The Finnish broadcaster Yle has confirmed it will raise the issue of voting at the Eurovision Song Contest with the European Broadcasting Union.
Juha Lahti, executive producer of Yle Entertainment, has confirmed that the Finnish broadcaster will raise questions regarding voting at Eurovision with the European Broadcasting Union. Mr Lahti explained that Yle has been looking at the voting method at Eurovision for some time, adding:
“We will ask the EBU whether it is time to update these rules or at least review whether the current rules allow for abuse.”
According to the Producer, the 50/50 weighting of the public vote and jury vote should be reconsidered, with an increasing weighting to the public. Mr Lahti explained:
“We will ask the EBU whether it is time to update these rules or at least review whether the current rules allow for abuse. “
But if changes were to be made, that:
“if we are going to put more emphasis on public votes, we should really think about whether it makes sense for one person to be able to vote twenty times.”
Yle is one of a number of broadcasters that are requesting discussions regarding voting at the Eurovision Song Contest. RTVE of Spain, VRT of Belgium and RÚV of Iceland have requested data or discussions with the EBU.
Image Source: EBU / SRG SSR | Source: Yle
Finland first participated in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1961. They debuted alongside Spain and Yugoslavia. Finland has finished last in the contest on 10 occasions and has received ‘nul points’ three times. It wasn’t until 2006 that Finland won the Eurovision Song Contest. Lordi represented the country in Athens with the song “Hard Rock Hallelujah” scoring 292 points, a record total at the time.
