Prime Minister acknowledges voting scandal

by roel 338 views

The tension has risen last night in Skopje, where the Macedonian national final took place. After the final results had been announced, it came to a verbal confrontation between supporters of both finalists Aleksandra Pileva and Martin Vucic. A physical confrontation could be avoided in the end. Macedonian Prime Minister Vladimir Buckovski expressed his concerns about how things went last night.

The Macedonian song for Kiev was selected by 3 juries: 33.33 % televoting, 33.33 % professional jury and 33.33% votes by the audience in the hall. The climax of the discontent started when the jury gave its points to Martin Vucic, although Aleksandra Pileva had gained six times more votes through televoting. Due to a complex voting system, Aleksandra Pileva's leading position could still be turned into a victory for Martin Vucec.

These were the results:

1 – 24 points | Martin Vucic – Ti si son
=> 0 televote + 10 jury + 14 audience
2 – 14 points | Aleksandra Pileva – Sonce i mesecina
=> 12 televote + 2 jury + 0 audience

In absolute numbers it however looks like this:

1 – 50.655 votes | Aleksandra Pileva – Sonce i mesecina
=> 50.159 televotes + 2 jury + 494 audience
2 – 9.370 votes | Martin Vucic – Ti si son
=> 8.790 televotes + 10 jury + 570 audience

Aleksandra Pileva and Martin Vucic are expected to give an official statement on the situation on Tuesday. Esctoday.com has tried to contact Ivan Mircevski, responsible for Eurovision Song Contest matters at Macedonian broadcaster MKRTV, but until now no reply has reached us. The official website for this year's Macedonian selections remains unupdated in the meanwhile.

Macedonian pop diva Kaliopi, who had written the song that opened the contest last night, said that she is disappointed and resigned over the outcome. Kaliopi says she should face the reality that every Eurovision Song Contest selection in FYR Macedonia is scandalous.

The voting scandal has as well been been acknowledged by the Macedonian Prime Minister Vladimir Buckovski, who was present among the audience last night. Buckovski expressed his concerns over the way points have been awarded.

The last word about the Macedonian selections is not yet over. Esctoday.com will keep you up to date as further news develops.