Eurovision 2025 has officially concluded, but the controversy over the results is likely to be a big talking point for weeks and months to come.
Although Austria celebrated a major triumph, with JJ’s “Wasted Love” taking pole position thanks to topping the jury vote, Israel’s second-place finish overall and televote win has caused concerns amongst some — particularly in Spain.
Spanish broadcaster RTVE has requested an audit into the country’s televoting, which saw Spain awarding Israel 12 points in the grand final. They reportedly called for clarification regarding the voting process and have hinted intention to address what they perceive as inconsistencies or external influences on the outcome.
Meanwhile, the country’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, has become the first world leader to outright call for Israel to be banned from the Eurovision Song Contest.
Spain’s Prime Minister calls for Israel’s Eurovision ban
In a pointed intervention at the launch of a Cotec Foundation report on the cultural and creative industries, Sánchez called for Israel to be excluded from the Eurovision Song Contest — drawing a comparison to Russia’s expulsion following its invasion of Ukraine.
“We cannot apply double standards in culture,” he stated.
“If no one put their hands on their heads when the invasion of Russia began and they were required to leave international competitions and not participate in Eurovision, neither, therefore, should Israel.”
El compromiso de España con los derechos humanos debe ser constante y coherente. También desde Europa.
— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) May 19, 2025
Si se le exigió a Rusia no participar en Eurovisión tras la invasión de Ucrania, tampoco debería hacerlo Israel.
No podemos permitir dobles estándares, tampoco en la cultura. pic.twitter.com/1G6g2bIE5E
The Prime Minister also defended RTVE’s broadcasts of Eurovision 2025. During the second semi-final, Spain’s commentators mentioned the civilian death toll in Gaza and reminded audiences of the petition RTVE has brought to the EBU to debate Israel’s participation in the contest.
Sánchez affirmed that Spain’s position on international law and human rights must remain “constant and coherent.”
His comments were echoed by Minister for Digital Transformation and Civil Service, Óscar López, who added, “RTVE has been on the right side of history.”
There have been repeated calls from musicians, fans, unions, human rights activists, and other notable figures for Israel’s removal from Eurovision since the beginning of the Israel-Gaza war in October 2023. The conflict has seen more than 52,000 people killed in Gaza, with multiple international organisations accusing Israel of committing war crimes and acts of genocide.
The war began when Hamas carried out an attack in southern Israel on 7 October 2023, during which 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
External audit over the results of the Spanish public vote
RTVE is set to formally request an audit from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) following concerns over the public vote in the Eurovision 2025 final. The controversy stems from the fact that Israel received the top score — 12 points — from Spain’s televote, despite earning no points from the Spanish jury.
RTVE’s decision comes after receiving a report from the EBU outlining the total number of votes cast by the Spanish public during the final: over 142,000 in total, including online submissions, text messages, and phone calls. However, the broadcaster argues that the data lacks crucial detail, such as the specific distribution of votes among competing countries, which prevents a thorough verification of the results.
According to the figures provided, Spanish viewers cast 7,283 votes via phone, 23,840 via SMS, and 111,565 through the official Eurovision app. These numbers contrast sharply with the data from the first semi-final — where Israel was not competing — during which public participation was significantly lower (774 phone calls, 2,377 SMS and 11,310 through the app). This has fuelled speculation about coordinated efforts to influence the public vote, especially in light of past admissions by Israeli officials.
For instance, David Saranga, acting director of public diplomacy at Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, acknowledged last year that his department had actively engaged with pro-Israel communities abroad to encourage voting during the contest. The “organised and dedicated” campaign resulted in 323 points in the televote last year, placing the song “Hurricane” in second place in the televote and fifth overall.
RTVE is not alone in its unease. Iceland’s RÚV will also request more information from the EBU over its 2025 televote results to ensure greater transparency in the vote-counting process, as confirmed by the broadcaster’s Director General, Stefán Eiríksson.
Request to reform the televoting system
RTVE has also confirmed it will formally call for a review of Eurovision’s televoting system, raising doubts about its fairness in politically charged contexts.
The broadcaster argues that allowing viewers to cast up to 20 votes creates room for coordinated campaigns and political influence, distancing Eurovision from its cultural and artistic focus.
Spanish media reports that other countries, yet unamend, are also making the same request.
Tension between RTVE and the EBU
Tensions between RTVE and the EBU had already escalated earlier in the week following the comments over Gaza made by the country’s commentators.
This prompted the EBU to warn of possible fines, should the statements be repeated in the grand final.
RTVE answered those warnings by expressing support for the right of its commentators to report freely, criticising the EBU for interfering:
“We express our concern about the threat of the EBU. The European Broadcasting Union has warned of financially sanctioning RTVE if the conflict in Gaza is mentioned again during Eurovision.
“We claim the right of our commentators Julia Varela and Tony Aguilar to do so freely and responsibly. We condemn any attempt at interference and defend RTVE’s commitment to truthful information, especially in the face of events of international relevance.”
On the night of the grand final, Spanish TV aired a message minutes before the official broadcast supporting Palestinian rights, stating: “When human rights are at stake, silence is not an option. Peace and Justice for Palestine.”
It can also be said that Estonia cheated in the public voting, and the countries with French songs bought votes from the jury
Care to explain how? Do you have any information concerning the Estonian government and massive ad campaigns? Could it be that the governments of France, Switzerland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands have put together a joint fundraiser to finance advertising campaigns and we don’t know anything about it?
🙂 🙂 🙂 FINALLY FOUND THE ISRAELI BOTS IN SPAIN 🙂 🙂 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T75n52_xjy8
PUT SUBTITLES IN YOUR LANGUAGE !!!!!!!
Nice to see him so busy dealing with real problems in his country
Don’t want to sound brutal but when I’ll, you cut the cancer growth (Israel) out before it affects the whole body. And I fear that’s what’s happening. Finland is questioning the voting as well now. Cosying up to Israel might cost EBU the whole contest. What was created to unite, is suffering from the widespread division lately.
PUBLIC VOTE Can be three ways one third public vote one third streaming popularity and on third sales – this would most likely reduced political or sympathetic voting – pretty simple 🙂
Some countries have something similar in their national finals:
1/3 juries
1/3 demoscopic vote
1/3 public vote
Streaming popularity and sales can be problematic for small countries and because some record labels also pump a lot of money in ad campaigns.
Spain, you deserve your big 5 status and all the perks it comes with it.
lmao
Pedro Pedro Pedro, Pedro Pe!
Bravo Pedro.
It’s very interesting how Israel got so many points from many big countries’ televote, but the song itself got just a few viewers and listeners on platforms.
Exactly. This kind of cliche ballads never catch a lot of televotes, and we all know it. A good proxy is « Made of Stars » (their 2016 entry) which barely placed 22nd in the televote (and 14th overall). It’s the same song (even slightly better), same dull « kumbaya world peace » lyrics, a better singer, and didn’t get any traction. « But it’s just an Oct 7 survivor singing her story!!! »… No it’s not, she didn’t write that song. It’s from the same regime propagandist who wrote the dirge from last year, the whole thing felt phony and manipulative (just like when Russia… Read more »
I invite everyone who reads this to pick up a pen and paper and WRITE a physical letter to the EBU. Tell them how you feel and make a suggestion. It shows we care, more than screaming into void here on Wiwi.
Postal address:
European Broadcasting Union
L’Ancienne Route 17A
Postal Box 45
1218 Le Grand-Sacconex
Geneva
Switzerland
Further assistance: a PEN is a writing device containing ink. You make shapes called LETTERS on a price of paper… Wait… let me clarify… PAPER is that thing your Amazon packages come in… WAIT… The AMAZON was that thing that used to have tress… Which make PAPER… used to write on witH A PEN.
HOPE THAT HELPS
Regards
Ferg
New idea.
Voting by postcard only.
Or carrier pigeon.
Punch cards… Wait… Further assistance… A punch card is a number piece of card…
Oh just Google it 🙂
Your headline should be: Spain’s Prime Minister uses the Israel issue to cover up the legal problems surrounding him (with his brother, with his wife, with his second hand and Transport Minister in 2020, with compromising WhatsApp messages published in media,… ). Spanish eurofans are very fed up of politicians interfering in Eurovision. ¡¡¡We want a Eurovision only with music!!!
They’ve learned from Netanyahu in that case. Bibi is carrying out another shoah because it’s a way of avoiding his legal troubles.
Un joven de las juventudes del PP comentando en wiwibloggs? Quien lo podría imaginar?
Quite apart from Israeli government interference and vote fixing, the behaviour of Israeli fans, the gaslighting (“We got those votes because the song is really that good”), the vote-trolling, is honestly giving Russian energy. It’s clear that these people have no respect for other participating countries or peoples.
I’ve been railing against the 20 votes thing for years. If only people had listened to me. Seriously, I should be executive supervisor.
I’d vote for you… But I S R would probably win.
I will vote for you too but please put a shirt on when you are saying your piece
Let’s introduce the negative vote. You can vote AGAINST a candidate 🙂
Let’s not
I could be a good idea. If you like all the songs except one, just vote against it instead of voting for all the others.
UK might get less than plus zero
There’s enough hatred in the world… Can we just NOT
She survived one of the worst terrorist attacks and she now faces the hate of all these crying esc losers
Yes, and just like Eden last year, she is allowing herself to be used as a political propaganda piece.
I think Yuval is very talented. I’m sorry she experienced such a heinous atrocity, and I’m glad she survived to tell her story. I also think the televote results for Israel are not genuine.
That was the manipulative narrative they were aiming for from the start. « You criticize us? How dare you, she’s a survivor! »… Just like when Russia sent a girl in a wheelchair: « You criticize us? How dare you, she’s disabled! ». You’re fooling no one, dude.
None of this would have happened if the EBU had done the right thing and banned I S R from the start. Their excuse is always « The contest is non-political » and yet because they let them in it’s NEVER been this political.
They made their bed, now they have to lie in it.
Finally a Big 5 moving, I’d vouch France and the UK are next.
What’s HILARIOUS is that if you look at Google News, I S R media are claiming « people love us since they voted for us » (so insecure to look for external validation from a music TV show, when they know very well it was rigged and what the world thinks of them lol). Manipulative liars and gaslighters, on top of war crimnals.
Desperatly trying to handle unimportant issues for Spain to deflect his responsibility for the recent BLACKOUT (causing also serious economic impact on Portugal…)!!!!
“The power grid collapse has a political origin,” said Santiago Abascal in parliament on Thursday. “Pedro Sanchez is the cause.”
He is fooling himself…. Not the others!
All of these sore losers esc divas crying here against Israel they don’t understand that if they would be killed in a matter of seconds by their beloved Palestinians if they dressed like Nemo orConchita whereas Israel showed Europe what meant to be free back in 1998
So do you mean that they deserve what is happening to them?
« Sore losers »? Didn’t I S R lose on Saturday, despite the rigged televote?
Israel 357 points, Spain 37 points. LOL. Even if you deduct the entire televote AND the Azerbaijan jury (which was indeed questionable), Israel would still have 11 more points than Spain.
Poor Spain. Though “casuals” I have spoken to found Melody’s performance and little too much.
Noone complained in Israel that they didn’t get overall 1st place. It is Spain ‘s government and brainwashed pro-palestine fans throughout Europe that they cannot get over it
A palestinian toddler would kill me if I wore a skirt?
It can also be said that Estonia cheated in the public voting, and the countries with French songs bought votes from the jury.
BREAKING NEWS from CATALUNIA:
https://e-noticies.cat/en/politics/pedro-sanchez-burning-nail-palestine
Through action and decision the EBU have allowed the voting methodology to be abused, gamified, and distorted.
1 vote per device/account, or the ability to give a first, second, third, vote via one entry (totally doable) would rectify and restore the problem. Bring back 30-min voting window, and juries at both semis (maybe just the semis – results carried over to the final – same song – same rating), and you’re back to fairness and transparency.
It’s broken. Fix it.
PS: it may also balance out the length of the shows to about 3hrs as opposed to the enormously long grand final.
My name is Jonas and I endorse this message.
LOL
¡Gracias, España! ??
Spain should just boycott next year if they feel so strongly about it, instead of acting like jealous drama queens because votes did not go the way they wanted them to go.
The shocked pikachu face when a boycott campaign backfires spectacilarly will never stop being funny.
Unfortunately it never occurs to these people that they’re the one who caused the result because they live in echo chambers where everyone shares their opinion, pretends to share their opinion, or gets bullied out. They truly believe that just because they made everyone give up talking to them, they actually changed their mind and then look a like a deer in the headlight when they crash into the real world.
Sanchez and his pals in Europe invite the Turkish leader to talk with him about how to achieve ‘peace’ in Ukraine, the same state who occupies half of Cyprus and threatens to invade and capture half of Greece, but his only concern is his beloved Palestine, due to his hatred for Israel and USA
They don’t react with Sweden having a Swedish producer inside the show Bjorkman deciding everything since 2013 and with his inside help he managed to give to Sweden 2 undeserving wins (2015 and 2023) but cannot get over that Israel almost won both last year and this year with both juries and televote support.
If you are gonna play mature, at least try to make your points more accurate
And BTW, Bjorkman was not even producer at the 2015 contest you moron, he was HoD for Sweden, BIG DIFFERENCE
Yes, because even though unfair, that never killed nobody. Are you even serious???
Turkey killed thousands of Cypriots, Armenians, Greeks and you still allowed Turkey to win and you beg Turkey to return to ESC.
Well … when human rights like freedom of choice are at stake, it’s because the Spanish public apparently didn’t vote the way RTVE and PM Sanchez wanted it to. And while I acknowledge how the current state of affairs affects the whole outcome of the ESC and that Israel would never ever have received this televoting score hadn’t it been for politics, it’s fairly easy to point out that RTVE didn’t complain when Kalush Orchestra won. Also, AFAIK RAI just published the exact distribution of televotes per country for Italy. If they got ahold of the data, surely RTVE must… Read more »
5th -> 2nd -> Uh Oh….
I have to recognise that, at some moment before Austrian votes were announced, I wished for Israel to win, just because that would be the only thing that would do EBU react and change something. How many countries would have deny to participate in an Israeli Eurovision? How many sponsors would have decline participating as well? I bet many. RTVE, or the Spanish government, is just saving Eurovision here, if we go on like this, there will be a winning Israeli song next year (because it will be a very good song, of course – irony mode on-), and then… Read more »
I thought the same thing: obviously all of Europe was united behind Austria at the end, but I also thought « The EBU created this while situation and the most politically charged contest in history – along with last year – so it would have been hilarious to watch them deal with the disaster of I S R winning, as well as I S R thinking winning a TV show would whitewash their regime ».
Everyone is acting as if Israel winning would be the end of Eurovision. In reality, nothing would have changed. Two or three countries would not participate, probably Spain, Ireland and maybe Iceland and that would be it. We had Eurovision in freakin’ Azerbaijan and nothing has happened. If anything, there would be much less drama since people who keep bringing politics into the contest would (finally) boycott it.
Of course the first step for many reasons, both regarding them manipulating the contest and using it for propaganda and according to basic humanity and ethics, is to ban Israel from Eurovision. But apart from that, this year’s results showed how easily the current televoting system can be manipulated. In order to avoid similar phenomena, we really need to change the system: 20 votes max are too many. And being able to vote for a specific country up to 20 times is extraordinarily much. There needs to be a cap to how many times one can vote for a specific… Read more »
You’re speaking my language. When I was voting, I only gave five votes max to my favorite songs as though there was a limit. I don’t think EB will ever have one vote entirely for one person because that’s a loss of revenue, but I think there should either be a reduction of the votes you should have at the store person, like 10 votes, or every single country is a vote, and you can vote for all or steal as possible, 25 or 26 depending on if your country has made it to the final or not. I think… Read more »
Yes I agree. Maybe it would even be sufficient to just have an upper cap of 1-3 votes for each country.
Also I also never according to my memory have voted more than 5 times for a song at ESC. For example this year Lithuania was my absolute favourite and I voted for them 3 times.
Yeah, one to three vote sounds a little more like it. Even having five votes as a max is a bit too much.
I’d rather be a problem solver, than someone who just kvetches and moans about things.
Finally a European leader who has the “cojones” to speak out for justice!
Good for Sanchez and Good for Spain. 12 point for Sanchez.
Pedro Sanchez is a communist politician who hates the USA and Israel and instead of fixing the mess in his country and made a deal with the expelled separatists in order to remain in power his only concern now is how to ban Israel from ESC one of the most successful countries with 4 wins plus 1 televote win this year while Spain always close to last sending same kind of wannabe divas.
It’s so funny how right-wing the whole political spectrum has shifted if people view a moderate leftist like Sanchez as communist. It’s very funny to watch when you are educated enough
The right-wing idiots is calling everyone who don´t agree with them either “woke” or “communists”
Communist?????? Hahahaha hahahaha
Cariño, that was fun!!!!!!
Hahahaha
COMMUNIST!!! HAHAHAHA HAHAHAHA
Can you please explain your concept of communism?
Oh dear Lord, I never thought I’d see a world leader making the brain-dead Russia comparison. Then again, if it was going to anyone it was Spain. They like to think they’ve moved on from their fascist past but obviously not. Just ask the Catalans…
Spain always come last in ESC are sore losers now put the blame on Israel.
Did you read that he said “we lost because of Israel”? Not, right? That’s because he did not say so. RTVE and the Spanish President only asked for respect for human rights and it is incredible that somebody cannot agree with that.
Spain and the other ‘liberals’ do not have a problem with Turkey rejoining the esc despite occupying half of Cyprus (an EU member state) and applauded the political and sympathy victory for Ukraine in 2022 but now cannot accept Israel’s support. I m not from Israel and I voted for Israel and Austria
Only roughly 140.000 votes from Spain. A country of 48 million people??? (And that is including the cheat votes for Israel)
Only if you compares with other years (others than last year, of course). In the Benidorm Fest, the votes were for free and there were less than here.
It should be 1 vote per person. The rest of the world vote should be dropped. Only votes from participating countries
Hear, hear! *thumbs up*
It certainly was the better system, but it simply doesn’t work anymore these days. Unless you’re willing to pay 20 € for your one vote to be cast, that is.
One single vote per person overall, or one vote per country? I don’t think the EBU would ever reduce the number of votes to just a single vote because that’s a loss of money, but if they expanded to 25 or 26 per person and every single one of those votes is one per country, they can still get their money’s worth and distribute the points out more evenly. I think this system would work well with the voting opening start so that during the show people can choose their one vote per song after every country perform, and then… Read more »
How would you vote if you liked several songs?
That’s why I propose an idea of 25 to 26 person, with each vote representing one of of the, and you can vote for as many countries as you want.
By the way, participant who got 37 points from the televote lecturing about country with the biggest public support not belonging in the contest is quite some irony. Talk about sore losers…
¡Viva España! Thank God for Spain leading the charge. Now, Brits, politely go to work on the BBC. Write letters, petition, etc. France and Germany won’t move on this subject but if the BBC is even thought to be wavering, the EBU will *have* to act.
Give this man 12 points. Bravo! Now ban the cheaters.
He’s the leader of a minority government. He probably did this at the request of some of the minor parties that aren’t in the coalition, but generally align with it. It’s a very narrow margin, 5 votes, and just losing a one of these minor parties could force him to call an early election, which would most likely put the conservatives back in power.
Spain is the 12th richest country in the world with significant worldwide diplomatic pull. I don’t think Eurovision is a big part of their internal politics…
Spaniard here. Don’t rule it out so easily, the government’s associates have a lengthy history of not having their priorities in order.
It is hard for many people, I know, because they are still very hurt, but this man won the elections democratically in Spain less than two years ago.
And, as long as the right keeps on going into deals with the far right, he will keep winning.
Very brave Mr Sanchez! All the governments ín Europe should exactly do the same. Thanks Spain !
And the EBU will give a zero Faax…
Israel see you in the top 5 next year 🙂
LOL He need to cry harder nest time.. nobody want to see another diva wannabe.. Israel won the televotes and for all the right reasons! Touching song, beautiful voice and STUNNING staging! It was soooo beautiful.
There is no doubt that a majority of people were/are disgusted by this second place and are fed up with the whitewashing. Misuse of the televote system is a likely result if a proper investigation is allowed to take place. Journalists which were present mentioned that cheering noises were played in the arena speakers in a effort to counter the booing from the crowd. Common, the competition has a rotten element which is turning more and more Eurovision fans away……the downward spiral continues.
“United by Music”.
Those people love the Eurovision being political, with the Ukranian victory in 2022 and full political soiree the following year. That is, as long as THEIR politics are being promoted.
The whole point of eurovision is getting the nations together through culture. Sharing a platform for mutual expression. In a polarized world characterized by echochamberism and radicalization, using this platform to outcast people and nations is not the way to go.
Kleptocrats, whether as ZOGs or Putinas don’t give a damn about Eurovision. Nor is there a legitimate desire for genuine discussion. They just can’t stand the idea that there’s a space where inclusion, joy and regional differences are celebrated. That’s why the contest is being vote-trolled by people who don’t know the first thing about Eurovision.
FYI your white supremacy is showing. How people feel emboldened in this day and age to use literal neo-nazi terms like ZOGs (and get upvoted like it’s normal) is beyond me!
I’m not white and your friends have had the other Z word banned from this site. Gotta use what we can.
That is all very fine, but the points does still not reflect what we the audience feel is right. One country is using the system and make this spectacle unfair. There has to be changes. This can not continue
If the EBU keeps going down this path, I honestly wouldn’t mind seeing Eurovision come to an end—just so broadcasters can finally create a new contest that actually serves European countries. At one point, I even felt tempted to support mass voting for Israel, just to provoke a reaction from the EBU. They need to wake up. This has been going on since 2024, and it’s unacceptable. Something has to change. And the fact that they dedicated Semi-Final 2 to the fans this year? The irony is almost laughable. The EBU has shown time and again that they don’t really… Read more »
Are you alright?
¡¡¡VAMOS, ESPAÑA!!!
Bravo Spain for you stance here! More countries should follow their example!
BAN ISRAEL FROM EUROVISION
the flemish broadcaster today:
“We at VRT have noticed that the Eurovision Song Contest as it is currently organised is becoming less and less of a unifying and apolitical event. It is increasingly at odds with the original norms and values ??of the event and with the norms and values ??of public broadcasting.”
Interesting. So what are we gonna do about participants like Spain who are increasingly bringing politics into the contest and causing division?
So the financial of Israel last year and this year from the Israeli GOVERMENT are not “bringing politics into the contest”
Spain never brings politics.. . is against politics in ESC and defends human rights. Do you defend them?
RTVE literally broadcasted political statements during the semifinal, keeps calling for exclusion of one of the participants because it defends itself from barbaric attack, and now this… Yes, it’s Spain that brings politics into the contest. And if it weren’t for people who do this, Israel would finish at 15th place because there would be no sympathy vote.
The Spainish wanting to expell the Jews ah history repeating itself never forget the Alhambra Decree it is still in their blood!
Who is talking about Jews? We talk about secular country which is by law separated by religion-Israel. First educate then comment!
Which is still the only Jewish majority nation in the world, religious and secular.
A prime minister leading a country of nearly 50 million inhabitants and here is what’s on top of his agenda. No crime, no socio-economic disparities, poverty, inflation, illegal immigration, human rights violations in his own country and overseas territories in Morocco and so on and so forth. The left in Spain cracks mainly in the brain.
Who said it was the “top of his agenda”? He might have been asked on the way to a car. It may shock you to learn that Israel doesn’t live rent free in our heads. We mostly think of you as a broken person on the street, damaging public spaces. Unpleasant to see, the sort of thing you’d want to report but just a side note as we go about our day. The world doesn’t revolve around you.
Yes, for some people, human rights are an important thing.
Good that Spain speak up, as one of the big 5 (one of those that pays the most to EBU) they have the right to speak out about when something does not seem right…BUT unfortunately presidents, kings etc can speak out as much as they want without EBU needing to take action…only time is when the TV broadcasters themselves starts to protest because they are the ones that EBU must listen to.