Eurovision - was the jury vote impacted by politics?

@cordialzempy

It was last year and is still relevant today and will be again next year because supporters of Israel in the Eurovision are voting multiple times using many methods to try to push the narrative that the majority support them in the war.

This discussion, which is not in isolation, along with the many many online adverts pushing people to vote for Israel show that cheating is the only way the high public vote for Israel has been achieved

Take a look at the news. Support is seriously lacking as it was last year too. No one is ever a winner when they have to lower themselves to cheating

Were there social media posts from other countries urging people to vote from their entry?

Of course you can’t know this because they oh were probably not on other countries algorithm but are focusing on Israel only as ‘vote rigging’ because they got the highest public vote two years running?

Do you think the Israeli government were involved in this?

Do you have evidence that what people post on social media is the truth?

So there were no advertisements as other posters seemingly falsely stated.

It has always been thus that the judge points have been politically motivated. I remember watching Eurovision as a kid (I am 53) and countries that had allegiances or were neighbours always voted for each other!

Of course it makes sense that the public vote would be different in terms of Israel especially in that there are many people who privately sympathise with Israel who understand they were forced into a war after a horrific mass scale attack where unimaginable atrocities were live streamed for all to see. It’s mind boggling that pro-Palestinians are so blinkered that they have forgotten this.

The songs were a cut above the usual dross as well, in which the singers could actually sing.

I don’t think the public are massively supportive of innocent civilian deaths in Gaza deliberately orchestrated by Palestinian leaders though.

Finally Russia invaded Ukraine in an act of aggression. The Ukrainian government and its civilians had not invaded Russia and barbarically murdered, raped and injured thousands of Russian civilians, as well as taking hundreds of civilians hostage including dead bodies, body parts, a baby, children and the elderly or paraded dead bodies through the streets to cheering crowds.

Not comparable at all and quite a distinction.

In the same way Hamas are not comparable to Israel, and no further warrants have been issued for live leaders hiding out in other countries like al- Hayya, Awadallah and al-Zahar, which rather stinks of double standards considering the hell they deliberately reigned onto their own people no?

Context matters.

The fact that you have called facts that are in the public domain and have been debated and discussed in government buildings all over the world "outlandish" says a lot.

The facts are

• Israel has prevented all aid into Gaza for 60 days leading to starving children.

• Israel has targeted medics and Dr Husssm Abu Safiya has been detained without trial in Sde Teiman where he has been tortured.

Even the most passionate posters on this board while arguing semantics would not deny all news sources available.

Now it is much preferable to bury our heads in the sand but our of respect for the pain and suffering and death being reined on the Palestinians currently,
denying their lived experience is nothing short of cruel.

I would ask you what news sources you rely on since mine are so obviously biased but to be honest it is very hard to debate with anyone who has presented no arguments except a refusal to listen and engage .

Plus I don't want to convince you that's not my job, you called me a liar and I was defending myself.
Goodnight.

I have read your links (other than the DM!), and I have explained at great lengths why I do not consider them adequate evidence. However much you might not wish it to be so, if you are going to make outlandish claims it is up to you to prove them, and if you do not manage to do that then people will not take them, or you, seriously. Rather than offer strong, independent sources you have offered articles from a variety of tabloids, and a media outlet currently at the centre of an anti-Semitism scandal, all of which readily admit they are using hamas' unverified figures. Considering your reading material, I am not in the least surprised at your bias!

This conversation started with you claiming to have a superior understanding of who are the 'good guys', seemingly based on some bizarre notion that everybody believes the same stories you believe, and supported Israel regardless. Despite your now several attempts to convince me, I am sorry to say I stand by my original judgment of your opinions on right and wrong.

*I am now off to bed, and have work in the morning, so I'm afraid you'll have to wait rather more than 2 hours for a response!

@carljfree

There most certainly were ads urging a vote for Israel. They were posted by accounts of Jewish organisations.

As I mentioned upthread, I suspect those ads made it into my feed because I follow several Holocaust education accounts/ organisations.

I know what I saw. Do not attempt to gaslight here. They were well produced ads, not the work of individuals exhorting friends to vote.

As I said - the blatant appeal to Americans, who know little or nothing of Eurovision and care less, left a bad taste in my mouth.

I feel very strongly that opening the vote up to the global audience was a bad mistake. I also feel very strongly that an investigation into the ads is warranted. Who funded them and how much was paid are questions that need to be asked.

@carljfree please stop reposting this stupid screenshot. It's dated last year, and there's no way of verifying it. We each have to take responsibility for not spreading misinformation, let alone basing a whole post on it as if it's proven fact.

British audiences as well as American audiences lap up what's dished out to them.

Certain broadcast networks have monopolies on events like the Olympics and Eurovision, and can broadcast what they please. The fact that audiences tune in isn't an indication that they want to be bored to tears by some sob story about how an athlete made it to America on a raft made of empty milk cartons and is now poised to win six track events and platform diving too. It's a matter of sucking it up until the competition starts because alternative coverage isn't available.

I have seen a reply on this thread referring to advertisements urging people to vote for Israel. There were no advertisements, but social media was awash with pro-Israel voices urging people to make multiple votes. In one case I saw, a person boasted about having three separate credit cards registered in the UK, Australia and the USA and they paid for 20 votes for Israel three times over. So 60 votes. Someone replied by saying they have five credit cards and so bought 100 votes. I guess if you are not engaged with the issue on social media you won’t see this blatant vote rigging going on. The same thing happened last year.

Plus I imagine most people are unaware that Moroccanoil, the sponsor of the Eurovision Song Contest is actually and Israeli cosmetics company. And as chief sponsor, one imagines they have some influence.

Finally, Russia are banned because of their actions in Ukraine which have led to the International Criminal Court issuing an arrest warrant for its leader. The ICC has also issued an arrest warrant for the leaders of Hamas and the leader of Israel. And yet Israel is allowed to compete. Some of us smell double standards at Eurovision.

But returning to the main question here… Last year I looked at the differences between the judges’ votes for each act and the public vote. In terms of ranking, there was similarity. A country that was say the third most popular among the public was something like fifth favourite among the judges. But there was one glaring disconnect. That between the Israel votes. I haven’t done an analysis of the other countries this year, but once again, the difference in ranking between the judges and the public for Israel was stark. But when you consider that thousands of people in Brooklyn, NYC were voting multiple times when the show wasn’t even broadcast there and were able to do so days before the event, it kind of makes sense. There was a global online campaign orchestrated by those for whom Israel can do no wrong to create the impression that “the public” is massively supportive of what they are doing in Gaza. Reputable opinion polls tell a very different story.

Cool screenshot. Did you save it to your phone and think 'ooh, gotcha!'? It's not even from this year!! 😂😂

Please don't post accusing me of lies and propaganda again and then refuse to accept or read the links I provide to major news outlets on both sides of the bias but yet refuse to provide any of your own to refute my facts and links.

Were any of those journalists hamas? Or were they all anti-hamas innocents?

The fact is that there is no way of knowing the truth as it is impossible to know whether a source is genuinely independent and that their claims are 100% truthful. That goes for the other side too - I most certainly do not take everything Netanyahu comes out with as the truth. But people like yourself, and the person I was replying to, seem to completely trust everything hamas claims, which is absurd. Between the two, I'd obviously trust IDF over hamas - but I don't believe either can be treated as trustworthy sources. Most likely, we will never get a full account of what is going on.

So I think it's best to focus on undeniable facts. And the fact is, this woman narrowly escaped a horrific terror attack. Last night she was booed. She was threatened, and insulted. At least one man - presumably aware of her experience with the hamas rapists - tried to physically attack her. Another undeniable fact is that terrorists invaded Israel and raped, tortured and murdered innocent people. And they took other innocent people hostage, and have kept them locked in the dark for (as of today) over 18 months. Another fact is that the terrorist pigs continue to lob bombs at Israel. They refuse to stand down, even though 'their people' are suffering. Indeed, when some extraordinarily brave Palestinians stood up and protested their rule, they brutally tortured and murdered them. They refuse to release the hostages. These are the actual, undeniable facts. If you want to help the Palestinians, protest hamas. Demand they surrender, demand they release the hostages. This is what the Palestinians want, and this is what they died trying to achieve. Menacing a traumatised young woman is hardly going to help. And I can't imagine wanting to even find myself standing on the same side of the road as someone who would do such a thing, let alone shoulder to shoulder waving the same flag.

I am pro-Palestinians. I want this to end and I want those people who want to build safe, productive lives be able to do so. I have no idea what you and yours are trying to achieve, but if it involves abusing terrorism survivors, it doesn't look much like happy-ever-after to anyone with a conscience.

Yeah, I'm not clicking on the DM 😂 But are they getting their data from the terrorists too, or do they have an independent source?

Will they let that aid be delivered throughout the country. Or will it only be allowed in the South ?

Given that as of 7 hours ago the IDF have started a major ground and air offensive, I wonder how people will get to the aid. If indeed it makes it through the bombing , we live in hope for the Palestinian people!

( i apologise OP this is supposed to be a Eurovision thread so I’m definitely moving on this time.)

Exactly IDF lies again and again and again !

You listen to Israel of course. Like the time they told us about the ambulances with no lights on so they had no choice but to shoot aid workers dead or the calander that had nothing but the days of the week on it but Israel told us was definitely 'a guarding list where every terrorist writes his name and every terrorist has his own shift guarding the people that were here' or the time they denied being in the area when little Hind was trapped for hours with her dead family pleading for her life before being brutally murdered but satellite imagery showed 3 tanks pointing at her car.

I remember early on a poster here was claiming that they didn’t let journalists into Gaza because they were concerned about their safety!

Some posters do a better job than the Israeli government at covering up war crimes.

The little bit of good news is that Israel are going to allow some food basics in through existing channels.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/may/18/gaza-israel-palestinian-bombing-war-latest-new-updates-live

How do you think @callmej information can get out of Gaza exactly when the IDF have killed 170 journalists with a further 36 not accounted for.

The Israeli Government won’t allow others in. Why do you think.?
So their followers can claim everything is coming from Hamas or Palestinian reporters and therefore must be propaganda 😆.

@AIBUHere It was a typo. My apologies to you and anyone else who was upset by it.

Starving Palestinians/ blockade
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14508865/Israel-breaking-international-law-Gaza-Netanyahu-starving-children.html

Murdered Babies
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13740835/Israeli-strikes-kill-16-people-Gaza-including-baby-twins-just-four-days-old-killed-father-registered-births.html

Tortured medics

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/palestine-doctors-israel-torture-gaza-war-b2725438.html

Look I found Daily Mail sources for you. No way now could we in any way excuse the Daily Mail of being pro Palestinian?

Yeah, that's not how it works. If I state that Palestinians eat their babies for example, you might call me a liar. Would you then consider that it was your responsibility to prove me wrong, and if you were unable to offer verifiable proof that no Palestinian had ever eaten their baby, my claim should be allowed to stand as fact? Or would you instead demand that I back up my ridiculous and offensive statement, and if I could not that it should be entirely disregarded?

As for your 'evidence' you have provided the BBC and the Guardian, both standing strongly accused of antisemitism. Christ, the biggest paid BBC presenter is posting fucking videos using rat imagery to attack Jews! And even so, your articles admit they are basing at least part of their stories on information provided by hamas. As for the 'independent' sources they mention, we know there have been journalists, doctors etc who are hamas operatives so have no way of knowing whether they are actually independent. Remember the 'balanced' BBC documentary that 'accidently' used the son of a high-ranking terrorist?! No doubt there are some Palestinians who are not hamas, but so far the BBC has not shown itself to be great at finding them...

Maybe if you could just try and spell Israel correctly I might take you seriously.

Yes I know.

Its better than nothing though. Some people enjoy the spectacle so 🥳

Thanks @DrPrunesqualer

So sick of being accused of being duped by propaganda because the truth is unpalatable

And you are right there are posters who you can disagree with but respect.

Actually @callmej it is up to you when you accused me of lying and propaganda but I'm feeling generous tonight.

Starving Children
https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/cwyn9291yv0o

Murdered Babies
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr427n34qrgo

Tortured doctors.
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/feb/25/israel-gaza-doctors-surgeons-healthcare-detention-international-law

Hope you enjoyed your dinner.