Ian Young
Cultural Reporter
EPA
Yuval Raphael flew the Israeli flag at this year’s Singing Contest in Switzerland
Israel’s success in the popular vote at last weekend’s Eurovision Song Contest has prompted a series of national calls to investigate the results and voting system.
Singer Yuval Raphael put the viewer’s votes on Saturday with the rise of the new ballad’s day, but finished second in Austria when he also took into account the ju-referee score.
Broadcasters in Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Iceland and Finland have since requested an audit, raising concerns and questions about the popular vote.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the organizer of Eurovision, said the votes have been independently checked and confirmed and take concerns seriously.
Israel was ranked 14th by the national ju umpire, but shot the leaderboard thanks to the results of calls and online voting.
Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK were among the countries where viewers awarded Israel up to 12 points, while Ireland and Finland gave 10.
Irish broadcaster RTE is seeking a full breakdown of votes from organizers.
It came after Spanish broadcaster RTVE said it would require an investigation into the results and a review of the broadcasting system.
Viewers can currently vote up to 20 times on the phone, text, or on the app.
Flander MP Katia Segas said: “A system that allows anyone to cast up to 20 votes is a system that facilitates operation.
“We need to investigate whether this operation occurred in our country and all other participating and non-participating and non-participating countries.”
Political tension
A spokesman for Flemish’s public broadcaster VRT said, “There is no indication that the TV recordings were not counted correctly, but we are looking for full transparency on the part of the EBU.
“The question is more than anything, whether the current system fairly reflects the opinions of viewers and listeners.”
The Finland YLE said:
On Tuesday, Dutch public broadcaster Avrotoros and the NPO issued a statement saying the contest is “increasingly affected by the effects of social and geopolitical tensions.”
Israel’s involvement “supposes the question of whether Eurovision still truly functions as an apolitical, unified and cultural event,” they said.
In response, contest director Martin Greene said the organizers were “constantly in contact with all participating broadcasters” and “take concerns seriously.”
“We can see that we’ve been in touch with several broadcasters since Saturday’s grand final on voting in the competition,” he continued.
“There’s a “broad discussion” with participating broadcasters to reflect and get feedback on all aspects of this year’s event,” he said.
“It is important to emphasize that voting work for the Eurovision Song Contest is the most sophisticated in the world, and that the results of each country are being checked and verified by a vast team of people to rule out suspicious or irregular voting patterns.
“Independent compliance monitors review both ju apprenticeships and public voting data to provide valid results.
“Our voting partners have once confirmed that valid votes have been recorded in all countries participating in this year’s Grand Finals and other worlds.”
Eurovision News, run by the EBU, said Israeli government agencies will be paid for advertisements and will use state social media accounts to encourage people to vote for Israeli entries.
Green said it didn’t break the rules.
