Here's how many complaints RTE received over Eurovision final
The grand final of the annual singing competition, which was held in Basel in Switzerland, saw Austria emerge as the eventual winner, with Israel coming a very close runner-up.
Israel's participation in the contest has been highly controversial as the war in Gaza rages on. The Eurovision Song Contest 2025 took place in Basel, Switzerland. Pic: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images
It was a cause of much social media consternation when the Irish jury awarded Israel a total of seven points, with the Irish voting public giving Israeli singer Yuval Raphael 10 points, propelling her to take second place.
During the voting segment of Saturday night's contest, the phrase 'Irish jury' was trending on social media with a high volume of vitriolic comments aimed at the members of the Irish jury.
But while many aired their displeasure on X, RTÉ, which was responsible only for broadcasting and had no involvement in the vote, received a paltry number of complaints from Eurovision viewers. Yuval Raphael representing Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest 2025. Pic:In response to queries from Extra.ie a spokeswoman for the national broadcaster said: 'RTÉ received two formal complaints about Thursday night's semi-final. Both are in relation to the commentary.'
While Ireland failed to qualify for the final, it was the fact that the Irish jury awarded Israel a high vote is what rankled most.
'RTÉ received three emails about the Irish jury awarding Israel points. Please note these are not classed as formal complaints because they are not actually about a broadcast but about behind-the-scenes voting.' JJ representing Austria celebrates after winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2025. Pic:The RTÉ Complaints Team received zero emails about Ireland's failure to advance to the final.
In addition to the two formal complaints, RTE received a total of 44 emails, with 22 relating to the jury vote and seven people complaining that Ireland failed to advance to the final stages of Eurovision.
'Over the weekend, the RTÉ Information Office received a range of comments to feedback@rte.ie. Please note that these are not formal complaints, but represent negative or critical commentary. Irish act Emmy failed to make it to the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2025. Pic: Andres Poveda
And the failure of Irish act Emmy to make it to the final led to a significant drop in viewership for RTE.
The grand finale was watched by a total of 221,000, a huge decrease from last year, where 666,000 tuned in to watch the final, which included Irish performer Bambi Thug.
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