EBU Rules for The 55th Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo, Norway, in May 2010.
- Each country in the Eurovision Song Contest is entitled to enter just one song. The Contest final is limited to 25 songs: the Big Four countries, 2009 winner and 10 qualifiers from Semi-final 1 – held on the Tuesday before the contest and 10 qualifiers from Semi-final 2 – held on the Thursday before the contest.
- The song (lyrics and music) must not be a cover version and must sample another artists work. All songs must be completely original in terms of songwriting and instrumentation. Entirely instrumental compositions are not allowed in the Eurovision contest.
- The song (lyrics and music) must not have been commercially released and/or publicly performed, in full or in part, before the 1st October 2009.
- Performers: countries are allowed to have up to six performers on stage who must be aged 16 or more, on the day of the semi-final in the year of the Contest.
- Language: Songs may be performed in any language
- Voting: See Eurovision 2009 voting rules. Change in 2010: the system used in the 2009 final, with both jury and televoting selecting the winner, will be used also to select the semi-finalists