Ladbrokes joins Eurovision disapproval chorus
As Olivia Lewis returned to Malta from Helsinki on Sunday, amid allegations of political and block voting during the semifinal and final shows of the Eurovision Song Contest, the United Kingdom (UK) voiced its concern and anger over the festival's voting system.
Although neighbouring countries backing each other during the contest is no novelty, Saturday's voting was compared "to the musical equivalent of the Warsaw Pact" by Scotsman.com, as 14 out of the top 16 places were taken by eastern European states, elbowing out western European countries, including the UK's entry "Flying the Flag (for You)" by Scooch.
Nick Weinberg, from UK betting Ladbrokes said he doubted whether even Elton John could win Eurovision for the UK, given the political nature of the voting. The UK is one of its biggest financial contributors of the contest.
Radio phone-ins and internet message boards in the UK were on Sunday inundated with calls denouncing the current voting system as a farce and demanding it be reorganised, as Scooch finished the second from the last in the contest with 19 points, 12 of which were came from Malta. Ireland was saved from the humiliation of nil points by the donation of five points from Albania. France, Spain and Germany's entries also ranked at the bottom of the list.
Former UK Eurovision winners also spoke up on the issue, calling for the competition to be split in two in an attempt to foil tactical voting, according to The Telegraph. Alan Clayton, a spokesman for Bobby G, a member of Buck's Fizz who won the contest for the UK in 1981, said it was unlikely the band would have been able to repeat their success in the current climate of politicised voting. He proposed splitting the competition in two, with the western and eastern winners meeting in an independently-judged final.
British veteran broadcaster Terry Wogan, BBC's presenter during Saturday’s show, also blamed bias for western European entries' failure to rank higher during the contest. He warned that the nations might soon become "fed up" with their rivals' tactics and could even decide to pull out of the contest altogether. "It's a pity it's not about the songs any more," he told BBC Online, adding that "There's a definite Baltic bloc and a Balkan bloc and they've been joined in recent years by a Russian bloc. We won the Cold War but we lost the Eurovision."
After Malta’s failure to make it into the final night on Thursday with Olivia Lewis’ entry Vertigo, some Maltese also blamed the outcome of the result on countries voting for their neighbouring nations. Others said that the result obtained by Malta during the semifinal was nothing more than an unlucky gamble.
On Saturday, MaltaSong board chairman Robert Abela insisted that he was trying to coordinate with other countries disappointed by Thursday's voting system to forward a formal request to the EBU to reconsider things for next year. He added that Malta would not withdraw from next year's contest unless this was a collective decision by other countries who suffered the same fate as Malta in the semifinal, but he did not exclude this is a coordinated protest motion.
[Malta Media]
Although neighbouring countries backing each other during the contest is no novelty, Saturday's voting was compared "to the musical equivalent of the Warsaw Pact" by Scotsman.com, as 14 out of the top 16 places were taken by eastern European states, elbowing out western European countries, including the UK's entry "Flying the Flag (for You)" by Scooch.
Nick Weinberg, from UK betting Ladbrokes said he doubted whether even Elton John could win Eurovision for the UK, given the political nature of the voting. The UK is one of its biggest financial contributors of the contest.
Radio phone-ins and internet message boards in the UK were on Sunday inundated with calls denouncing the current voting system as a farce and demanding it be reorganised, as Scooch finished the second from the last in the contest with 19 points, 12 of which were came from Malta. Ireland was saved from the humiliation of nil points by the donation of five points from Albania. France, Spain and Germany's entries also ranked at the bottom of the list.
Former UK Eurovision winners also spoke up on the issue, calling for the competition to be split in two in an attempt to foil tactical voting, according to The Telegraph. Alan Clayton, a spokesman for Bobby G, a member of Buck's Fizz who won the contest for the UK in 1981, said it was unlikely the band would have been able to repeat their success in the current climate of politicised voting. He proposed splitting the competition in two, with the western and eastern winners meeting in an independently-judged final.
British veteran broadcaster Terry Wogan, BBC's presenter during Saturday’s show, also blamed bias for western European entries' failure to rank higher during the contest. He warned that the nations might soon become "fed up" with their rivals' tactics and could even decide to pull out of the contest altogether. "It's a pity it's not about the songs any more," he told BBC Online, adding that "There's a definite Baltic bloc and a Balkan bloc and they've been joined in recent years by a Russian bloc. We won the Cold War but we lost the Eurovision."
After Malta’s failure to make it into the final night on Thursday with Olivia Lewis’ entry Vertigo, some Maltese also blamed the outcome of the result on countries voting for their neighbouring nations. Others said that the result obtained by Malta during the semifinal was nothing more than an unlucky gamble.
On Saturday, MaltaSong board chairman Robert Abela insisted that he was trying to coordinate with other countries disappointed by Thursday's voting system to forward a formal request to the EBU to reconsider things for next year. He added that Malta would not withdraw from next year's contest unless this was a collective decision by other countries who suffered the same fate as Malta in the semifinal, but he did not exclude this is a coordinated protest motion.
[Malta Media]
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