The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) have today announced a tightening of jury rules in response to the allegations that have come out over the summer of vote buying and rigging. They have made it clear though that the fundamental of having 50% jury and 50% public vote will not change.
The new rules state that on May 1st all of the Jurors must be announced. The EBU will also being releasing the ranking submitted by each juror over all of the shows straight after the final. This will enable a clear split of jury and televote to be released. Furthermore those people on the jury must now be music professionals and not have sat on the jury in the past two contests.
Jon Ola Sand said:
Tighter rules and increased openness are important for the Eurovision Song Contest to build on its success”
He went on to say:
To make sure participants, viewers and fans know that we have done and will always do our utmost to secure a fair result. These changes show that the Eurovision Song Contest is an ever evolving tradition, which continues to adapt to the spirit of time.
Dr Frank-Dieter Freiling the Chairman of the Reference Group went on to say:
Through this increased openness, we want to assure everyone – participants, press and fans – can come to understanding of how we obtain a valid result. With these changes, we hope to put an end to the kind of speculation we have recently seen.
The EBU also announced that they are opening up a section on the official website where jury members and members of the public can report voting irregularities. This is to enable Digame and PWC the voting partners to investigate allegations adequately.
Source: Eurovision.tv
