EBU "very satisfied" with televoting
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) is "very satisfied" with the televoting during the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest, Executive Supervisor Svante Stockselius said to Eurovision.tv. During the three live broadcasts of Europe's favourite TV show, only four glitches were reported.
"At the moment, an independent auditor is re-checking the incoming calls and SMSes. That is a standard procedure. Shortly after that process has been completed, we can announce the total number of votes," Stockselius explained, adding that 2009 might very well see a record number of incoming phone calls and text messages.
Four errors were reported in this year's voting procedure. In the first Semi-Final, the entire voting process went flawless. In the second Semi-Final, televoting in one country did not reach the so-called security level, which means that the number of incoming phone calls and text messages was too low to be considered valid. To avoid potential aims to affect voting in this country in the future, the EBU does not reveal in which country the security level was not reached. Also, Spanish broadcaster TVE failed to broadcast the second Semi-Final live, and thus no televoting took place. In both countries the jury voting was used, according to the Rules of the 54th Eurovision Song Contest.
In the Final, two problems occured. In Hungary, incoming phone calls could not be counted due to a technical error at the telephone operator. However, because SMS votes were counted without problems, the Hungarian vote in the Final could still be made up of 50% televoting and 50% jury voting. In Norway, a technical mistake by the telephone operator prevented them from being able to count the incoming telephone calls and text messages. Therefore, only the jury vote was used in Norway.
"Despite four glitches, the EBU and its voting partner Digame are very happy with the televoting outcome and the overwhelming support of both viewers as well as voters at home for the winner," Stockselius said.
This year, the EBU introduced professional juries in all 42 participating countries, delivering 50% of the result in the Final. Viewers at home determined the other 50% of the outcome. It was Norway's Alexander Rybak who took victory with a massive 387 points, a 169-point lead over runners-up Iceland.
