Decoding Eurovision: How The Points Are Awarded

Omar Yusuf

4 min read

Post on May 19, 2025

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The Two Voting Systems: Jury and Televoting

The Eurovision Song Contest uses a dual voting system to ensure a fair and representative result. This system balances the opinions of music professionals with the preferences of the viewing public, creating a rich and dynamic Eurovision score.

• Juries: Each participating country appoints a five-person jury of music industry experts. These experts are tasked with evaluating each performance independently, based on criteria such as vocal performance, song composition, staging, and overall artistic impression. This element of the Eurovision points system helps to mitigate the potential for bias stemming purely from national pride or popularity. Their expertise ensures a more nuanced and objective assessment of the songs.

• Televoting: The public plays a crucial role in the Eurovision voting system. Viewers in each participating country can vote for their favorite songs using various methods including telephone, SMS text messages, and dedicated Eurovision apps. Televoting adds a crucial element of popular opinion and ensures that the Eurovision results reflect the tastes of the wider audience. This ensures that the Eurovision points reflect the genuine popularity of each entry.

How the Jury Votes

The Eurovision jury voting process is meticulously designed to ensure fairness and transparency.

• Ranking: Each jury member independently ranks all the competing songs from 1 (their favorite) to 10 (their least favorite). This ranking forms the basis for points allocation.
• Points Allocation: Once each jury member submits their ranking, a specific points system is applied. The song ranked first receives 12 points, second place gets 10 points, and so on, down to 1 point for the tenth-ranked song. This weighted scoring system emphasizes the top performers.
• Transparency and Security: The Eurovision voting system is designed to prevent irregularities. Strict protocols are in place to ensure the secrecy of the jury's votes until they are officially revealed, maintaining fairness and integrity.

How Televoting Works

Televoting contributes significantly to the final Eurovision points, reflecting the genuine popularity of the songs amongst the viewers.

• Voting Methods: Viewers can cast their votes through various methods: phone calls, SMS text messages, and dedicated Eurovision apps. The availability of these methods ensures broad participation.
• Vote Aggregation: Once the voting window closes, the votes from each participating country are meticulously aggregated. This complex process ensures that every vote is counted accurately and fairly, contributing to the Eurovision results.
• Security Measures: Robust security measures are implemented to prevent fraud and manipulation of the televoting system. This includes measures to detect and prevent duplicate or fraudulent votes, guaranteeing a fair and accurate reflection of public opinion. Technical safeguards are in place to handle the high volume of votes received during the voting period.

Combining Jury and Televote Scores

The Eurovision points system relies on a 50/50 weighting of jury and televote scores for each participating country.

• Equal Weighting: The total jury points for a song are added to the total televote points received for that same song. This equal weighting of jury and public opinion ensures a balanced and comprehensive reflection of merit and popularity.
• Calculating the Final Score: The combined score for each song is then calculated, creating a final Eurovision score. This score determines the ranking of each song, culminating in the announcement of the winning entry.
• Transparency and Announcement: The entire process, from jury voting to televoting aggregation and score calculation, is transparent and subject to rigorous scrutiny. The final Eurovision results are publicly announced during the live broadcast, providing complete clarity for both viewers and participants.

Conclusion

The Eurovision Song Contest's unique Eurovision voting system, a blend of jury and televote scoring, offers a balanced approach to determining the winner. Understanding this dual Eurovision points system—from the jury's rankings to the aggregation of televotes and the final score calculation—adds a whole new layer of enjoyment to the contest. The meticulous process ensures fairness and accurately reflects both professional judgment and popular opinion. So next time you watch, you’ll be able to fully appreciate the intricacies of the Eurovision voting process and better understand how the winner is decided. Dive deeper into the world of Eurovision voting and discover more about the competition's fascinating scoring system!