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Awards Business News
Eurovision rules change to combat vote rigging
By Andy Malt | Published on Tuesday 24 September 2013
The Eurovision Song Contest has announced a change in its rules to make judging panels more transparent. This comes after allegations of bribery, after Azerbaijan gave the Russian entry no points at this year’s competition.
As previously reported, the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, launched an investigation earlier this year, after it was claimed that both the public and judging panel had strongly supported the Russian song, ‘What If’ by Dina Garipova, prior to the country’s voting being announced.
Under the new rules, the names of the members of each jury in the voting countries will be announced on 1 May and the scoring of each jury member will be made public after the Eurovision final.
Eurovision’s Executive Supervisor Jon Ola Sand said: “Tighter rules and increased openness are important for the Eurovision Song Contest to build on its success. To make sure participants, viewers and fans know that we have done and will always do our utmost to secure a fair result. These changes show that the Eurovision Song Contest is an ever evolving tradition, which continues to adapt to the spirit of time”.
The next Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Denmark on 6, 8 and 10 May next year.
