Big changes are coming to Eurovision 2023. The European Broadcasting Union has declared major alterations to the voting sequence at this year’s contest in Liverpool. And for the first time in Eurovision history, voting is going global.
For Eurovision 2023, voting in the semi-finals will change. The semi-final qualifiers will be determined by a 100% public vote.
Around the world, viewers in non-participating countries will be able to vote for their favourites online.
Eurovision Song Contest 2023 voting changes: Juries removed from semi-final
The song contest Reference Group approved the changes on Tuesday 22 November.
Under the new changes, the semi-final jury vote is scrapped.
The public vote alone will decide the countries that qualify for the grand final, rather than a combination of jury and public votes — the system which has been in place since 2009.
But the professional jurors aren’t out of a job entirely. They’ll have their say in the final, ranking all 26 tracks. Televote and jury scores will be combined to determine the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023.
Reasons for this change remain unknown. However, speculation mounts that this change may have been made to satisfy the public whose favourites were knocked out by juries at the last hurdle. In 2021, Croatia’s Albina placed inside the top ten with both juries and the public, but the combined sum knocked “Tick-Tock” out of a spot in the final.
Elsewhere, viewers in non-participating countries can now vote for their favourite songs online.
The “Rest of World” votes will be tallied and converted to points with the same weight as one participating country. That means there’s an extra set of douze points up for grabs.
If you’re worried about voter fraud and IP spoofing, then rest assured — all online voters will need a valid credit or debit card to cast their vote.
Audiences in all participating countries will still be able to vote by SMS, phone or via the Eurovision Song Contest app.
Martin Österdahl, the Eurovision Song Contest’s Executive Supervisor, said:
“Throughout its 67-year history the Eurovision Song Contest has constantly evolved to remain relevant and exciting. These changes acknowledge the immense popularity of the show by giving more power to the audience of the world’s largest live music event.
“In 2023 only Eurovision Song Contest viewers will decide which countries make it to the Grand Final and, reflecting the global impact of the event, everyone watching the show, wherever they live in the world, can cast their votes for their favourite songs.
“By also involving juries of music professionals in deciding the final result, all the songs in the Grand Final can be assessed on the broadest possible criteria. We can also maintain the tradition of travelling around Europe and Australia to collect points and ensure a thrilling voting sequence with the winner only revealed at the very end of the show.’
Poll: What do you think of the Eurovision 2023 voting changes?
This new voting system is a big change for Eurovision, and one of the largest overhauls the song contest has ever seen. So, we want to hear from you. What do you think of the voting changes? Vote in our poll to let us know!
What do you think of the new changes for Eurovision 2023? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Can somebody pls ecplain, what “Rest of the World” mean? If Latin America they will mostly for Spain and Poetugal. IfCina, that can change the result!
I’m looking forward to this new system at Eurovision. There will be fewer boring ballads (even with good vocals) and vintage rock songs. 2022 is a very good example: Albania and Cyprus or Azerbaijan and Switzerland? it’s obvious!
I feel that the jury vote in the semi finals has been able to eliminate some terrible songs which otherwise would have gone through and put through good songs which otherwise would have been eliminated. I think the final next year is going to be a mix bag of everything and I don’t know whether this is good or bad.
Then the odds can’t predict much based on the result of the semi.
That might actually be a good thing. It makes it all the more surprising and exciting.
nope. Only in the semi final your country is taking part in
And I’m pretty sure they’ll have a Measure to make sure that voters participating countries don’t end up in the rest of the world vote.
WE NEED WIWIBLOGGS VIDEO ABOUT THIS 🙂
They’re probably making it right now.
Look; I’m an American who’s followed Eurovision for 10 years now. The EBU has been begging to find a way to tap into the American market. They’ve seemingly tried everything short of letting us enter the contest. But unless you let the USA actually participate in the contest, you won’t get us Americans to care. Letting us at least vote in the contest is gonna give Americans a reason to watch it live on Peacock.
But will there be enough Americans interested in Eurovision to actually vote and make an impact in the rest of the world televote? Eurovision has always been very niche at best in America.
I’d much prefer Americans not caring than allowing the USA to enter. We don’t need American validation.
I don’t want America to join either.
+1 Million
1 million what? Viewers, voters?
It was left field enough having Australia enter the comp never mind USA.
So will America let us vote for American Idol winners too? Or American Song Contest Winners.?
We don’t mind you are fans of it. In fact we love that it has a worldwide base. But we also worry why you should vote when someone from semifinal 1 can not vote in semifinal 2..
As someone from your side of the pond, I think that’d be a terrible idea. I’d prefer things to keep going on that way on that regard.
It wouldn’t feel “Euro” if we had countries like the US or Mexico or Brazil taking part of the contest :/
The EBU will be changing the name contest next year guys worldvision now a joke
With all the directions Eurovision is going to, soon I’ll just enjoy the double CD instead of watching the contest.
I might just listen to the songs I like and vibe to them, the producers are quite out of touch with reality
Just theorizing about changes that could make the voting more equal for all participants: I think that ideally, in a 18-songs-long semi, each country should give 17 points to their most-called country, and 1 point to their least-called. That’s the way to actually put into perspective what songs are more liked on average. There will always be some countries which will benefit from certain other countries no matter what. For example, even if Greece brings the biggest piece of (insert a metaphor here), Cyprus would still give them 12 points, giving them a slight head-start. And a country like San… Read more »
Oh, I’d love to give crap zero points. Sadly, sometimes very respectable, even good entries get zero points, because in the current system zero points aren’t given, they are just a by-product of not being a top priority. It’s not possible to deliberately leave an entry without points, even if some would admittedly deserve it.
I really loved your suggestion, I feel that the current 12-point system is obsolete and unfair to countries that end up being “robbed”
I can see the argument for changing the voting system, but the 12 points is so iconic that can you imagine eurovision without it?
So russians can still vote ?
Probably not. I think they were banned from even broadcasting the show. The thing they are using to verify where people are from is credit cards, and all the major international companies froze Russian cards which may well be flagged in whatever system the EBU will use to verify the cards. Most likely Russian fans will still have to sit out unless/untill the sanctions are lifted.
but Sweden has never failed to be within the top 10 of the Tele vote in the semis. The one time they didn’t qualify in 2010 was because of the juries.
voted for “no” – this change will change the kind of music in the semis = more simple music and less music quality.
I think the Big five countries plus the host nation can benefit from it in various situations where, for example, a jury favorite is eliminated in the semi-finals.
Or that they can get high jury points without needing to get enough viewer points in the semi-finals to go to the final.
I think that the “world” voting (sorry, not sure what to call it?) Will be so diverse and not what eurovision would usually vote for that it wouldn’t make a dint. More western countries may not “get” countries like Serbia last year, but it won’t make a difference to how the rest of eurovision regulars would vote. A few more votes to more commercial songs won’t move the needle, but may stop people getting no votes at all, which is a good thing.
I think they’re ditching the juries in the semi-finals after how juries from six countries were disqualified from voting because of swapping votes. I like this move and it makes sense. Also allowing non-participating countries vote in both semis under the “Rest of the World” gives them the chance to vote without accusations of bloc voting. If this was in place this year, in SF1 Albania would have qualified over Switzerland & in SF2, Cyprus would have qualified over Azerbaijan. Which is kind of ridiculous when I found out that they qualified entirely out of jury points. However, I would… Read more »
Personally, I like the move. For a long time, the juries, although a nice idea in theory, have not served any actual purpose. They don’t vote like musical professionals/experts so the idea that the opinion of five people in a room should hold as much weight as everyone from that country watching at home, has never sat well with me.
Hopefully, this if successful, they will extend 100% televote to the grand final.
But what is a musical expert? How do you become that? By studying notes? There is no such thing as expert. Anyone who works with music or playing it can claim to be expert. Hell, people listening to music can call themselves expert..
Well, for one the juries have opened the contest to new genres and stiles. Italy would not have returned. Netherlands would not have won. Belgium would not have sent us Hooverphonic. I fear that televotes will be a setback to the time where only one type of music was heard at ESC and less diversity in stiles
Does this mean that the jury shows for the semi finals will be scrapped.
The real question for me: does the “rest of the world” only gets a vote for the public vote but not for the jury vote? In the segment where we go country by country to get the douz from each participating country — will we not stop in “the rest of the world” jury?
So voters from competing countries can only vote in one semifinal but Rest of the World voters gets to influence the outcome in both semifinals?
And you talk about being fair?
Everyone can vote in both semis, and in the finals.
No. Competing countries can only vote in the semifinal they compete in. Like usual. But Rest of the World can vote in both. So they get more to say than countries actually competing..
So it all goes down to what Americans like the most!
Yeah, I read that in the article yesterday, but now I can’t seem to find it. Did we imagine that?
Thank you. Does the rest of the world get to vote in both?
Hm, so the rest of the world have more power than the rest of us.
It shouldn’t be called “rest of world” unless the show is broadcast to the whole actual rest of the world.
YouTube for most countries outside of Europe, RTP International for Portuguese-speaking countries, TVE Internacional for Spanish-speaking countries, and Deutschwelle globally (with German commentary).
Yes, that is what I said:)
So much for fair result huh? The competing countries have less power than countries who are not even taking part. Someone from semi 2 can not influence semi 1 but someone from Canada can. Or Thailand. So who knows what will happen?
Where did you read that cus I it is not written in ESC World.
The EBU I’ve got no morals left they’ve already destroyed a wonderful contest years ago and now we’re bringing back the block voting ? this has now become a joke and who gives the EBU the right to decide the final running order it should have been done by a draw not stupid before producers who’s trying to help be friends to win
Indeed! It was becoming more of a serious platform not too long ago and the current producers are sh*tting on what was being paved
I don’t think they care about Turkey coming back and honestly why would they?
Well the juries were the reason Turkey stopped participating. So I would not rule out that next year Turkey by “surprise” is back
Wasn’t the fact that the contest is very Queer played a factor in them not coming back?
Turkey never gave a reason why they left. The EBU asked, but silence.
Asking because I genuinely do not know. If this is the case, could they still choose to enter at this stage?
Huh. Welp.
While I do agree that something had to be done about this year’s jury scandal. I don’t think this was the way. This just adds suspicion upon EBU, they look like they just get rid of stuff instead of actually addressing issues and solving their problems.
I posted this coment 3x already – idk why it needs to be aproved LOL Since 2010 – Televote would put in the finale: Cyprus 2022, Albania 2022, Croatia 2021, Denmark 2021, Poland and Lithunia 2019, Poland and Greece 2018, Finland + Estonia and Switzerland 2017, N Macedonia+ Bosnia and Belarus 2016, Finland and Czechia in 2015, Portugal and Ireland 2014, Croatia, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Switzerland in 2013, Switzerland, Bulgaria and Holland in 2012, Turkey, Belarus, Norway and Armenia in 2011, Finland, Lithuania and Sweden in 2010 – a lot of fun favorites actually lol Would be OUT of Finale:… Read more »
Last question of the evening. Whatever happened to the rule that if caught cheating you would be thrown out for five years? Actually punishing these countries would probably solve the problem. I suppose that would cost too much money.
Maybe they did not wanna go down to 31? That’d be my guess.
Then there be even fewer countries participating And an even higher cost of entry fees for the ones that remain to make up for those that are out.
I think this is exciting! The juries have been known to be overly political in their voting. Trading 12 points with neighbors they like. Refusing to give points to countries they dislike regardless of song quality. That sort of thing is well remarked. Fans tend to care less about that. So countries like North Macedonia, Andora, and Slovakia that dropped Eurovision (at least partly) over a poor qualification record in the face of expenses might be tempted to come back. I also think taking a leaf from the fan club and having a rest of the world vote will be… Read more »
This happens with televotes too (Greece and Cyprus? )
Yes, but from the breakdowns I’ve seen it’s a bit less pronounced. Fans will band together to raise up countries that don’t have a lot of political pull like Moldova or Serbia, while juries will often put their names next to countries they think make them look good (how else does Azerbaijan qualofy with no televotes while being punished for voting irregularities?). It isn’t that the public is never swayed by politics, but they don’t give it excessive weight.
I’m so excited I get to vote now! I don’t have to travel across the Atlantic to vote. But the part about needing a credit card does make me wonder how much a vote is going to cost. Maybe that’s a way to make the contest more profitable? Either way, I’m still going to vote!
Every mobile vote costs, at least this way the cost can go to EBU to pay for the large event. Usually this doesn’t need to happen because people pay to be in it but if countries like america can now vote it ensures they pay for the privilege.
At least it prevents another terrible qualifications with no or almost no love from televoting (Azerbaijan 2022, Denmark 2017). I instantly thought about “Igranka” qualifying. I think it will be fine. At least there will be no embarrasing switches from juries between SF and F.
EBU is opening the door to other countries step by step – first Australia, now worldwide voting. One set of votes is fine so I’m casually optimistic.
juries are more important in the semis than in grand final…
How? The qualifiers barely differ every year between the two anyways. And when there are big differences the jury’s result is almost always worse. At least for me.
LOl, that is not bad. What is bad is that Rest of the World can influence the outcome in both semi finals but competing countries can only influence the result in one semi-final.
fair, huh?
and producers will continue to decide the running order? Some countries will really suffer from this decision…
Just checked which countries would have qualified with just televote while they didn’t in the current system in the last five years: 2017: semi 1: Finland would have qualified instead of Australia semi 2: Estonia and Switzerland would have qualified instead of Denmark and Austria 2018: semi 1: Greece would have qualified instead of Albania (which I personally would have been pretty pissed off about) semi 2: Poland would have qualified instead of the Netherlands (wouldn’t have liked that either) 2019: semi 1: Poland would have qualified instead of Belarus semi 2: Lithuania would have qualified instead of Denmark 2021:… Read more »
This actually gives the Big 5 an actual advantage for once, because they can be backed by both public and jury instead of having to qualify based on public votes only!
Hasn’t helped Germany.
Nothing could have helped Germany ?
*Without the question mark*
I kind of approve of the changes for the selfish reason that I get to vote now even though I don’t live in a participating country.
I do hope though that this also means the end of youtube geoblocking. It would be kind of boneheaded to let the whole planet vote while at the same time barring some of those countries from getting to watch any of the actual performances.
At least, here in the States, we’ll probably still be able to watch it on PEACOCK for a cost.
I know but all the videos of the performances after the contest ends have all been geoblocked
Why would you pay to watch it on Peacock when you can get a VPN and watch the stream on YouTube?
Have “pots” become redundant now that everybody can vote for everybody now?
You’d still need them to determine which semi a participating country will take part and vote in.
The pots are meant to separate countries into different semi finals to try to reduce neighbor voting as much as possible, although that doesn’t always work (how many times have Greece and Cyprus been in the same semi together).
There still will be block voting. If three Nordic countries are in the same semi-final they will all vote for each other. And Ireland will give Lithuania 12 points like they always do.
And now because of RoW say that Serbia is in one semi-final but it’s neighbours and diaspora are in the other? Well now they still can get votes..
How massive is Serbia’s diaspora globally outside of the United States and Australia?
For the final, will the rest of the world have just 58 points to give, or 116 like all the other countries?
Just 58 (televoting part), since we won’t have a rest of the world jury.
They might just make up another 58 like they did for six countries this year.
Or just double the televote points.
Maybe a jury for the rest the world would be a nightmare. How do you pick five people from different continents? One person from each continent outside of Europe? That won’t work
And Who would serve as the spokesperson?
I vote António Guterres, he’s already shown up in the 1996 contest.
Will San Marino’s fake 58 points be abolished for the semi-finals? What is the point in keeping them?
Countries with small diaspora like San Marino and Malta will find it even harder to qualify now. I’m not happy with this.
2010: Ridiculous butterfly song from Belarus – nearly three times the amount of TV points compared to Estonia’s Siren 2012: Russian grandmas win the semi by about 50 points compared to Albania’s best ever, also around five (!) times the amount compared to one of Finland’s best ever 2013: Cezar horror-show wins the semi 2017: Houdek horror-show and yodel-rap gimmick score 250 points combined 2019: Serhat horror-show and generic Melfest reject of Estonia score 250 points combined while Portugal, Slovenia, Hungary and Poland, all distinctive and all in their respective native languages, only score around 230 points combined, three of… Read more »
2018… a song that claims to teach you how to write a song but doesn’t wins a song contest.
Sure, 100% jury vote would be just as bad, the 2016 system is the necessary compromise.
I’m very skeptical about the removal of the juries from the semi. Overall, I’ve been way more satisfied with who qualified under the present system than in the years when there was only a full televote. I think the 50/50 system really works very well, balancing the difference between jury’s and public tastes. And when I look at who would have qualified in recent years had it only been up to the televote (or just the jury vote, for that matter), I would have been way less happy with that. So no, I’m not keen on this change and don’t… Read more »
I guess with this system you will know who won the SFs based on running order in the Grand Final.
I suspect the real reason for removing jury voting from the semi finals is not as noble as people think. Rather than doing this to satiisfy the public, it is more likely to remove corrupt juries from helping their mates make the final. There are pros and cons of course, the biggest con being Albania not making the finals anymore.
I just made a quick check on the Lithuanian qualification in the last decade. No changes, expect for 2019 when Lithuania would have qualified if Jurors would not have had an impact. In the brackets there are “Result >> What if”: 2022 (Qualified >> Qualify) 2021 (Qualified >> Qualify) 2019 (Did not qualify >> Qualify) 2018 (Qualified >> Qualify) 2017 (Did not qualify >> Did not qualify) 2016 (Qualified >> Qualify) 2015 (Qualified >> Qualify) 2014 (Did not qualify >> Did not qualify) 2013 (Qualified >> Qualify) 2012 (Qualified >> Qualify) Thus, I do not see how these changes will… Read more »
Juries tend to vote a lot less neighbourly than televoters, actually.
Some Juries can be just as neighborly like Greece and Cyprus if they both make the final.
There’s a lot to talk about how Lithuania could benefit from 100% televoting, but ironically Lithuania actually didn’t do that well in the 2000s with 100% Tele voting in the semifinals apart from 2006 and 2009 (They were automatically placed in a 2007 sixth place to finish the year before).
Hopefully this will stop acts like switzerland and azerBuyjan from this year from ever qualifying again.
I’m just worried about acts with terrible live performances like cyprus or Albania this year qualifying.
Oh and I’m also worried about acts like something like portugal 2021 who were heavily elevated by the staging and people started appreciating it more because of it.
Overall mixed feelings, let’s see how this format goes for the contest
Well seems like Azerbaijan is gonna have to go back to buying SIM cards instead of buying juries….
Thinking on it, this is good.
I will now start voting again (semis only) as I’ve not voted since 2008, knowing from 2009 onwards, my votes I pay for, can be overturned by some so called “expert”
The juries killed a lot of popular entries in the semis, and these will now get a chance to shine in the final, rather than some dull mid range entry.
Probably means the last we will be seeing of Australia however which is a shame, but could open the door back to Turkey.
but on the other end of the token, There are songs that the jury loved, but the televote didn’t and that was enough to put those songs out. Televoters can be just as deadly as the juries with certain songs. Now if something you really love doesn’t make the final with 100% televote, you’ve only got the teleporters to blame.
Maybe that’s some kind of preparation for Turkeys Return?
i am happy with jury vote gone,
what i do not accept however is any type of online voting at the age of VPN!
As an American viewer. I hope they stop geoblocking the contest on YouTube then.
At least we’ve had Peacock the last 2 years. I hope they either renew the contract or allow us to watch on YT
That’s the dream for me too.
I doubt it. I think they still have a contract with NBCUniversal, so it’ll be on PEACOCK.
Slightly better but you still can’t access contest songs from 2016 through 2019 (OK, 2019 used to be on Netflix in anticipation for the eurovision movie, but I don’t think it’s there anymore).
Albania 2018 🙁
RIP Malta