RTÉ requests breakdown of Eurovision public votes after high points awarded to Israel
RTÉ
has requested a breakdown of this year's
Eurovision Song Contest's
public votes, despite the contest organiser stressing that its voting system is the 'most advanced in the world'.
It comes as the Irish public awarded 10 points to
Israel
and follows a request from
Spain's
public broadcaster, RTVE, for an audit 'to avoid external interference and manipulation'.
Spain awarded 12 points to Israel through its public vote, the highest amount available.
Belgium's
broadcaster, VRT, has also raised concerns over voting after it too awarded 12 points to Israel.
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The jury votes from Spain and Belgium, meanwhile, awarded zero points to Israel.
Ireland's second-highest number of points available through the public vote (10) was awarded to Israel, while its jury awarded Israeli contestant
Yuval Raphael
seven points.
Ms Raphael won the public vote with her song, New Day Will Rise, with Israel receiving the most votes from the public out of any country.
However, it came second in the competition's final on Saturday which was
won by Austria after its contestant, JJ, received 436 points
through both jury and public votes with his song Wasted Love.
A spokesperson for RTÉ confirmed on Tuesday evening it has requested a 'breakdown in voting numbers' from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and its voting partner Once.
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Israelis hail Eurovision second-place performance through prism of Gaza war
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Noting that members of the public can vote up to 20 times, RTVE's president, José Pablo López, said this can 'incentivise imbalances or manipulation' and called on the EBU to 'evaluate the role of bots and improve their detection and prevention tools'.
Mr López said since Saturday's final, delegations including Spain have expressed 'grave concern' about Israel's participation, alongside 'the transparency, legitimacy, and perceived integrity of the current voting system'.
Eurovision director Martin Green said organisers remain in 'constant contact with all participating broadcasters of the Eurovision Song Contest and take their concerns seriously'.
'We can confirm that we have been in touch with several broadcasters since Saturday's grand final regarding voting in the competition,' Mr Green said.
He said the voting operation for the Eurovision is the 'most advanced in the world'.
'Each country's result is checked and verified by a huge team of people to exclude any suspicious or irregular voting patterns. An independent compliance monitor reviews both jury and public vote data to ensure we have a valid result,' Mr Green said.
'Our voting partner Once has confirmed that a valid vote was recorded in all countries participating in this year's grand final and in the rest of the world.'
Mr Green said that now the event has concluded, there will be a 'broad discussion' with broadcasters on all aspects of this year's event in Basle 'as part of our planning process for the 70th Eurovision Song Contest next year'.
A spokesperson for RTÉ said it 'looks forward' to participating in the discussions and review.
It comes as earlier this month, the public broadcaster's director general, Kevin Bakhurst,
sought a discussion on Israel's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest
.
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