Entertainment
Eurovision announces major changes to voting system ahead of 2023 competition in Liverpool-Rachael O'Connor-Entertainment – Metro
Well this will be interesting!
The public have the power in the semi-finals and the rest of the world have a say in Eurovision 2023 (Picture: Getty/Eurovision
The voting system for Eurovision 2023 will look very different, the organisers of the competition have announced.
Major changes have been made to how the public – and jury – will vote in next year’s semi-final and grand final, which will be held in Liverpool as 2022 winners Ukraine are unable to host due to the war.
The European Broadcasting Union confirmed on Tuesday that only viewer votes will be used to decide who gets through to the grand final from the semis, rather than a mix of jury and viewers.
And, for the first time ever, the rest of the world will be able to take part in voting for the Eurovision winner.
This means citizens from countries not competing in the competition will be able to vote for their favourite acts via an online form. However they will not have a jury.
Their votes will be added together and essentially count as votes from one country – in this case, Rest of World.
The annual competition was won by Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra as Europe banded together to show support for the war-torn country (Picture: Reuters)
Non-competing countries’ citizens will be able to vote in both the semi-finals and the finals.
And while only the people’s votes will count in the all-important semis, the professional juries will return to contribute to the grand final.
Announcing the news, Martin Osterdahl, Eurovision’s Executive Supervisor, explained: ‘Throughout its 67-year history the Eurovision Song Contest has constantly evolved to remain relevant and exciting.
Eurovision 2023 will be held in runner-up UK after the success of Sam Ryder in the 2022 event (Picture: Redferns)
‘These changes acknowledge the immense popularity of the show by giving more power to the audience of the world’s largest live music event.
‘In 2023 only Eurovision Song Contest viewers will decide which countries make it to the Grand Final and, reflecting the global impact of the event, everyone watching the show, wherever they live in the world, can cast their votes for their favourite songs.
‘By also involving juries of music professionals in deciding the final result, all the songs in the Grand Final can be assessed on the broadest possible criteria.
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‘We can also maintain the tradition of travelling around Europe and Australia to collect points and ensure a thrilling voting sequence with the winner only revealed at the very end of the show.’
Audiences in participating countries can vote by SMS, pone or the Eurovision Song Contest app as usual, while those outside will vote via a secure online platform using a credit card from their county.
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