\n Published on
\n 24\/11\/2025 – 10:46 GMT+1\n <\/p>\n
The Eurovision Song Contest is changing rules around voting and promotion following the controversy caused by Israel\u2019s result at this year\u2019s competition<\/a> and allegations of \u201cinterference\u201d by the Israeli government. <\/p>\n This comes after several countries requested an audit after Israel topped the public vote at the contest in May. Israel finished second in this year\u2019s competition once the jury votes were taken into consideration. <\/p>\n The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which runs the music extravaganza, said that the changes ahead of next year\u2019s edition in Vienna were \u201cdesigned to strengthen trust, transparency and audience engagement.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve listened and we\u2019ve acted,\u201d said Eurovision director Martin Green. \u201cThe neutrality and integrity of the Eurovision Song Contest is of paramount importance to the EBU, its members, and all our audiences. It is essential that the fairness of the Contest is always protected.\u201d <\/p>\n As part of the new Eurovision measures, the number of votes per payment method will be reduced by half to 10, the EBU said. <\/p>\n In addition, \u201cprofessional juries\u201d will return to the semifinals for the first time since 2022 – a move that will give roughly 50-50 percentage weight between audience and jury votes. <\/p>\n The number of jurors has been increased from five to seven, all of whom will be forced to sign a formal declaration confirming they will vote independently and impartially. Jurors aged 18-25 will also be added to \u201creflect the appeal\u201d of the contest with younger audiences. <\/p>\n Organizers will also enhance safeguards to thwart \u201csuspicious or coordinated voting activity\u201d and strengthen security systems that \u201cmonitor, detect and prevent fraudulent patterns,\u201d EBU said. <\/p>\n The EBU is also barring its participating broadcasters and artists from \u201cactively\u201d engaging in, facilitating or contributing to promotional campaigns by third parties \u201cthat could influence the voting outcome and, as outlined in the updated Code of Conduct, any attempts to unduly influence the results will lead to sanctions.\u201d <\/p>\n News of the changes arrives a month after EBU postponed a vote<\/a> on whether Israel should be allowed to perform in next year\u2019s Eurovision. <\/p>\n Israel has competed in Eurovision for more than 50 years and won four times. However, calls for Israel to be kicked out have intensified<\/a> due to the actions of Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s government in Gaza. <\/p>\n Spain became the first of the \u2018Big Five\u2019 – the five countries that make the biggest financial contributions to EBU and which are granted immediate progression to the Eurovision finals every year – to threaten their absence next year<\/a> should Israel be on the line-up. <\/p>\n Other countries that have pledged to boycott Eurovision if Israel continues to participate include Ireland<\/a>, Iceland<\/a>, Slovenia<\/a> and the Netherlands<\/a>, whose public broadcaster AVROTROS – citing human suffering in the Gaza war – said that it could no longer justify Israel\u2019s participation in the contest. <\/p>\n The Dutch broadcaster also said there had been \u201cproven interference by the Israeli government during the last edition of the Song Contest, with the event being used as a political instrument.\u201d <\/p>\n Previously, more than 70 former Eurovision contestants signed an open letter<\/a> calling for Israel and its national broadcaster KAN to be banned. This year\u2019s winner, JJ<\/a>, has also called for Israel to be banned from competing in 2026<\/a>. <\/p>\n