Eurovision Song Contest: what the science of statistics reveals about an infamous voting scandal |
The Eurovision Song Contest was founded 70 years ago as a way for Europe, divided after war, to come together by celebrating its music. Every year, several dozen countries across the continent – and, more recently, far beyond – compete in what is considered the world’s most viewed non-sporting event.
As a cultural institution that last year attracted around 166 million viewers, the results of Eurovision have a big impact – not least by deciding the venue of the following year’s event. Yet the issue of bloc voting, where countries tend to vote more favourably within regional or cultural blocs, has long been a controversial aspect of the contest.
In 2008, the BBC’s Eurovision commentator Terry Wogan spoke out against bloc voting by Eastern European countries, saying: “You have to say that this is no longer a music contest. I have to decide whether I want to do this again.” He didn’t – it was his final show in the commentary hotseat.
On occasion, suspiciously friendly voting has strayed into something even more troubling. The 1968 contest, held at the Royal Albert Hall in London, saw a major upset when home favourite Congratulations, sung by Cliff Richard, was pipped by the Spanish entry La, La, La.
Forty years later, Spanish Eurovision host Jose Maria Inigo claimed that the vote had been rigged at the behest of Spain’s military dictator, Franco. His claims were later supported by an Irish TV investigation.
The modern, expanded Eurovision features two semi-finals as well as the grand final, held this year in Vienna on May 16. Its scoring combines a jury panel with a public vote, reducing the impact of each jury. But that didn’t stop another major voting scandal emerging in........