EUROVISION — The Eurovision Song Contest continues to stir controversy. After the Spanish public broadcaster RTVE demanded an investigation into the televoting, VRT is now also calling for “full transparency” from the EBU (European Broadcasting Union), the organization behind the Eurovision Song Contest. This was stated by VRT spokesperson Yasmine Van der Borght in a statement. According to the EBU, the voting followed the rules and is valid.
That the Israeli entry received twelve points from the Belgian public, while the professional jury gave no points at all, also raises questions in Belgium about the televoting. Although VRT states that they “have no indications that the point allocation was not done correctly,” they are still requesting “full transparency regarding the rules and voting” from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
The spokesperson also stated that the broadcaster “once again makes an explicit call to engage in dialogue with all countries from a sincere involvement and concern for the continued existence of the contest.” “VRT collaborates well with EBU in many areas, but without a serious response to our concerns regarding the Eurovision Song Contest, we are questioning our future participation,” it said.
According to the spokesperson, concerns within VRT about the contest have been growing for months. “As a loyal member of the EBU, we have made every effort to conduct the fundamental discussion about the Eurovision Song Contest within the EBU. Today, we cannot help but note that there is little openness to engage in that conversation in depth. VRT observes that the Song Contest, as it is currently organized, is increasingly less of a unifying and apolitical event. It often contradicts the original values and principles of the event and those of public broadcasting.”
Next year, it is the turn of the French-speaking broadcaster RTBF to send a representative. RTBF declined to comment on VRT’s statement regarding future participation. However, the broadcaster did express willingness to cooperate on improvements regarding the voting and the contest in general. “Regarding the debate on the voting system, RTBF supports the need to ensure the highest levels of transparency.”
Manipulation
There is also political response to the Song Contest and televoting. The Flemish Socialist party Vooruitis calling on VRT to demand an investigation into the results from the EBU. “A system in which everyone can cast up to twenty votes is one that encourages manipulation. Whether this manipulation occurred in our country and also in all other participating and non-participating countries must be investigated,” says Flemish MP Katia Segers in a press release. “VRT must take the lead in requesting this investigation. And also in initiating the debate within the EBU about the televoting system and the participation of Israel.”
Groen (Green Party) is also joining the call. “It is crystal clear that Israel tried to manipulate the televote with a massive government campaign. That the country was allowed to participate was already a stain on the EBU, and the manipulation of the televote is yet another,” said Groen MP Bram Jaques, who believes that Spain’s call should be followed.
Jaques further emphasized that the uproar over the televoting could and should have been avoided by excluding Israel from participation. “While a genocide is ongoing, Israel was given the stage. Hallucinatory. Sanctions should have been imposed, and Israel should have been excluded from Eurovision — that was the only correct decision,” said Jaques. “That majority parties are now calling for an investigation into the televoting is good, but also somewhat bitter, since the Flemish government beforehand refused to take a stance on Israel’s participation. Israel’s participation was already extremely problematic long before this manipulation.”
Flemish Minister of Media Cieltje Van Achter (N-VA) told HLN that it is “entirely within VRT’s rights as an independent public broadcaster to ask for transparency. The next edition of Eurovision is a year away, so it’s certainly good that this fundamental debate is already being initiated within the EBU. I also support VRT’s explicit call to take a leading role in starting this debate, although it will ultimately be RTBF that will be responsible for Belgium’s participation next year. But I sincerely hope — like anyone with a conscience — that by then the situation in Gaza will be different than it is today.” Prime Minister Bart De Wever declined to comment.
Votes Solicited
Earlier, it was already revealed that the Spanish public broadcaster RTVE wants an investigation into the televoting. As in Belgium, viewers in Spain awarded twelve points to the Israeli entry through televoting, while the Spanish jury gave it none. And that’s no coincidence, says RTVE. The broadcaster wants to know exactly how the Spanish votes were distributed: “In other words, how many votes each country received from Spain,” according to RTVE. Israel is being accused of soliciting votes.
During a press conference about the Spanish cultural and creative sector, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez spoke out about Israel’s participation in Eurovision. He believes Israel should be excluded, “just like Russia, which had to withdraw from all international competitions.” With this, Sánchez also aims to show solidarity “with the people of Palestine, who are experiencing the absurdity of war and bombings.”
“If Russia was ordered not to participate, then Israel should not be allowed either. We cannot allow double standards in society.”
Sánchez emphasized that Spain must “continue to commit itself to international law and human rights.”
“Spain’s commitment to international law and human rights must be constant and consistent, just like that of all of Europe,” he said. “I don’t think anyone was shocked (…) when we demanded Russia be excluded from international competitions, including Eurovision. So Israel should also not participate.”
EBU: “Voting is valid, but we will enter broad discussions with broadcasters”
The EBU has now also issued a response. “We remain in constant contact with all participating broadcasters of the Eurovision Song Contest and take their concerns seriously,” said director Martin Green. “We can confirm that we have been in contact with VRT about the televoting in the contest since the final on Saturday.”
“Now that the event is over, we will conduct a broad consultation with the participating broadcasters to reflect and collect feedback on all aspects of this year’s event, as part of our preparations for the 70th Eurovision Song Contest next year.”
“It’s important to emphasize that the Eurovision Song Contest’s voting procedure is the most advanced in the world, and that the results from each country are checked and verified by a large team to eliminate suspicious or irregular voting patterns. An independent observer oversees both the jury and public votes to ensure we have a valid result.”
“Our voting partner Once has confirmed that a valid vote was recorded in all countries that participated in this year’s final, as well as from the rest of the world.”
The Israeli contestant, Yuval Raphael, a survivor of the October 7 Hamas attack, performed the song ‘New Day Will Rise’. Although Israel has received significant international criticism in recent months due to the war in Gaza, it still received 297 points from the public vote — the highest number of all participants. Israel ultimately finished second.
Source: hln.be
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