The results of tonight's Junior Eurovision Song Contest can be very different from what the polls and bookmakers are saying. Esctoday.com concluded that after a small survey among parents around Europe. Polls are funny to organise, an excellent way to entertain, but reliable…?
Based on audience figures from last year's junior contest, it can be concluded that particulary kids and their parents watch the show. Esctoday.com asked several parents from countries around Europe about the voting behaviour. To 26 families (with one or more kids under 18) in ten of the participating countries we asked: if your family would watch the show, who decides for which country your household votes?
In 18 families the kids can decide for which country to vote. In 5 families they would decide together, in the other 3 the parents would decide.
Most of the internet polls are based on the opinion of Eurovision fans, particulary aged above 18. This means that the Eurovision fans are not representative for tonight's televoting. The bookmakers base their bets on their expectations and the bets from paying members, again people above 18.
Although it must be said that this poll is not 100 percent scientific, the results are significant enough to at least take into account that Junior Eurovision Song Contest polls are even more unreliable than those organised for the grown-up's festival. And we all know how misleading they can be…!
