ESC 2016: Voting and stuff

Screenshot borrowed from svt.se

If you were one of the 16 countries that received a lower score in the televote it was really easy to lose track and hard to keep up with where your own country eventually landed in the ranking. That is my only criticism of the new voting sequence introduced this year.

The suspense was kept up until the very last second as Ukraine first snatched the until then seemingly dead certain Australian victory and then managed to keep it despite Russia winning the televote. Perfect drama.

Isolating the jury votes also brought back an air of Eurovision what it used to be like back in the day when I fell in love with the contest. Completely unpredictable results, someone gets a 12 from one country only to get nothing from the next.

But again I'd like to raise the same old discussion. Who is really on the jury? And what are they told to reward? Originality is one of the criteria, right?

I'm surprised that my dear Italy didn't get more love from the juries. A real quality pop song with remarkable production values and classy songwriting that was totally ignored by many juries.

Instead the likes of Lithuania and Belgium got a great deal of points. While I'm happy for two usually unlucky participant countries, I still don't see what there is in either song that would trigger such a reaction from experts.

At the same time, the juries held down Austria so much not even a strong televote finish could secure Zoë a spot in the top ten. Surprising.

ESC: Let's vote like it was 1985

I am yet to give you all my final prediction for tonight as I still haven't got the faintest idea who is going to win this year. It is all so open and so possible and so thrilling. If Abba were right and the history book on the shelf actually does repeat itself, then I am hoping for the voting to be a bit like it was back in 1985.

Look at the screenshot above. Switzerland just surprisingly gave their top mark to Turkey instead of neighbour - and red hot favourite - Germany and suddenly host country Sweden finds itself in the lead.

With four countries left to vote, the gap between the leader and the song in 6th place (Ireland) is a ridiculous twenty points. Had Sweden and Austria been as unpredictable as Switzerland, United Kingdom or even Ireland could leap into the lead.

Only moments earlier Italy had also been a real contender. Picture it: seven out of nineteen participants involved in the final battle for victory. Please let it happen again!

Then Luxembourg ruined the fun already in the second last round of voting and put Norway in a lead nobody could challenge which was fun for Bobbysocks but not so great for the drama.

With a bit of luck the new voting format will have us all screaming before we know the winner.

24 years ago: a very tight finish

At this very night, twenty-four years ago, 12-year old Tobson decided to give Walpurgis a miss for the first time ever and instead stay home and watch the Eurovision final from Dublin (in the company of classmate who had come down with a fever and who fell asleep after five or so songs).

There was a tremenduous feeling of suspense as the Swedish entry (my entry, being Swedish and all) was marred with Tommy Körberg's throat problems leading to heavy speculation in the press as to whether he would be able to sing or not.

Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet had tipped a tight race between Sweden, Switzerland and Israel. I didn't disagree, but hoped that my personal favourites from Spain, Denmark and Iceland could stand a chance too.

All that feeling of suspense in advance was nothing compared with what we had in store before the show was over. What seemed like a runaway victory for Switzerland soon turned into a battle between Celine Dion and Scott Fitzgerald before the latter pulled away, leading with a comfortable margin as Portugal cast their votes as #20 out of 21 participants.

And then the whole thing changed again. Switzerland was suddenly just five points behind the UK as Pat Kenny and Michelle Rocca call up the Yugoslav jury in Ljubljana. The rules stated that the juries were not supposed to know the standings when called up, but it sounds like Miša Molk knows a fair share, seemingly adding to the drama.

This, the closest voting sequence I had ever seen left me speechless and every time I watch it again I feel the thriller element again. Since then, only four votings have been as tight as this one, donning the same kind of suspense up until the bitter end.

Watch the final votes coming in here and enjoy - it is impossible not to be happy for Céline Dion and the Swiss delegation afterwards. Unless, of course, you are BBC commentator Terry Wogan.



Céline Dion - Ne partez pas sans moi (Switzerland 1988)

Scoreboard extravaganza: The Hague 1976

This is the scoreboard used in my year of birth, but that is not the main reason for showcasing it like this.



First of all - it is in Dutch. A nice touch that would probably be unthinkable today. The last scoreboard in another language than English was used in Lausanne 1989 , and only very few scoreboards have been presented in other languages than English or French through the years.

Of course that is better - the scoreboard is there to be clear and easy to understand, and having the countries written in, say, Hungarian or Finnish would confuse the greater part of the audience.

It looks a bit basic, perhaps, but it indicated the country giving their points by letting the country's name flash nicely.

It was also close to becoming the first scoreboard ever to mention Liechtenstein, as the tiny country made a brave effort to enter. As their bid was rejected due to them not having any national broadcaster, hence not being a member of the EBU, Switzerland offered to enter under the name Switzerland & Liechtenstein.

Dutch television refused, however, as this would have taken too much space on the scoreboard. (In all fairness, it would.)

And for extra bonus value: the presenter beneath the board is no other than Corry Brokken - winner of the 1957 Eurovision Song Contest in Frankfurt.

Scoreboard extravaganza: Munich 1983

This is a very basic old-school scoreboard with no spectacular details - it shows the points, a light indicates the country voting, another flashing light indicates the country in the lead (Luxembourg for the greater part of the voting).

It does showcase one thing I love about the old school scoreboards, though. In sharp contrast to the computer rendered scoreboards of today, the old ones are very physical. Just look at this.



Marlène Charell could have extended her hand and touched it, had she wanted to. This is big, large, solid and very much a part of the stage set.

This particular scoreboard even had an impact on the venue. The originally selected Deutsches Theater , where several national finals had been hosted, proved to small to host both the stage and the scoreboard and ARD had to move the whole shebang to the Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle instead.

Possibly the Düsseldorf scoreboard will be slightly more sophisticated. We will know in about a month from now.

Scoreboard extravaganza: Irish variations

In the 90's, Ireland won Eurovision four years out of five consecutive years (which, frankly, made me develop a certain allergy towards Irish entries which lasted for at least ten years after their last victory) and also made history by hosting it after each victory.

In the past, countries had always handed over the task of hosting to someone else had they won two years in a row (or even if they won too often - Netherlands gave it up after winning in 1959, France after winning in 1962).

What surprised me and many others is that RTÉ managed to stage very individual contests, that did not feel like repeat runs. New stage designs, new hosts, new creative teams.

They even managed to make the scoreboards look fairly different to one another, even if they are clearly all variations on the same look.



Millstreet 1993



Dublin 1994



Dublin 1995



Dublin 1997

They all follow the same pattern and are all programmed the same way, but connect nicely to the colours and themes of each year. Clean-cut and easy to follow.

It would really be rather nice to see a new RTÉ scoreboard again someday. But then they have to break their trend and start winning again...

Scoreboard extravaganza: Lausanne 1989

Well, why not put another scoreboard in French while I am at it? Swiss television (or rather the French speaking division of Swiss television) played host after contributing the winning entry the year before.

I must add that when it comes to graphic presentation, the Lausanne contest stands out as one of my all time favourites. The postcards and the banners presenting each entry float in and out of the picture very neatly and all look very elegant and stylish.

Oddly enough, none of the graphics used in the rest of the show are reflected on the scoreboard. Yet, that looks pretty stylish as well.



I like the choice of colours, the big flags and the fact that also this version of scoreboard can show individual placings for each country (even if that function is only used twice during the entire voting sequence).

This is only the second scoreboard ever to be computer made and not "physical". In other words almost shockingly modern back in the day.

As a member of Team Finland, it is also easy to love a leader board that looks like this. A rare and welcome sight for sore eyes.

Scoreboard extravaganza: Brussels 1987

It will come as no news to faithful followers of this blog that I am a tiny bit of a eurovision nerd. Along with that title comes a love for all details that could seem insignificant, but that will send me into a spin.

Scoreboards are one of these things I love more than most.

Hereby, I kick off a series where I share some of my favourite scoreboards through the years, and the first one is the first one I remember at all.



The 1987 ESC, produced by RTBF and held in Brussels, was the first one I saw from beginning to end, aged 11. It was the first voting I followed live and this scoreboard left a lasting impression.

It looks modern in the old-fashioned way of the mid-80's, and it showed the placing for each country after each round of voting. It had flags and was above all very easy to read.

I can't help but wonder how it looks in the eye of the younger fans. Does it have a certain charm à la curiosity shop or does it only look old?

Also - note that the countries are written in French! A nice touch, and it has only been done once again since 1987 (two years later in Lausanne). I wonder if even France would have the scoreboard in French these days...?