Perhaps one of the most striking examples of suspicious voting in the post-Eurovision 2013 scandal is what happened in Montenegro. According to the official reults posted on Eurovision. tv, in the first semi-final, the Balkan country awarded 12 points to Ukraine. Fair enough. In the Final, however, Montenegro gave 12 points to Azerbaijan, 10 points to Denmark, and… wait for it… zero points to Ukraine!


Nobody was surprised when Montenegro gave 12 points to Ukraine in the semi-final. Zlata Ognevich’s “Gravity” is not only a fan and Wiwi Jury favourite, but also a song that represented a fellow Slavic country, and Montenegro was bound to reward that. However, to our surprise, Montenegro gave nul points to Ukraine in the Grand Final – and gave 12 points to Azerbaijan. Granted, Azerbaijan was not in the first semi-final. But still, Ukraine was expected to get at least some points from Montenegro.

Montenegro gave 12 points to Ukraine in the semi-final
Montenegro giving 12 points to Ukraine in the semi-final

Montenegrin website PortalAnalitika.me is shedding some disturbing light on the matter. First, only some 5,500 televotes were cast in the semi-final. With such a small number of voters, fellow analyst Eurovicious points out in an article on Eurovisionista.com that rigging the Montenegrin televote would have been easy. Regardless, Ukraine won Montenegro’s vote, thanks also to the 12 points gave by the national jury to Zlata’s song, according to PortalAnalitika.me.

Montenegro gave zero points to Ukraine in the Final
Montenegro giving zero points to Ukraine in the Final

Secondly, the Montenegrin portal reveals that not only did the national jury vote overwhelmingly in favour of Ukraine, but it did the same in the Final, giving it 12 points again. Where, then, comes the logical question, are the points for Ukraine? Did the public no longer vote for Ukraine at all? That would be completely illogical. If it did vote for Ukraine, what happened to the votes?

One would expect that Montenegrins lost some interest after it failed to qualify for the Final, which means that the number of televoters would have been lower than 5,500. This, in turn, means that, in theory, the public vote would have been even easier to buy. The fact that in the end Montenegro gave 12 points to Azerbaijan is rather suspicious, taking into account the vote rigging accusations in the Lithuanian press – although we want to stress again that Farid Mammadov’s “Hold Me” has also been a fan and Wiwi Jury favourite from the start and, in our opinion, did not need extra votes in order to place high. Moreover, to our knowledge, there are no reports in the Montenegrin media about Azeris trying to buy votes.

PoliticalAnalitika.me wonders whether there was a calculation error made in Germany, where the votes were counted by Digame, whereas Eurovicious points out that similar surprising and suspicious cases of missing results happened in other countries as well, most notably in Azerbaijan, where the president ordered a recount. Is there something rotten in Germany?

In the end, Ukraine finished third, 20 points behind Azerbaijan, so 12 points would have made a world of difference in ranking (if Azerbaijan had received zero points from Montenegro). So, the question and doubts remain: What happened to the votes cast by the Montenegrin viewers (who, we’ll just mention this in passing, although it does count to many, are now paying for their text messages!) and to the 12 points awarded by the jury to Zlata Ognevich?

Until we get an official breakdown from the EBU regarding the split votes, it is doubtful that we will learn what happened. An online petition demanding the immediate and full disclosure of this year’s Eurovision voting data is circulating online and everyone is welcome to sign and share it. There is no reason for the EBU to keep postponing the release of information, other than to rejig the results in order to make mathematical sense. Further delay will only cast more doubt on this year’s Eurovision outcome and an ugly shadow on what used to be a wonderful and beloved song contest.

Photo credits: Eurovision.tv, PoliticalAnalitika.me.

Bogdan Honciuc is a Romania-based correspondent for WiwiBloggs.com.
Follow him on Twitter at @stingoo.

45 Comments
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Irene
Irene
10 years ago

Zlata……………(((

Paddy Scotland
Paddy Scotland
10 years ago

Looks like the Azerbaijani mafia are handing out phones In all the lower populated countries. Ban them !

lala
lala
10 years ago

@SARXAN HA HA HA HA WHAT AM I? AN ARMENIAN? THE LITHUANIN STUDET?… I AM NONE…. I HAVE MADE IT CLEARLY THAT I AM FROM ALBANIA AND THE BALKANS …. I HAVE SOME NEWS FOR YOU EBU SEEMS TO TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY. YOU CAN SEE HOW STUBBORN AND HARDHEADED I AM DARLING BECAUSE I AM ALBANIAN…. FIRST OF ALL THINK WHY I FEEL THIS WAY…. I STRONGLY BELIEVE THE ACCUSATIONS ARE TRUE AND DONT TRY TO BRAINWASH ME… AFTER I READ THE LITHUANIA POST THIS FITS THE PUZZLE TO ME. TURKEY WAS OUT IN THE 2011 (SO AZERBAIJAN COULD STEAL… Read more »

ELENA
ELENA
10 years ago

Bogdan, thank you.

ELENA
ELENA
10 years ago

I have written to you below, in what may have been a mistake. The very first step. Not mixed up points, and the countries from which these scores are participants. I agree that this must be sorted out.

ELENA
ELENA
10 years ago

I do not believe that Farid (Azerbaijan) was involved in vote-buying. He’s a very decent guy. He worked hard in order to adequately address. He said: I do not care what place I will be, the main thing that I can be happy with yourself. You can be angry, but I think he got 2nd place deserved. The song may not be very modern, but as he sang! As presented! It all came together: setting, appearance, voice and performance. The whole team should be proud of. I do not remember such a long bright performance at the competition. And many… Read more »

ELENA
ELENA
10 years ago

Sorry to interrupt. I think this person is saying is correct. Read: On the confusion with the points – it seems to me that the announcement of the election results was made an error somewhere in the beginning – the points were misled, they are announced is not a country which they were intended … Then – rolled a snowball – and as a result – all the scores were announced, but not from the countries that they had to announce … That is, the overall result – the right, the confusion only with the countries that has caused widespread… Read more »

redarrow
10 years ago

wow good news for our song from malta .the song is in the top 40 of u.k charts in 37th position at the moment well done gianluca well done malta 🙂

SAVALAN
SAVALAN
10 years ago

@ Ratgo – Agree! And u all could not do something about Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan always have sent great singers/songs to Eurovision. Azerbaijan one of the best country in the Eurovision. And some of people sooo JEALOUS of it. Azerbaijan power! CONTINUE TO MAKE US FAMOUS! <-)

Sarxan
Sarxan
10 years ago

@Ratko

Totally agree!

Ratko
Ratko
10 years ago

Oh, c”mon – i’m from Montenegro and i vote for Azrbaijan. They’re just be better than anothe participants – better show, better song and better singer! So stop this shit drama to gain more popularity to your sites and contest itself. They don’t need it!!!

Sarxan
Sarxan
10 years ago

@lala

You’re some kind of Azeri hater, i suppose! ’cause i don’t get why you are commenting “ban azerbaijan” under every post on Wiwi and other sites. Maybe, you’re one of the lithuanian students or actors in the scam video?

lala
lala
10 years ago

Let me Explain Montenegro has a population of not even half a million ….. So I bet you they didn’t even receive 1000 voted…. or even way less that that because none of the Former Yugoslavian countries were in the final You think people would vote… They probably did not follow the Final at all as broadcaster compete with each other. For Example here in Albania Big Brother Final is always on Eurovision Grand Final is done on purpose because the private broadcaster(TOP CHANNEL) wants to be a monopoly. They dont want to let the Albania public television who broadcasted… Read more »

Mariska
Mariska
10 years ago

I don’t get it. Don’t countries have insight in their own televoting results?

rogesc
rogesc
10 years ago

A better question is: WHAT HAPPENED TO THE POINTS FOR THE NETHERLANDS FROM EASTERN EUROPE ?!?!

lala
lala
10 years ago

POOR MONTENEGRO IT CLEARLY DESERVED THE FINAL … I LOVE IVANA BUT WHAT SHE DOSNT KNOW IS THAT EVERYTHING WAS SET UP BY THE COUNTRY THAT RECEIVE 12 POINTS FROM THEM..
SHE DID THE RIGHT THING FOR BEING SARCASTIC 🙂 MONTENEGRO, AUSTRIA, FRANCE (WHICH IS THE ACTUAL WINNER) DESERVE JUSTICE …. NOT TO LEAVE OUT SAN MARINO AS WELL

Eurovision Mafia
Eurovision Mafia
10 years ago

I agree with Bogdan but good luck trying to explain the concept of “emotions” to people from “democratic and transparent” northern countries. lol

Gert
10 years ago

@Bogdan:

Ivana: “But I have to thank a lovely, big part of Europe which recognized the end of Igranka.”

She is not thanking the parts of Europe who voted for Montenegro. She sarcastically ‘thanked’ parts of Europe for throwing Montenegro out of the competition. That’s something completely different.

Yes, Ivana is not a robot. But sjee, she works for television. Show some professionalism and stop sneering at certain people.

Gert
10 years ago

The spokesperson Ivana Sebek from Montenegro last Saturday: “As you know, Montenegro is not in final unfortunately. But I have to thank a lovely, big part of Europe which recognized the end of Igranka. We have to agree, don’t we!”

Please, stop whining and send better music to Eurovision. Really irritating how spokespersons tend to show their emotions about a bad result. It’s unprofessional.

Jone Nieminen
Jone Nieminen
10 years ago

There are 2 very simple reasons why points given in the semifinal by a country can be radically different from those given in the final: 1. In the semifinal, you can only vote for half of the countries. When people vote in the final, there are 10 + 5 = 15 songs more to choose from! So the best song in one semifinal had 15 songs more to compete with in the final. 2. The audience watching the semis are probably only a fraction of the audience watching the Grand final. And it would be reasonable to think in the… Read more »

lala
lala
10 years ago

@ EurovisionMafia and Julian I agree with both of you …. that is what I have been saying all this time 🙂

Eurovision Mafia
Eurovision Mafia
10 years ago

@Julian: If you read the article it states that the Montenegrin jury gave 12 points to Ukraine both in the semis and the final. It’s more likely that Eurovision officials are deep into corruption and that’s why they never publish full numbers.

Julian
Julian
10 years ago

Just a wild guess… countries in Balkans gave a lot of points in semifinal to Ukraine but in final felt betrayed by Soviet block for non-qualifying and gave 0 points to Ukraine and most of them gave 12 points to Denmark… this huge shift was made by using jury votes because public votes are more difficult to manipulate. We need the results to check that theory. And will be interesting an investigation of the technical infrastructure system in Germany because a lot of suspicious things seem to have happened there. In my opinion all the Azeri bribery thing is just… Read more »

Eurovision Mafia
Eurovision Mafia
10 years ago

@lala: It doesn’t matter who you think deserves to win or which song was the best in your opinion. The problem is that votes have been clearly altered and there is zero transparency when it comes to the total vote tally. In the final, Italian public has voted the most for: 1. Romania, 2. Moldova, 3. Ukraine. They gave Ukraine 12 points in the semis but only 5 points in the final despite it being in the third place when it comes to televoting. There is only one way out of this: Eurovision officials should publish full numbers.

lala
lala
10 years ago

@ Euromafia…. It does not matter.. Danmark deserved a win. I liked Denmark better than Ukraine…. But I believe Austrian, Slovenian, and Italian, Montenegrin, Albania, Lithuanian , Belorussian, Maltese, Greek and others who gave AZ 12, 10 and 8. more countries which I have to figure out once I rewatch the voting the juries were paid by Azerbaijan I find it suspicious. In fact there were 15 countries. I can see myself voting for Ukraine in the Semi and then Denmark in the final because I want to go to Denmark and not Ukraine next year so.. I actually did… Read more »

Eurovision Mafia
Eurovision Mafia
10 years ago

Italian vote:

Semi-Final 1: Denmark 6, Ukraine 12
Final: Denmark 12, Ukraine 5

So points from Montenegro, Slovenia, Italy are enough for Ukraine to be number 1 because while they were giving points to Denmark at the expense of Ukraine. The story and articles about Azerbaijan is just a spin, dust in the eyes so public can’t see the obvious.

Eurovision Mafia
Eurovision Mafia
10 years ago

Slovenian vote:

Semi-Final 1: Denmark 8, Ukraine 12
Final: Denmark 12, Ukraine 0

Lol!

lala
lala
10 years ago

wiwibloggs makes me laugh … it so obvies you are not professionals ….
We liked the Azeri song…. lol Yes I expected oikotimes since they support their greeks composer but they supporting the Azeri song which had nothing special and you could not understand a word of what he was singing Really.. Azerbaijan can bring the best performance of that song it still wont grow on me making a good song sound better. boo boo boo I am not being biased but pissed at those who cant see reality for real

eurovision-berlin
10 years ago

There are disagreements, there are questions. Why isn’t it possible to publish the results? So all questions would be resolved. Or is there something to hide?

Statements without any content of the EBU have the effect that one is looking for the guilty one. I’m getting the impression, that THIS is the desired effect.

Ania
Ania
10 years ago

Btw, the same happened with Slovenian votes… in semifinal we gave 12 points to Ukraine, but in the final zero. It’s so strange …

lala
lala
10 years ago

Those who can NOT see this makes me LAUGHT.. I HAVENT CHECKED FROM VOTES FROM MACEDONIA AND SERBIA … BUT IT DID NOT RAISED A RED COLORS TO ME LIKE IT DID WITH ALBANIA GIVING 8 TO AZ AND MONTENEGRO 12 TO AZ

lala
lala
10 years ago

@AK …. so Montenegro public voted in SM 1 for Ukraine but did not follow the final because Serbia and other Balkan countries were not there so Azerbaijan and their groups voted for Azerbaijan 200 times or more so that made a difference AH,,,,, Azerbaijans true colors came out I guess they did not play it well this year like the other years… they got to greedy

AK
AK
10 years ago

What if the voting public was a bit different in the semi final and in the final, because probably the semi finals in most countries are watched mostly by real esc fans while the final is watched by a wider audience, not only fans but also other viewers. Could this possibly affect the different points Ukraine got? In Montenegro could have been other way around as they were competing in the semi final and not in the final

lala
lala
10 years ago

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA WHO WAS THE FIRST TO SAY THAT MONTENEGRO SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED WHO REISED THE SUSPICION (I DID ) FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DONT UNDERSTAND IN COUNTRIES LIKE MONTENEGRO AND ALBANIA IT WOULD MAKE A LOT OF DIFFERENCE IF YOU SEND A GROUP OF 10 PEOPEL VOTING 20 TIMES… BECAUSE I BET IN TOTAL THEY DONT EVEN RECEIVE 1000 VOTES PEOPLE UNDERSTAND. LIKE IN ALBANIA NOBODY VOTES… MOST PEOPLE WERE WATCHING BIG BROTHER ALBANIA FOR REAL IT IS FOLLOWED SO MUCH THERE THAT PISSES ME OFF. … WHY DOES ALBANIA USE JURIES (EVERYTIME… Read more »

Eurovision Mafia
Eurovision Mafia
10 years ago

Again, you are missing the point, Denmark had 8 points in the Semis, 10 points in the final at the expense of Ukraine who got zero points. Azerbaijan is irrelevant.

lala
lala
10 years ago

@ANNA ACTUALLY SHE IS RIGHT BECAUSE AZERBAIJAN BOUGHT SECOND PLACE….

Anna
Anna
10 years ago

Zlata is very upset for the 3d place, so this article is from Ukraine!

Ibrahim T.
Ibrahim T.
10 years ago

@Bogdan Honciuc

Maybe, you should keep your hands off Azebaijan?

lala
lala
10 years ago

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA WHO WAS THE FIRST TO SAY THAT MONTENEGRO SHOULD HE INVESTIGATES WHO REISED THE SUSPICION (I DID :)) FOR YOU WHO DONT UNDERSTAND IN COUNTRIES LIKE MONTENEGRO AND ALBANIA IT WOULD MAKE A LOT OF DIFFERENCE IF YOU SEND A GROUP OF 10 PEOPEL VOTING 20 TIMES… BECAUSE I BET IN TOTAL THEY DONT EVEN RECEIVE 1000 VOTES PEOPLE UNDERSTAND. LIKE IN ALBANIA NOBODY VOTES… MOST PEOPLE WERE WATCHING BIG BROTHER ALBANIA FOR REAL IT FOLLOWED SO MUCH THERE THAT PISSED ME OFF. … WHY DOES ALBANIA USED JURIES BECAUSE THEY DONT EVEN… Read more »

Wouter
Wouter
10 years ago

Gosh… those are all points that won’t change the placings… It’s irritating me now…