The Eurovision Song Contest is widely known for its fiendishly complex voting system.
To make things more complicated, the European Broadcasting Union, which produces the competition, has made some tweaks for the 2023 edition.
Find out below what has changed this year, and what viewers hoping to cast their vote need to know.
How does Eurovision voting work?
Viewers from participating countries will be invited to vote for their favourite songs on the night of the grand finale on Saturday, May 13.
Fans can vote over the phone, by text, or via the Eurovision app.
Each person can vote up to 20 times but voters will be unable to select their own country’s entry.
The public votes make up 50 per cent of the total vote, with the other half determined by a professional jury in each participating country.
The experts’ scores are based on the Friday night jury final performances, which are not usually televised.
After viewers have cast their votes, a national spokesperson from the participating countries will be called in to present the points of their professional jury, which range from the maximum “douze points” (12) to zero.
After the presentation of the scores from the juries, the public points from all participating countries will be combined, providing one score for each song.
What has changed with Eurovision voting this year?
As of 2023, only viewers’ votes will decide which countries qualify from the semi-finals stage.
This means that acts will not have to face the judges until they reach the grand final stage.
For the first time in the competition’s nearly seven-decade history, people from countries outside the contest will be able to vote online and on the app.
Their votes will be converted into points that will have the same weight as one participating country in both of the semi-finals and the grand final.
What is the Eurovision Audience Poll?
This year, the competition is introducing a Eurovision Audience poll. It’s a collaboration between ESCXTRA.com, ESC Insight, The EuroTrip Podcast, and BetEurovision.
Members of the four participating platforms will be approaching audience members leaving the Liverpool Arena to ask them who their favourite of the night was.
The results were collected yesterday (Monday) for the first semi-final, and will be collected again tomorrow (Wednesday) for the second semi-final, and on Friday for the grand final.
Yesterday, volunteers asked the audience as they left the Liverpool Arena what their favourite act was.
Finland took first place for the semi-final results with 42 per cent, followed by Sweden with 15 per cent, and Norway with 10 per cent. Ireland came in sixth, with five per cent. The UK has yet to be placed.
You can see the full results on www.eurovisionaudiencepoll.com.
