As confirmed by the EBU on the weekend, a total of six countries jury votes from Eurovision 2022 were removed and replaced with an aggrevated result. Five of these countries have reached out to the EBU for an explanation as to why this happened, and what was wrong with their original jury votes.
Azerbaijan
The Azerbaijani broadcaster has sent a letter to the EBU requesting an explanation as to why their jury votes were removed, and why their votes were announced by Martin Österdahl from Pala Alpitour. According to the broadcaster, the country did not have any technical issues, as was reported. In a statement on 12Xal, the Azerbaijani broadcaster has stated that the decisions which were made were met with regret by the Azerbaijani broadcaster.
“We declare that we sent the names of the countries voted by the Azerbaijani jury to the organizers of the competition. According to the list, 12 points were given to Ukraine. In response, the organizers of the competition urged the representatives of the Public Television and Radio Broadcasting Company to announce other results at the end of the final show, without giving any reasons. We have categorically rejected this request.”
“An official letter of inquiry was immediately sent to the organizers, and we said that we would announce the voices of our jury, and not the results of the live broadcast, and make this issue public. Only then were we informed that there was some “strangeness” in the voices of six countries, including Azerbaijan, during Thursday’s semi-finals. It should be noted that we have not been informed about this “strangeness” from Thursday to the end of the final on Saturday, and no “evidence” has been provided so far.”
Georgia
The Georgian broadcaster have requested clarification over why their jury votes were not accounted for in Eurovision 2022, and why the votes which were read out were different from their original votes. The broadcaster claims that the Georgian jury gave 12 points to Ukraine, but in the live final, Georgia’s 12 jury points went to the United Kingdom instead.
“… Points are written, which are sent to the competition organizers in accordance with the relevant procedures, including notarisation. Points are announced on the day of the final. The Public Broadcaster met all the conditions, sent an official document and received the consent of the European Broadcasting Union that there were no shortcomings…”
“…The Georgian delegation of Eurovision, which attended the competition, protested the situation with the organizer of Eurovision, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). An investigation is underway at the EBU at this time and the broadcaster is awaiting the results…”
Montenegro
Montenegrin broadcaster RTCG have stated that their jury votes were carried out normally, and were certified by the EBU. They go on to say that the Montenegrin jury results that were announced during the live grand final were not too dissimilar to their original jury votes.
Romania
The Romanian broadcaster has released a statement to Digi 24 about their removal of their jury votes in Eurovision 2022. Romania state that their original jury 12 points went to Moldova, whereas the results which were read out during the live grand final saw Ukraine getting their 12 jury points.
“…We were surprised to find that the result of the Romanian jury’s vote was not taken into account in the calculation of the final ranking, the organizers assigning another set of scores to the competitors in the final, on behalf of the jury of our country. We specify that the Romanian jury decided to give maximum score to the representatives of Moldova…”
“…We emphasize that the national jury watched the show after which it voted in the presence of a notary and complied with the rules imposed by the organizer. We reiterate that neither the jurors nor the TVR representatives were notified, after the second semifinal, of the existence of any suspicions about Romania’s vote. Therefore, the rules were changed during the game, without the participants being notified in advance, as they found out during the broadcast that some votes of the national juries were changed by the organizer…”
San Marino is the sixth country to have had their jury votes from Eurovision 2022 removed. However, the micronation has yet to comment on the matter.
Belgian broadcaster VRT have claimed that they have learnt from a good source that the six countries whose jury points were removed were done so because they had all agreed to vote for each other, and had made aggreements with one another to exchange points.
There have also been reports that pro-Russian hackers have carried out cyber attacks during Eurovision 2022, which could have potentially had an effect on the votes.
What are your thoughts on this matter? Do you think the EBU will offer an explanation over what happened? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
