As we are approaching the Grand Final of San Marino’s first ever selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, the organizers have just announced various changes in the original rules of the Final of this competition.

Various media and fans complained that Zoe Straub is a member of the jury, as well as a composer of various songs which are competing in the Grand Final. Complaints were also made on the voting system which was overly complicated, and gave the jury a lot of power, should the amount of PayPal votes be low. Thus the organizers announced the following changes:

• Zoe Straub will not be voting in the final, but the jury will be consisting of music industry experts, including San Marino’s Head of Delegation, Mr. Alessandro Capicchioni.
• The public vote will be given a 50% say in the Final results, but it won’t be a simple PayPal voting as it was announced before. The public vote will consist of “investing for your favorite act via the Global Rockstar crowdfunding platform”. The minimum investment is 20 EUR, and the limit for every of the act is 8,000 EUR. This investment will entitle the voter to receive a share of future royalties generated by the song. If two or more songs receive the same amount of “investment” they will also receive the same number of points. So for example, if two songs receive 12 points, the one that finished third will still get only 8.
• In case of a tie in the end, the act that received more votes from the jury will be the one to win.

San Marino’s Final will take place on the 3rd of March in Bratislava. Let us know which of the 11 acts is your personal favorite by voting in our poll here: