Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

'Come in Baku. Have you been cheating at Eurovision song contest?'

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • 'Come in Baku. Have you been cheating at Eurovision song contest?'

    'Come in Baku. Have you been cheating at Eurovision song contest?'

    Allegations against Azerbaijan, made by a delegate to 2013's song
    contest, are being investigated

    LOULLA-MAE ELEFTHERIOU-SMITH


    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/come-in-baku-have-you-been-cheating-at-eurovision-song-contest-8816979.html
    SUNDAY 15 SEPTEMBER 2013



    It is renowned for having one of the most tortuous electoral systems
    known to voters. Now the Eurovision song contest is itself in danger
    of receiving nul points after allegations of vote-fixing and bribery.

    Officials from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organises
    the annual event, confirmed yesterday that it was investigating claims
    that jury members were offered bribes to vote.

    The accusations were made in Swedish press reports, which cited an
    anonymous delegation member involved in this year's contest held in
    Malmo, Sweden. According to the source, attempts were made by several
    delegates to fix votes. Azerbaijan, the source claims, tried to buy
    high scores from jury members with `enough money to live off for a
    year'.

    Azerbaijan's Farid Mammadov was awarded 234 votes and was runner-up to
    Denmark's Emmelie de Forest, who triumphed with 281. According to the
    reports, other delegations tried to set up vote-swapping schemes a
    week before the semi-final. The unnamed delegate also claimed to have
    received a phone call from a southern European delegate who wanted to
    buy votes in return for positive PR coverage of their country's act.
    The source claimed that the EBU had shown no interest in investigating
    the claims, despite being told about them last May.

    But the EBU insists it is taking the claims seriously. Sietse Bakker,
    the event's supervisor, confirmed that Azerbaijan is under
    investigation.

    The UK's entrant, Bonnie Tyler, who came 19th, earlier told a French
    newspaper that she overheard Russians `complaining to Azerbaijan: `Why
    didn't you give us the points we paid for?''

    Azerbaijan has already been accused of trying to pay Lithuanian
    students to vote multiple times. A recording showing teenagers being
    offered cash was published on the day of the Eurovision final in May
    by the Lithuanian website 15min.

    Mr Bakker said: `It is interesting that this `anonymous' delegate
    claims we are not interested in investigating this, or taking action,
    while in fact we have been doing so and have been very open about it.'
    He dismissed separate claims made against Macedonia, referring to
    `speculation without any foundation'.

    It is not the first time the song contest has been linked to
    vote-rigging. In 1968 Cliff Richard was believed to have been robbed
    of victory by General Franco's regime; the Spanish act Massiel won
    with `La La La' and a one-point lead. A documentary by Montse
    Fernandez Vila, released in 2008, claims the win was due to a fix
    cooked up by TV executives at Spain's state-run channel.




    From: A. Papazian
Working...
X