Eurovision 2022: six countries suspected of cheating, some votes not counted

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has reported cheating “on an unprecedented scale” at the 2022 edition of theEurovisionin a press release published on Thursday, May 19, 2022. Indeed, it would seem that Azerbaijan, Georgia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania and San Marino would have mutually awarded a significant number of points during the second semi-final of the singing competition.

“It was observed that four of the six countries placed the other five in their top 5 (taking into account that a jury cannot vote for their country)“explained the EBU, which oversees the organization of theEurovisionbefore continuing:One country placed these same five countries in its top 6, and the last of the six juries placed four in its top 4, with the 5th country being in the top 7. […] Four of the countries have received at least once 12 points, the maximum that can be given“.

The votes of the six countries have been replaced by an algorithm

If the international organization is certain that the six countries have teamed up to cheat, it is because “five of these six countries were ranked beyond the top 7 by the juries of the other 15 countries voting in the same semi-final” she explained. Worse still, four of these countries unanimously ended up in the last six in the standings from other countries. A deception which was therefore quickly discovered by the EBU.

So that the 2022 edition of theEurovision can continue under good conditions, it was decided that the votes of the six countries would be replaced by an algorithm in the semi-final and the final which took place on Saturday May 14 and which was won by Ukraine. A fair decision, but which was massively contested by Romania, Georgia and Poland, which denounced the situation on television.

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