So, thats another Eurovision Song Contest over with and, surprise surprise, Politics just can’t keeps its nose out. With economies failing left, right and centre, they still think voting for your neighbours is going to do them any good.
Yes, this year there was a lot less than last year and it seems the system is working its way in. Congratulations to Loreen from Sweden though. An excellent performance and a favourite all around (Even if you did get a little political help, take that away, you still would have won).
All in all this was a very politically oriented competition. It’s a real shame to see this as well, because I am sure there is some real musical talent out there that becomes disheartened when they don’t score well.
So, as like last year lets have a break-down of each country who, in my eyes, voted politically.
Albania gave 12 points to Greece.
They share a border so this was expected. (As is the same every year) I didn’t think they were particularly hostile to each other either.
Montenegro gave 12 points to Serbia.
What a surprise. Do Montenegro want to be re-integrated with Serbia again? Its anyones guess.
Romania gave 12 points to Moldova
Again, no surprises here. They share a border and most of their language.
Ukraine gave 10 points to Russia
Similar language, share borders. What else can I say? Russia would tear through Ukraine if they didn’t.
Belarus gave 12 points to Russia
Same reasons as Ukraine, share language and borders. Nothing more to say.
Azerbaijan gave 12 points to Turkey
They share borders. Nuff said.
Malta gave 10 points to Italy
Italy is the closest country to Malta, I believe their culture is somewhat similar too, a few language traits. Etc.
The United Kingdom gave 10 points to Ireland
What a huge surprise……..Eughh. Jedward.
Turkey gave 12 points to Azerbaijan
Reciprocated kindness across another border.
Greece gave 10 points to Albania
Again, they share a border. Just keep people happy
Greece gave 12 points to Cyprus.
What a surprise………..
Bosnia-Herzegovina gave 10 points to Serbia
They share a border, and the Serbs can be a bit antsy at times.
Bosnia-Herzegovina gave 12 points to Macedonia
Eastern Block, all on that peninsula leading to Greece.
Moldova gave 12 points to Romania
Ditto what Romania did for Moldova.
Bulgaria gave 12 points to Serbia
They share a border. Surprise Surprise.
Slovenia gave 12 points to Serbia
Probably one of the lesser concerns, but still part of that Eastern block.
Cyprus gave 12 points to Greece
Any takers?
Croatia gave 10 points to Bosnia-Herzegovina
A border shared equals points shared,
Croatia gave 12 points to Serbia
Same reason again.
F.Y.R. Macedonia gave 10 points to Serbia
Another border thrown into the equation.
F.Y.R. Macedonia gave 12 points to Albania
Same again, doesn’t need explaining.
Portugal gave 12 points to Spain
It was the only 12 points they got too.
Iceland gave 12 to Sweden
Scandanavian Block Votes.
Norway gave 12 points to Sweden
Scandanavia Block Votes.
Lithuania gave 8 points to Estonia
Baltic Sea Block Voting, although I wasn’t expecting it.
Estonia gave 12 points to Sweden
Scandanavian/Baltic Sea block votes.
Denmark gave 10 points to Germany
Due to their long standing border.
Denmark gave 12 to Sweden
Standard Scandanavian Block Votes
Latvia gave 10 points to Russia.
The song was good, but this is a matter of borders again.
Finland gave 10 points to Estonia
Baltic Sea area votes.
Finland gave 12 points to Sweden.
Good song marred by the political implementations of the vote.
Georgia gave 10 points to Azerbaijan
They border, similar language.
Serbia gave 12 points to the F.Y.R. Macedonia
Borders shared together. Too common
Russia gave 8 points to Ukraine
Similar language, similar beliefs.
Russia gave 10 points to Azerbaijan
An oil rich country being brown-nosed.
Personally, I didn’t think the UK deserved to win on the night. Englebert’s performance was nowhere near what I expected after looking at the pre-contest music video. But that seems the same for us over most years. Blue, last year, didn’t perform as well as the music video. But anyway, such as life, it still makes for an enjoyable 3-4 hours of TV,
Peace
JuzzTF
What you are calling the Balkans are the Baltics – perhaps just a typo, but on the general tone of this blog I’d go for ignorance.
Indeed it was a typo, but I assure you this isn’t ignorance. Eurovision has become so predictable now a days that you can tell which country is going to give 12 points to who.
True, some of it might not be political. Countries close to each other share cultures, tastes and language traits, so votes may well have come from what felt comfortable to them.
But you have to look at the statistics over past years.
I’ll take F.Y.R. Macedonia as an example. Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina were the only countries to give 12 points to them. They hardly got votes from anyone else. Was it just lack of musical talent, or something else?
Georgia gave 12 point to Lithuania completely by political reasons, as there was Georgia-Russia incident few years ago and Lithuania supported Georgia. So these are friends now.
Thanks for the info, I didn’t know that, but it further strengthens my point over political voting!
It’s not political as most of the voting come from the public choice. I think it’s much more about countries that are near each other share similar cultures, hence similar musical preference.
This is true, a lot of cultures cross borders as much as people do. But, look at Trex’s comment. Georgia behind Lithuania. The two countries are miles apart and share no language or cultural traits. I think, since they added the jury vote, the political skew has been heightened.
What about Ireland awarding points to the UK, which this year entered – yet again – a mediocre song that was presented by someone who is 40 years past his prime. We seem to forget that the UK also benefits from block-voting, and has done so in the past. Historically Malta and Ireland have always given lots of points to the UK.
It has been statistically proven that the so-called block voting doesn’t decide the winner. It just increases the gap between the winner and runner-up.
Please don’t forget that the UK has had an ‘in-built’ advantage at the Eurovision for a long time – singing in English. This has often covered the fact that their songs weren’t great but still did well, also helped by some judging help from Malta and Ireland who historically have participated in block-voting with the UK. Ever since everyone is allowed to perform in a language of their choice, the UK entries haven’t done so well.
Thats very true, but this year Ireland didn’t give major points to the UK. I think they gave us 4. Nothing special really. Still it could be said this is still block voting.