The Irish broadcaster RTÉ has come under pressure to release the results of this years Irish televoting results. It is understood that on June 23rd, RTÉ will release “information and documents” relating to the Irish voting for this year's Eurovision Song Contest, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
The results of the Irish televoting were scrapped, as they were not verified within the specified amount of time required under EBU rules. As a result the votes of a back-up jury were used. Controversy has ensued following the close finish of Russia, Belgium and the winner Turkey. The Irish jury gave Belgium 10 points with Russia and Turkey both receiving no points.
Russian officials will probably be awaiting the release of the information. If the figures shows that Russia was awarded four or more points by the televoting, it could be possible that Russia initially had won the contest. On the other hand, if Turkey received more than five points,
Sertab Erener can sleep well knowing she won the contest outright.
Currently RTÉ is awaiting a response from Eircom (telephone provider) on the matter. A source at RTÉ said: �as soon as this arrives all records relevant to the televoting will be assembled and will be assessed for release”.
Even if the figures released by RTÉ show that Russia actually would have won the contest the Turkish entry still stands as the winner. The only outcome of this matter is that the accountability and
reliability of televoting is in question again.
Written by Darren Mahon, exclusively for esctoday.com.
