The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) is considering reducing the maximum number of votes per person in the Eurovision Song Contest. EBU Media Director Jean Philip De Tender said this on Friday in response to criticism of the current voting system.
Several participating countries have questioned the high televoting score that Israel received in the last edition. The country finished second, behind Austria.
Leading up to the Song Contest, Israel heavily promoted singer Yuval Raphael and her song New Day Will Rise. Some people voted for Israel as many as twenty times per credit card. They showed screenshots of their votes and wrote that they did not follow the Song Contest otherwise. Some of them even voted with multiple credit cards.
According to De Tender, an adjustment is being considered to the number of permitted votes per viewer, which is currently set at twenty. As far as he is concerned, the maximum number of votes should not be reduced too much. “A family audience is watching. If a family with two children wants to vote, that must be possible,” the media director said on Friday at Radio 1 of the Belgian broadcaster VRT.
De Tender also said that the EBU is considering having the professional juries return in the semi-finals. For several years, the public has completely determined which acts from the semi-finals go to the final. In the final, the winner is determined by a combination of public votes and votes from professional juries.
Several Countries Surprized About Number of Points Israel
The call to revise the voting system is not only being heard in Belgium. The Spanish broadcaster RTVE also wants an investigation after the public gave Israel twelve points there, while the professional jury awarded no points. The same thing happened in Belgium. Israel’s participation has been under fire for some time because of the war in Gaza.
AVROTROS wants to discuss the matter with the EBU. The broadcaster is not satisfied with the state of affairs. “We see that the political burden and interference have gradually increased in recent years,” said a spokesperson for AVROTROS earlier this week. “Where we could previously regard the Song Contest with conviction as apolitical, that position is no longer tenable. The current situation makes it necessary to fundamentally discuss this question within the EBU.”
The EBU maintains its position that the Song Contest is a non-political event. As a result, Israel remains welcome, while Russia has been excluded from participation since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.