Over the next few weeks, esctoday.com will be publishing a number of exclusive interviews with several Head of Delegations of the Eurovision Song Contest. In these interviews we will establish the views of some the major decision makers involved in the contest. On the agenda are their views on the current voting process, if action should be taken to redress any possible voting imbalance and changes they would like to see introduced to the contest. In the first of these exclusive interviews esctoday.com spoke with Diana Mnatsakanyan, the Head of Delegation for Armenia.
Diana, do you think that the competition needs a change in the voting procedure?
"Well, what we have now is acceptable for us and the voting activity in Armenia is really high even at 02:00 am. It means that Armenian viewers love and enjoy the Eurovision Song Contest as it is and they don't go to their beds at 03:00 am until the winner is announced. Actually it unites people not only in Armenia as they enjoy the contest sitting in outdoor cafes and watching the show with friends and families, but in the whole Europe. This is an inexplicable feeling – being a part of a huge mechanism and know that your vote really counts and may change a lot of things! What I love in the contest most of all is the knowledge that millions of heartbeats are united and wait for the happy end, no matter if that happy end is unhappy 43rd sometimes."
Do you think emphasis should be more on 'redressing the voting imbalance' or reducing the amount of time it takes to announce the results?
"We constantly discuss this during the Head of Delegation meetings prior to the show and the opinions differ. I do not think that "redressing the voting imbalance" will help much. There will be no solution found that can make all people happy. Majority votes will always differ from the minority votes and this imbalance will always exist. As to the time of the results' announcement, EBU has once reduced it and it helped a lot. But still it is too much for audience's ears to listen to the greetings and figures from all 43 countries. "
What option would you prefer from those on offer in the questionnaire?
"I still have to think about that as there are to many things to be taken into account. Though what we have now is quite satisfying."
Esctoday wishes to thank Diana Mnatsakanyanfor this exclusive interview.
