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Organisers defend Eurovision
18/05/2006 13:00 - (SA)
Brian Church
Athens - Organisers of the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest final on Wednesday defended the annual songfest's controversial scoring system, where friendly countries often vote for each other.
The final will be held on Saturday at an indoor basketball venue used for the Athens 2004 Olympics.
"This is a 100% democratic contest," Svante Stockselius, executive supervisor of the 51-year-old contest, told a press conference in Athens.
"There is no such thing as political voting. You cannot convince an entire population to vote one way or another."
Saturday's final is expected to draw more than 100 million TV viewers, Stockselius said, with over 2 000 accredited journalists.
Viewers decide the marks given by a country, and clear voting blocs have emerged during the 51-year-old history of Eurovision: Greece and Cyprus routinely exchange maximum 12-marks, Nordic countries look after each other while Britain can be left looking for friends.
Stockselius said it was unsurprising that TV viewers in adjacent countries - linked by language and culture - like their neighbour's song.
While a country can't vote for itself, any of its nationals living abroad can do so - up to a point.
"There's a limit on 20 calls from the same number, then it will be automatically disconnected," Stockselius said, while conceding the necessary technology was not available everywhere.
Countries taking part in the final are host Greece, Switzerland, Moldova, Israel, Latvia, Norway, Spain, Malta, Germany, Denmark, Romania, Britain, France and Croatia.
Past highlights of the Eurovision Song Contest, which is often panned for mediocre pop songs, include Swedish superstars Abba winning in 1974 and Celine Dion coming first for Switzerland in 1988.
- SAPA
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South Africa
