After identifying “irregularities” in the results, the EBU introduced another alternative calculation for jurors in the affected states. A decision denounced by Romania.
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The Romanian jury’s vote in favor of Moldova was “replaced” at Eurovision by a “non-transparently computed substitute”said Romanian public television TVR, Sunday, May 15, the day after the competition. “We were unpleasantly surprised to find that the vote did not factor into the final standings, with the organizers awarding another set of marks to the competitors in the final”TVR wrote in a statement.
During Eurovision, the jurors of each country distribute points to the different countries and the viewers vote by telephone. But on the night of Saturday to Sunday, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the organizing body of Eurovision, pointed “some irregular voting patterns identified in results from six countries” in the second semi-final and the final. The EBU did not specify the nature of these irregularities, nor the possible consequences on the final classification or the countries concerned. In addition to Romania, these would be Azerbaijan, Georgia, Montenegro, Poland and San Marino.
“The EBU takes any alleged attempt to manipulate the vote in the Eurovision Song Contest very seriously”, was content to affirm the organizer in a press release. At the last moment, the EBU therefore decided to take an alternative result for the six countries concerned, based on a calculation method which takes into account the results of other countries with similar votes. Thus, twelve points were awarded to Ukraine on behalf of the Romanian jury, which had nevertheless decided to award the maximum score to the representatives of Moldova.
Bucharest regretted that “the rules were changed during the game” and that its presenter was not “authorized” to intervene live like the majority of other countries to communicate the vote of the jury of his country. Depending on the response that will be provided by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the Eurovision organizing body, Romania reserves the right “to take measures to correct the situation”. Ukraine won the competition in Italy ahead of the United Kingdom and Spain, thanks in particular to the vote of television viewers who voted for the group representing the country invaded by Russian troops.