Image: EBU Yesterday, profound changes in the voting system for the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) in 2023 were announced. One of which was that the results of the semifinals will be decided only by the public vote.
A change that was implemented following the controversy of alleged irregular voting patterns by some national juries in this year’s edition. This was revealed by Sietse Bakker, a member of the Reference Group, on social media:
– Following the unprecedented voting irregularities we saw this year, we looked at ways to protect the integrity of the competition. The problem occurred in the semifinals, this was the best way to end it. Also, difference of who qualifies in public vote vs. public + jury vote is minimal”.
The professional stressed that a similar situation can’t happen again: “It should never happen again. The irregularities have been detected and the jury votes were disqualified, but you can’t permit such a thing every year. That’s why”.
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