Ireland cleared of song contest cheating (Breaking.Examiner.Ie)Time of publication: 19.06.2003 |
18/06/2003 - 11:48:11 am
Ireland was today cleared of cheating in the Eurovision Song Contest voting.
The body that runs the annual competition upheld Turkey’s victory after ruling that RTE acted correctly in using a backup jury to produce its votes.
The European Broadcasting Union said in Zurich there was “no improper conduct on the part of the Irish broadcaster, and RTE followed the rules of the contest correctly.”
Russia’s state-controlled Channel One television launched an official protest against the results of this year’s event, claiming that the Russian entry, saucy teenage pop duo tATu, may have been robbed of victory.
In one of the closest results ever, Turkish singer Sertab Erener won the May 24 contest with 167 points, two points clear of Belgium’s Urban Trad. tATu was a further point back in third.
The Eurovision Song Contest, held since 1956, is one of Europe’s most popular musical events.
This year’s competition was held in Riga, Latvia – the country that won the 2002 competition.
Under Eurovision rules, each of the 26 competing countries votes on all the others, giving up to 12 points on a sliding scale to the songs that receive the biggest vote. In almost every country, the ranking is based on telephone votes from viewers.
But the Russian broadcaster complained that a number of countries gave “unlikely low points” to the heavily favoured Russian entry and was particularly critical of RTE, which was unable to tabulate the telephone votes in time and instead used a vote based on the ratings given by an eight-person jury who watched the dress rehearsal.
The Irish jury gave 10 points to the Belgian entry but had no points at all for Russia or Turkey.
“The rules of the Eurovision Song Contest demand that all broadcasters have a backup jury in place just in case there should be a problem with the televoting,” the EBU said.
“Ireland was the third country to have to deliver its vote. That meant it had just an 8-10-minute window after the close of voting in which it had to collate and scrutinise the televote result and present the figures on air.”
Although the system, run by RTE and eircom, had worked in the past, the result this year did not arrive in time to be scrutinised by a notary, which is required by the rules.
“The televote is therefore null and void,” the EBU said.
RTE has declined to reveal the results of the telephone vote, claiming it is “irrelevant” as the jury vote is the only one that is valid.
Spokeswoman Cathriona Edwards said the company was happy with the EBU’s statement.
“It condones our editorial judgment on the night,” she said.
Thanks to Tranz. |
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