Discussion About ESC Audience Voting Arises

The noticeably high number of public points for Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest is evidently putting the organizers in a position to explain. Several broadcasters have raised concerns about the point allocation, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) in Geneva reported. "We are in constant communication with all participating broadcasters of the Eurovision Song Contest and take their concerns seriously," quoted ESC Director Martin Green.

"Now that the event is over, we will conduct extensive discussions with the participating broadcasters, reflect on all aspects of this year's competition, and gather feedback. This will be incorporated into the planning of the 70th ESC next year," Green continued.

Several involved television broadcasters questioned the voting at the event in Basel on Saturday evening. The Spanish broadcaster RTVE announced a request for a review of the televoting: "Several countries will also submit the same request, as they believe that the televoting was influenced by the current military conflicts and this could endanger the cultural character of the event."

Spain's Prime Minister Wants ESC Exclusion of Israel

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez demanded the exclusion of Israel from the competition. As a reason for his demand, the politician cited Israel's military actions in the Gaza Strip. The offensive even continued with further bombings on the night of the ESC final, he emphasized. Referring to the handling of Russia, the socialist politician said: "We must not allow double standards in culture." No one was outraged when Russia was excluded from the ESC due to the invasion of Ukraine. "The same should apply to Israel," Sánchez said.

In the voting for the ESC victory, the votes of the public and the votes of expert juries are equally weighted. The juries consist of musicians, producers, and other industry experts. This year, there was a noticeable gap between what professionals and viewers thought of the Israeli song.

Almost 300 Public Points for Yuval Raphael

Israel sent Yuval Raphael to the ESC. She is a survivor of the massacre by the Islamist Hamas and other terrorist groups on October 7, 2023. Due to the Gaza war that Israel started after the attacks, there were repeated protests against Israel's participation in the ESC.

Raphael received 60 points from the expert juries of the 37 participating countries for the song "New Day Will Rise," placing her only 15th in the ranking, while Austria took the victory here.

However, according to measurements, the 24-year-old was by far in first place in the public's favor. She received a total of 297 public points, which catapulted her to 2nd place in the overall ranking.

80 Points Difference in Austria

It is not unusual for juries and the public to have differing opinions. However, the gap rarely stands out so clearly. ESC winner JJ from Austria received 258 points from the juries and 178 points from the public. In Germany, represented by the Viennese duo Abor & Tynna, there were 74 public and 77 jury points. That was enough for 15th place.

The EBU refers to the German company Once, which has been coordinating the televoting for the ESC for years. They have confirmed that the voting results from all countries have been correctly reported.

The voting procedure for the ESC is "the most advanced in the world," according to ESC Director Green. Everything is checked and verified "to exclude suspicious or irregular voting patterns." Once has confirmed the validity.

The Belgian public broadcaster VRT questioned its future participation in the ESC. Although there are no indications that the vote counting was not conducted correctly, according to VRT, the question is "whether the current voting system guarantees a fair representation of the opinions of viewers and listeners."

"She Sings for All of Us"

Among other things, the Israeli American Council campaigned for votes for Raphael via Facebook. "She sings for all of us," it said. In addition to the public ratings from the participating countries, there was also a "Rest of the World" category, where people in all non-ESC nations could vote. "Rest of the World" counted as the result of one country.

In the public vote, the song that received the most votes in a country gets 12 points, the next 10, and the following eight songs receive points from 8 to 1. On the official EBU channel for the ESC, the Israeli singer was repeatedly seen in a commercial window before the final in the recorded semi-final broadcasts, with a call to vote for her. No other performer was featured in commercial windows, where only advertisements were otherwise shown. Since the end of the competition, the spots with Raphael are no longer visible in the recordings. The EBU states upon request that such advertising is not prohibited under ESC rules.

On paper, the ESC is a completely non-political event, focused solely on fun, international understanding, and the best performance. In reality, however, resentments, sympathies, and cultural proximity play an evidently significant role in the public voting.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.