Eurovision opens voting to non-participating countries for the first time : NPR

Fans of the Eurovision Song Contest who dwell exterior of taking part countries shall be ready to vote for their favourite acts subsequent 12 months, for the first time in the competitors’s practically seven-decade historical past.

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organizes the contest, announced the set of main adjustments on Wednesday. They successfully put extra energy in the arms of the voters whereas broadening the world citizens.

“Throughout its 67-year historical past the Eurovision Song Contest has continually advanced to stay related and thrilling,” Martin Österdahl, the Eurovision Song Contest’s government supervisor, stated in an announcement. “These adjustments acknowledge the immense recognition of the present by giving extra energy to the viewers of the world’s largest dwell music occasion.”

Starting in 2023, solely viewers will resolve which acts qualify for the last (as opposed to a mix of jury and public vote, which had been the case for a few years). Juries — composed of music business professionals — will nonetheless solid votes for the last, which shall be mixed with the results of the public vote to decide the whole total rating.

And, for the first time ever, viewers who dwell exterior of the several dozen participating countries can vote on-line utilizing what organizers name a “safe on-line platform utilizing a bank card from their nation.” Their votes shall be added up and transformed to factors that carry the identical weight as one taking part nation in each semi-finals and the grand last.

Eurovision representatives advised NPR over e mail {that a} full checklist of eligible countries shall be printed at a later date, however confirmed that the U.S. is probably going to be on it.

“It’s foreseen that U.S. audiences shall be ready to vote on-line,” they wrote.

Contest organizers say they’re making these adjustments now partly due to “the unprecedented nature of the voting irregularities” seen in final 12 months’s contest.

Days after the most up-to-date competitors wrapped in May, the EBU announced it had recognized “irregular voting patterns” in the jury votes of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania and San Marino. Montenegro, Romania and Poland have all pushed back on that accusation.

An EBU working group made this advice after exploring methods to shield the integrity of the occasion. Organizers don’t count on the new adjustments to drastically have an effect on which countries qualify for the grand last: They say in an FAQ that they decided which countries would have certified from the semi-finals between 2017 and 2022 utilizing solely the end result from the common public.

“We noticed that, in practically all instances, when eradicating the Jury outcomes from the calculation, 9 of the 10 qualifying countries from every Semi-Final stayed the identical,” they stated.

The music that certified for the grand last beneath the earlier system — which “would have missed out if solely public votes had been counted” — went on to end at the decrease finish of the last scoreboard generally, they added.

Organizers stress that many parts of the beloved occasion (which drew 161 million TV viewers earlier this year) will stay the identical.

“By additionally involving juries of music professionals in deciding the last end result, all the songs in the Grand Final may be assessed on the broadest potential standards,” Österdahl stated. “We may keep the custom of touring round Europe and Australia to accumulate factors and guarantee an exciting voting sequence with the winner solely revealed at the very finish of the present.”

Thirty-seven countries will compete in subsequent 12 months’s contest, organizers say. Its semi-finals and grand last are set to happen in May 2023 in Liverpool, which positioned second this 12 months after Ukraine.

While it’s customary for the successful nation to host the subsequent contest, the EBU concluded earlier this 12 months that Ukraine couldn’t meet the “safety and operational ensures” required to placed on the occasion due to its conflict with Russia (which organizers banned from competing after it invaded Ukraine in February).

Kalush Orchestra, the Ukrainian folk-rap group that presently holds the Eurovision title, initially pushed again on the dedication that it was unfit, however has since given the British metropolis its blessing.

“Playing in the identical place that The Beatles began out shall be a second we’ll always remember!” the band stated, in accordance to the Associated Press. “Although we’re unhappy that subsequent 12 months’s competitors can’t happen in our homeland, we all know that the individuals of Liverpool shall be heat hosts and the organizers shall be ready to add an actual Ukrainian taste to Eurovision 2023 on this metropolis.”