Eurovision 'manipulation' alleged in huge Israel vote

Eurovision has been accused of encouraging manipulation” through its voting system after Israel came close to winning this year’s song contest.

- ROISIN O'CONNOR

The annual event was once again shrouded in controversy due to Israel's participation, with contestant Yuval Raphael - a survivor of the 7 October attacks by Hamas – scoring a total of 357 points from combined votes of the professional jury and the public.

Raphael’s performance of “New Day Will Rise” was met by protests, including during the grand final on Saturday, when a Eurovision crew member was hit by paint as two audience members attempted to disrupt the show.

This year’s contest, which was held in Basel, Switzerland, was ultimately won by Austria’s trained opera singer JJ while Israel came second, meaning the competition will be hosted by Austria next year.

National broadcasters for Spain and Belgium have now complained to the competition’s organisers, the European Broadcasting Union, after Israel won the public vote by a large margin.

RTVE, Spain’s public broadcaster, and VRT, the Flemish broadcasting company, are demanding that organisers investigate the televoting system, which allows voters at home to vote up to 20 times for a small cost charged to each vote by text or phone call.