The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced that the voting system is going to change for the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool.
The juries will no longer vote in the semi-final
Instead of the 50:50 voting split between the televoting and the national juries, the 10 qualifiers from each semi-final will solely be decided by the televoting from now on. The professional juries will vote in the final, as usual, but it is up to the televoting, who makes it there.
With this system, Albania and Cyprus would have qualified instead of Switzerland and Azerbaijan at the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest.
Viewers from non-participating countries will be able to vote!
For the first time ever, viewers in non-participating countries will be able to vote too. People will be able to vote via a secure online platform using a credit card from their country. Added together, all the votes will be converted into points that will have the same weight as one participating country in the Semi-Finals and the Grand Final.
The executive supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest, Martin Österdahl, gave a statement on the changes:
Throughout its 67-year history the Eurovision Song Contest has constantly evolved to remain relevant and exciting. These changes acknowledge the immense popularity of the show by giving more power to the audience of the world’s largest live music event.
In 2023 only Eurovision Song Contest viewers will decide which countries make it to the Grand Final and, reflecting the global impact of the event, everyone watching the show, wherever they live in the world, can cast their votes for their favourite songs.
By also involving juries of music professionals in deciding the final result, all the songs in the Grand Final can be assessed on the broadest possible criteria. We can also maintain the tradition of travelling around Europe and Australia to collect points and ensure a thrilling voting sequence with the winner only revealed at the very end of the show.’
37 countries will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, which will be hosted in Liverpool on behalf of Ukraine.
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