The changes to the voting did make Eurovision more exciting, that’s for sure. It also kept the bookies on their toes, just watching the odds for Spain go from 100/1, to 20/1 to 100/1 was enough to tell me how changeable the whole thing was going to be.

The Public Vote Changes Everything

The arguments of politicised voting, well the jury votes seemed fairly level headed all in all and at the half way point Australia were in the lead. That made sense, as the song was strong.

Without coming to conclusions too quickly without further analysis I think it’s fair to say the cultural sway of the voting lies with the public.

Consistency is key

Now not looking at any other previous voting but if a country can consistently poll over 8.4 points then they’re on to a winner. The public weren’t buying into the Australian entry (just in case we had to watch next year’s final at 11pm at night ’til 3am, though that wasn’t the case at all).

Poland was an interesting case, though by the halfway stage there was no real chance of winning the public vote was high and it totally re-arranged the scoreboard.

Interestingly the Russian jury didn’t give Ukraine a single vote, neither the Ukraine jury give anything to Russia. The public on the other hand went the complete opposite Russia giving 10 to Ukraine and Ukraine giving 12 to Russia. Kind of dispelling any myth that the respective juries were up to something.

And the UK?

The public know when they don’t like something. Only Australia, Ireland and Malta public votes scored the UK any points and even those weren’t that high. And while the jury vote saved face a little; Albania, Australia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Malta, Russia, San Marino and Serbia; the message was clear for the rest of Europe, there’s no such thing as Brexit vote handout.

The new Voting Is a Keeper….

I’m fairly sure the bookies will be waking up and pouring through the voting and calculating new odds methods for next year. This voting though I think is to say, it certainly made things more exciting.

Anyone hoping for some sweeteners from Europe for the UK to send positive vibes for June 23rd, well I think it’s fairly clear they really don’t care that much.