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LAST UPDATE | 17 May
IS THIS THE ‘new normal’ for Eurovision?
Last night’s finale played out in a remarkably similar scenario to the voting in the 2025 contest, with Israel scoring solidly in the points from the professional juries, then soaring to the top of the leaderboard during the next round, as the public votes were read out.
This time around, there’s been no sign of the sort of state agency-backed social media campaign that prompted criticism from some national broadcasters last year.
But, as pollsters have explained, whether you’re looking at patterns in a national election or the Eurovision final, in a field with multiple options, those with more motivation or more interest in a particular result can have an outsize influence.
For two years in a row now, Eurovision viewers have watched as the Israeli act competes in a split-screen finish.
Some Irish Eurovision superfans we checked in with in recent days said they’d simply stopped watching ahead of this year’s contest.
For many viewers who still tuned in, the final sequence of the show would have made for tough viewing for anyone who finds Israel’s presence at the contest difficult to stomach.
It’s also worth considering – for a competition that prides itself on promoting values of universality and inclusivity, is it really fair to any of the competitors for producers to preside over a process that sets up such an emotionally charged climax to a globally viewed television event?
Booing could be heard in the TV broadcast as the televote for the Israeli act was read out.
In the press centre, where hundreds of reporters and social media content creators were watching, there was a mix of shouting and boos in the moments before Bulgaria’s DARA was announced as the winner.
The place erupted, then, into deafening cheers – but it was a febrile, messy atmosphere for those few minutes.
Here is the moment Bulgaria WON The 70th Eurovision Song Contest with BANGARANGA! 🇧🇬#Eurovision #Eurovision2026 pic.twitter.com/4kG9BmQcSw
— sᴜᴘᴇʀ ᴛᴠ (@superTV247) May 16, 2026
The rules were reformed last year following a vote by broadcasters, in the wake of those revelations about the Israeli state agency-backed promotional campaigns.
As well as bringing back the 50-50 split between juries and the public vote at the semi-final stage, the number of votes a person could make “per payment method” was also reduced from 20 to 10.
However, as dedicated Eurovision website ESC Insight discovered, that means it’s still possible to cast a whopping amount of votes in a given time window if you’re motivated to do so.
Martin Green, director of the song contest for organisers the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), gave daily press conferences throughout the week here in Vienna – and, in fairness, made plenty of time take on the tricky questions (even if he wasn’t always happy to answer them).
He’s consistently stood over the rule changes introduced ahead of this year’s contest, and repeatedly insisted the contest’s values still hold true.
Interestingly, in his comments throughout the week, he also left the door wide open to Canada joining in with the contest – and said he’d be more than happy to take a phone call from Hungary, who dropped out back in 2019.
He may need the numbers for next year’s budget.
None of the broadcasters from the countries that decided to boycott the Vienna competition have released statements about their plans for next year as yet. An RTÉ spokesperson told us this morning the broadcaster wouldn’t be making a comment today.
A return of the Spanish seems unlikely after the country’s RTVE released a strong pro-Palestine statement on social media as the Grand Final began last night.
A review process to decide what might happen is under way in the Netherlands. However throwing a spanner in the works for the EBU, the Belgian broadcaster tasked with sending an act next year, VRT, has demanded a direct vote by members on which countries get to take part next year.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Belgium were among half a dozen countries on the brink of also joining the boycott last December but were talked into remaining.
Bulgaria, Romania and Moldova all returned to the contest after absences this year, meaning there were enough countries to go ahead with the three-night version of the contest. Slovenia and Iceland made up the rest of the five-strong boycott.
This year’s contest, with 35 acts, was the smallest line-up since 2003. The number of countries taking part has a direct impact on the budget in any given year as broadcasters pay a fee to the EBU to join in.
Rob Lilley-Jones, who helms the Eurotrip Eurovision podcast, reckons this year’s result indicates the reduction in permitted votes had some impact on the result, but said the system remained flawed.
In a statement this morning Martin Green said:
“We’d like to again congratulate DARA and our Bulgarian Member BNT on an emphatic first victory for Bulgaria with the biggest winning margin in Eurovision Song Contest history.
“Like any major global event we conduct a post Contest review. This will include, as always, gathering the views of our membership on all aspects of the event.”
The Eurovision boss told reporters earlier this week that he looked forward to welcoming “our five family members” back in 2027 and that he expected the process around deciding who takes part to be “more straightforward”.
As things stand today, it will be anything but.
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