a happy sparkling gay festival is baffling to me... but whatever..)
After the harsh backlash the German broadcaster ARD decided not to send Naidoo
Thomas Schreiber, coordinator from the German broadcasters ARD, told Eurovision.tv
"Xavier Naidoo is a brilliant singer who is, according to my own opinion, neither racist nor homophobe. It was clear that his nomination would polarise opinions, but we were surprised about the negative response. The Eurovision Song Contest is a fun event, in which music and the understanding between European people should be the focus. This characteristic must be kept at all costs. The ongoing discussion about Naidoo could harm the image of the Eurovision Song Contest.
This is why Naidoo will not represent Germany.
As previously mentioned all the entries will be scrutinized before they are allowed on stage in Stockholm.
And Frans isn't the only one causing a bit of extra exitement.
Ukraine have obviously chosen to ignore the rulebook, and is sending a song about Soviet Moscow’s (aka Stalin's) repression of the Crimean Tatar community...
...ok... Old news, one might say, but still it's politics. (And it isn't all that hard to see how this can relate to Russias recent escapades in the area.. )
Again, time will tell who will actually make it to the stage on May 14.
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