The governing body of the Eurovision Song Contest has announced that viewers of the 2010 contest will be able to vote throughout the show rather than during a 15-minute window at the show’s end. The move extends voting time from just 15 minutes to one hour in the case of the semi-finals and two hours for the grand finale.
The ongoing recession has already forced countries like Hungary out of the contest, so it’s understandable that the European Broadcasting Union wants to extend voting times (drawing more votes and thereby a little extra cash). Money aside, it’s practical Votes will arrive throughout the evening and not all at once, reducing the chance that broadcasters will repeat the technical glitch that prevented Ireland from voting in 2003. Furthermore, Wiwi knew he was gonna vote for Turkey’s Hadise last year, so why make him wait? He had to pee so bad by the time the 15-minute window came around he was in the toilet getting down on his business.
The EBU, which extended the voting window for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2006, says that songs performing earlier in the show don’t have an unfair advantage. They cite research that shows viewers vote for their favorite song regardless of when it is performed. That seems reasonable given that most viewers will have watched all the performances on YouTube ahead of the big night anyway.
