Voting in the Eurovision Song Contest 2025
The voting procedure for the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 will likely follow a similar structure to recent years, blending jury and public votes to determine the winner. While specifics might be tweaked closer to the event, understanding the general format provides valuable insight into how countries influence the final outcome.
Typically, each participating country has two sets of votes: one from a professional jury and one from the public (televoting). Each group contributes 50% to the overall score of a song. The jury, composed of music industry professionals like singers, songwriters, producers, and broadcasters, evaluates the songs based on criteria such as vocal performance, composition, originality, and stage presentation. Their individual rankings are aggregated to form the jury’s top 10.
Televoting allows viewers in participating countries to vote for their favorite songs via phone, SMS, or the official Eurovision app. Similar to the jury, these votes are tallied to create a ranking. Crucially, viewers are *not* allowed to vote for their own country’s entry.
Both the jury and televoting results are then converted into points. The top 10 songs from each group receive points ranging from 1 to 8, then 10, and finally 12 points for the top-ranked song. The announcer from each country first reveals the jury points, creating anticipation and strategic voting considerations. The public vote totals are then announced collectively, often dramatically altering the leaderboard and leading to suspenseful moments until the very end.
A significant aspect of Eurovision voting is the system designed to prevent a single country from dominating the results. This 50/50 split aims to balance artistic merit (as judged by the jury) with popular appeal (as expressed through televoting). However, potential bloc voting (where groups of countries tend to support each other) and diaspora voting (where large immigrant communities vote for their country of origin) remain ongoing discussions and potential influences on the final outcome.
Changes to the voting system are not uncommon in Eurovision history. Recent years have seen adjustments aimed at increasing transparency, reducing the impact of tactical voting, and ensuring a more balanced representation of both jury and public preferences. Therefore, keep an eye out for potential updates to the rules leading up to the 2025 contest. Regardless of any modifications, the core principle of combining jury and public input to crown the Eurovision champion will likely remain central to the competition’s appeal and global reach.