Voting at the Eurovision Song Contest

There have been many different voting systems at the Eurovision Song Contest; currently the winner of the contest is selected by means of a positional voting system. Each country ranks all the entries, with twelve points given to the first choice, ten points to second, and from eight down to one point for third to tenth place, with the point values decreasing respectively. Countries have not been allowed to vote for themselves, except in 1956.

The current method for ranking entries is a 50/50 combination of both telephone vote and the votes of five jury members made up of music professionals in each country. It was first used in the final of 2009 edition, and extended the next year to semifinals. 

Overview

In the past, small demographically-balanced juries made up of ordinary people were used to rank the entries. After the widespread implementation of telephone vote in 1998, juries were only used in case of televoting malfunctions or a weak telephone system. In 2003, Eircom's telephone polls system ceased to operate normally; the Irish broadcaster, RTÉ, did not receive the votes on time and instead used the votes of a panel of judges. In the first years(1997-2003) of the telephone vote, the lines were opened for a short period (5 minutes) after the performance and recap of the final song. In 2004 to 2006 the lines were opened for 10 minutes and from 2007 to 2009 the lines were opened for 15 minutes after the performance of the final song. This was implemented during the 2010 contest, thus allowing viewers to vote during the performances, however this ruling was reverted for the 2012 contest.