“Power to the people”, this is the message of Eurovision that announced on Tuesday changes in the voting system during the semifinals. Therefore, now only the public will decide which countries go to the final. Since 2009, a combination of public votes and a jury of music industry professionals have chosen the finalists.
Eurovision organizers also announce that, “for the first time, viewers from non-participating countries will also be able to vote for their favorite songs.”
“Throughout its 67-year history, the Eurovision Song Contest has constantly evolved to remain relevant and exciting,” said Martin Österdahl, executive supervisor of the competition, in a press release.
“These changes confirm the immense popularity of the show by empowering the audience of the largest live music event in the world.”
irregularities
Every year since 2004, two semi-finals precede the grand final. Ten countries qualify in each semi-final. The twenty finalists will then join the “big five”, the five largest financial contributors, automatically qualified for the final (France, Italy, Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom).
In the final, on the other hand, the jury’s vote will be combined with that of the public, to designate the winner.
Several setbacks and accusations of irregularity marred the semifinals during the last edition in Italy. According to this statementAzerbaijan, Georgia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania and San Marino are believed to have allowed themselves the most points in the second semifinalheld on May 12 in Turin.
The next edition of the contest will be held in Liverpool, despite the fact that the Ukrainians won in 2022. The country was deemed too dangerous, given the current state of Russian invasion, to hold the contest.
Source: BFM TV
