Monday 9 May 2022

Eurovision Song Contest 2021 Grand Final Extended Voting Analysis

Host country: Netherlands (AVROTROS, NOS, NPO)
Venue: Ahoy, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Hosts: Edsilia Rombley, Chantal Janzen, Jan Smit, Nikkie de Jager
Date: Saturday 22 May 2021

My main Eurovision Song Contest 2021 Grand Final review, including the opening act, songs, interval acts, jury voting and announcement of the televoting results is available here. This supplement is intended to be read in addition to, and not instead of, that report.

N.B. Any use of “tonight” or “this evening” throughout this post means Saturday 22 May 2021. Any use of “Tuesday” means Tuesday 18 May 2021, whereas any reference to “Thursday” means Thursday 20 May 2021. Any use of “this year” means 2021, whereas “next year” means 2022. All times in this post are in BST.

To make this report easier to read, I've split it into sections. Click the applicable link below to jump to the section you want to read:
Winner and Top Marks
Country Groups
Alternative Voting Presentation
Conclusion

Winner and Top Marks

Points Levels to Winner

Jury Voting
The 8 countries which awarded 12 jury points to Switzerland (which won the jury vote and finished third overall) were: Albania, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Israel, Latvia. 26 other countries gave between 1 and 10 jury points to Switzerland. Interestingly Switzerland received at least one of each 1 to 10 points level on the jury voting. 4 countries (other than Switzerland itself) gave no jury points at all to Switzerland, those being Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy.

The 4 countries which awarded 12 jury points to Italy (which finished fourth in the jury vote and was the overall winner) were: Croatia, Georgia, Slovenia, Ukraine. 24 other countries gave between 1 and 10 jury points to Italy. Interestingly, Italy received no 1-point scores on the jury voting. 10 countries (other than Italy itself) gave no jury points at all to Italy, those being Azerbaijan, Denmark, France, Ireland, Israel, Malta, Moldova, Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom.

The number of times Switzerland and Italy received each particular points level (or no points at all) from the other juries is summarised in the following table:

Points level

Jury to Switzerland

Switzerland Pts

Jury to Italy

Italy Pts

0

4

0

10

0

1

2

2

0

0

2

1

2

1

2

3

1

3

3

9

4

1

4

2

8

5

4

20

2

10

6

1

6

5

30

7

6

42

1

7

8

4

32

4

32

10

6

60

6

60

12

8

96

4

48

TOTAL

38

267

38

206


Televoting
Switzerland, which finished sixth with 165 points in the televote (but won the jury vote and finished third overall) received 12 televote points from just 1 other country, that being Albania. 33 other countries gave between 1 and 7 televote points to Switzerland. Interestingly, Switzerland received no 8-point or 10-point scores on televoting. 4 countries (other than Switzerland itself) gave no televote points at all to Switzerland, those being Cyprus, Georgia, Italy, Malta.

Italy, which won the televote and was the overall winner, received points from all the other 38 countries on televoting. The 5 countries which awarded 12 televote points to Italy were: Bulgaria, Malta, San Marino, Serbia, Ukraine. Amazingly, Italy received far more televote points from 10s, as can be seen in the table below. In fact, its greatest total at any particular points level was 130 televote points at the 10-point level (from 13 other countries). Interestingly Italy received no 1-point or 4-point scores on televoting.

The number of times Switzerland and Italy received each particular points level (or no points at all) in the televoting is summarised in the following table:

Points level

Tele to Switzerland

Switzerland Pts

Tele to Italy

Italy Pts

0

4

0

0

0

1

2

2

0

0

2

3

6

1

2

3

4

12

2

6

4

5

20

0

0

5

7

35

2

10

6

6

36

2

12

7

6

42

6

42

8

0

0

7

56

10

0

0

13

130

12

1

12

5

60

TOTAL

38

165

38

318


Number of 12s Received
Jury Voting
16 of the 26 finalists received at least one 12-point vote from the juries. The number of 12-point votes received by each of those 16 countries from the juries is shown in the table below.

12 Points to

No of 12s Received

Total From 12s

France

8

96

Switzerland

8

96

Italy

4

48

Malta

4

48

Bulgaria

2

24

Greece

2

24

Moldova

2

24

Albania

1

12

Cyprus

1

12

Iceland

1

12

Lithuania

1

12

Portugal

1

12

Russia

1

12

San Marino

1

12

Serbia

1

12

Ukraine

1

12


Notice that the highest number of 12-point scores (8 altogether) was received by both France (which finished second in the jury vote and second overall) and Switzerland (jury vote winner and third place overall). Italy (fourth in the jury vote and overall winner) and Malta (third in the jury vote and seventh place overall) both received the second highest number of 12-point scores (4 each). Thus, the overall winner didn’t the highest number of 12-point scores from the juries. Nine countries (Albania, Cyprus, Iceland, Lithuania, Portugal, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Ukraine) each received just one 12-point score from the juries. Of those, Albania, Cyprus, Lithuania, San Marino and Serbia finished below the top ten in the jury vote. Clearly one 12-point jury score wasn't enough to guarantee a top 10 place in the jury voting.

Televoting
13 of the 26 finalists received at least one 12-point vote from the televoting. The number of 12-point votes received by each of those 13 countries in the televoting is shown in the table below.

12 Points to

No of 12s Received

Total From 12s

Italy

5

60

Lithuania

5

60

Serbia

5

60

Ukraine

5

60

France

4

48

Finland

3

36

Iceland

3

36

Cyprus

2

24

Greece

2

24

Moldova

2

24

Israel

1

12

Russia

1

12

Switzerland

1

12


There was a somewhat unusual distribution of 12-point scores in the televoting this time. The highest number of 12-point scores received by any one country was just 5, but a total of four countries (Italy, Lithuania, Serbia, Ukraine) received that number of 12-point scores. Of those, Italy was the televote winner and overall winner, Ukraine finished second in the televote and fifth overall, Lithuania finished seventh in the televote and eighth overall and Serbia finished ninth in the televote and fifteenth overall. The second highest number of 12-point scores (4 altogether) was received by France, which finished third in the televote and second overall. Three countries (Israel, Russia, Switzerland) each received just one 12-point score in the televoting. Of those, Israel finished below the top ten in the televote. Clearly one 12-point televote score wasn't enough to guarantee a top 10 place in the televoting.

All 12 Points
Jury Voting
The complete list of 12 jury point scores awarded to Switzerland (jury vote winner and third place overall) and Italy (jury vote fourth place and overall winner) is shown below.

#

From Country

12 Points to

Switzerland

Italy

4

Albania

Switzerland

12

4

24

Australia

Malta

10

6

11

Austria

Iceland

10

6

8

Azerbaijan

Russia

0

0

22

Belgium

Switzerland

12

2

20

Bulgaria

Moldova

0

10

30

Croatia

Italy

8

12

21

Cyprus

Greece

2

8

31

Czech Republic

Portugal

5

6

34

Denmark

Switzerland

12

0

6

Estonia

Switzerland

12

3

25

Finland

Switzerland

12

6

36

France

Greece

7

0

32

Georgia

Italy

10

12

23

Germany

France

10

6

15

Greece

Cyprus

0

4

28

Iceland

Switzerland

12

7

17

Ireland

France

5

0

1

Israel

Switzerland

12

0

13

Italy

Lithuania

0

0

16

Latvia

Switzerland

12

8

33

Lithuania

Ukraine

8

10

5

Malta

Albania

10

0

18

Moldova

Bulgaria

3

0

7

North Macedonia

Serbia

6

10

9

Norway

Malta

7

5

2

Poland

San Marino

7

5

26

Portugal

Bulgaria

7

3

29

Romania

Malta

7

3

35

Russia

Moldova

1

10

3

San Marino

France

4

10

19

Serbia

France

1

8

14

Slovenia

Italy

7

12

10

Spain

France

10

0

37

Sweden

Malta

5

10

38

Switzerland

France

0

8

39

The Netherlands

France

5

0

27

Ukraine

Italy

8

12

12

United Kingdom

France

8

0

 

TOTAL

 

267

206


Televoting
The complete list of 12 televote point scores awarded to Switzerland (sixth in the televote and third place overall), and Italy (televote winner and overall winner) is shown below:

From Country

12 Points to

Switzerland

Italy

Albania

Switzerland

12

10

Australia

Iceland

5

7

Austria

Serbia

5

8

Azerbaijan

Israel

4

10

Belgium

France

4

8

Bulgaria

Italy

3

12

Croatia

Serbia

5

10

Cyprus

Greece

0

10

Czech Republic

Moldova

3

6

Denmark

Iceland

6

5

Estonia

Finland

2

8

Finland

Iceland

7

8

France

Ukraine

6

10

Georgia

Greece

0

8

Germany

Lithuania

2

7

Greece

Cyprus

4

10

Iceland

Finland

6

5

Ireland

Lithuania

3

6

Israel

Ukraine

6

7

Italy

Ukraine

0

0

Latvia

Lithuania

4

7

Lithuania

Ukraine

6

10

Malta

Italy

0

12

Moldova

Russia

4

8

North Macedonia

Serbia

7

8

Norway

Lithuania

2

7

Poland

Ukraine

7

10

Portugal

France

6

7

Romania

Moldova

5

10

Russia

Cyprus

5

10

San Marino

Italy

3

12

Serbia

Italy

1

12

Slovenia

Serbia

5

10

Spain

France

7

10

Sweden

Finland

5

3

Switzerland

Serbia

0

10

The Netherlands

France

7

2

Ukraine

Italy

7

12

United Kingdom

Lithuania

1

3

TOTAL

 

165

318


24 Points
Obviously, the maximum combined score a country can give to, or receive from another country is 24 points, that being 12 jury points and 12 televoting points. 8 of the 39 voting countries gave their 12 jury points and 12 televoting points to the same finalist, those being:

From Country

12+12 Points to

Albania

Switzerland

Cyprus

Greece

Greece

Cyprus

Lithuania

Ukraine

North Macedonia

Serbia

Spain

France

The Netherlands

France

Ukraine

Italy


As a result, 7 countries received at least one set of 12 jury points + 12 televoting points. The number of 12 jury points + 12 televoting points received by each of those 7 receiving countries is summarised in the table below. This time no country received more than two 24-point combined scores. France was the only country which received two 24-point combined scores.

12+12 Points to

No of 24s Received

Total from 24s

Cyprus

1

24

France

2

48

Greece

1

24

Italy

1

24

Serbia

1

24

Switzerland

1

24

Ukraine

1

24

 

8

192


Interestingly France finished second with 248 points in the jury vote, third with 251 points in the televote and second with 499 points overall. Evidently receiving two sets of 12 jury points + 12 televoting points was not enough to win either half of the voting, or overall.

Back to the top

Country Groups
Now for a look at points awarded within certain groups of countries. N.B. In the following tables, boxes for a particular country to itself (e.g., from Finland to Finland) are marked “n/a” rather than 0, as no country can vote for itself.

Nordic Area
Four of the five Nordic countries (Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden) qualified for the Grand Final this year, but all five Nordic countries voted in the final as follows. Denmark, which was eliminated in the semi-finals, could only give and not receive points this time.

Jury Voting

From Country

Jury to Finland

Jury to Iceland

Jury to Norway

Jury to Sweden

Denmark

8

10

3

2

Finland

n/a

8

0

5

Iceland

5

n/a

0

0

Norway

0

2

n/a

10

Sweden

0

7

2

n/a

Group Total

13

27

5

17

Overall Jury Total

83

198

15

46

% of Jury Total

15.66%

13.64%

33.33%

36.96%


The way in which the five Nordic countries awarded (or didn't award) jury points to the four Nordic finalists is somewhat surprising this year (of course Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden could not vote for themselves). Surprisingly, no jury gave 12 points to any other country within this group. The highest individual jury score from one country to another within this group was 10 points. Iceland was the only country to receive jury points from all the other countries within this group. This blew out of the window anyone’s expectation that all four Nordic finalists would receive jury points from every other Nordic country. Furthermore, Iceland received the highest number of jury points from within this group (27 jury points), but that was just 13.64% of its jury total (198 jury points). This meant the remaining 171 jury points, which Iceland received, were from outside this group. Although Norway received just 5 jury points from within this group, that was a third of its overall jury total of 15 jury points. Sweden had the highest percentage of its jury total from within the Nordic area.

Televoting

From Country

Tele to Finland

Tele to Iceland

Tele to Norway

Tele to Sweden

Denmark

7

12

8

10

Finland

n/a

12

4

3

Iceland

12

n/a

1

10

Norway

6

10

n/a

8

Sweden

12

10

8

n/a

Group Total

37

44

21

31

Overall Tele Total

218

180

60

63

% of Tele Total

16.97%

24.44%

35.00%

49.21%


All four Nordic finalists did better within this group in the televoting. Here, each finalist received televote points from every other Nordic country. Once again, Iceland did best within this group, in that it received two 12s and two 10, giving a group total of 44 televote points. Even so, that was just under a quarter of its overall televote total of 180 points. The rest of its televote points had to come from outside the Nordic area. Finland also received two sets of 12 televote points from this group. Nonetheless, Finland’s group total of 37 televote points was just 16.97% of its overall televote total of 218 points. Sweden received nearly half its televote points from within the Nordic area, but that said, its overall televote total (63 points) was low compared to Finland and Iceland.

Baltic States (Ex USSR)
Only one member of this group, Lithuania qualified for the Grand Final. The other two members, Estonia and Latvia failed to qualify. The upshot of this was that Estonia and Latvia were able to give jury and televoting points to Lithuania, but Lithuania could not give jury or televote points to Estonia or Latvia. For this reason, Lithuania is omitted from the awarding countries within this group.

Jury Voting

From Country

Jury to Lithuania

Estonia

2

Latvia

6

Group Total

8

Overall Jury Total

55

% of Jury Total

14.55%


As can be seen, the Estonian jury gave just 2 points to Lithuania and the Latvian jury gave just 6 points to Lithuania. This blew anyone’s expectation that Estonia and Latvia would each give 12 jury points to Lithuania. Lithuania’s resulting total of 8 jury points within this group amounts to just 14.55% of its overall jury score of 55 points. The upshot of this was 47 of the jury points which Lithuania received had to come from countries outside the Baltic area.

Televoting

From Country

Tele to Lithuania

Estonia

10

Latvia

12

Group Total

22

Overall Tele Total

165

% of Tele Total

13.33%


As can be seen, Lithuania did much better within this group in the public vote. Latvia gave Lithuania the top score of 12 televote points. However, Estonia gave Lithuania only the second highest possible score of 10 televote points. This blew anyone’s expectation that Estonia and Latvia would both give 12 televote points to Lithuania. Lithuania’s resulting total of 22 televote points from within this group looks impressive, but since Lithuania ended up with an overall televote score three times as high as its overall jury score, Lithuania’s percentage of televote points within this group was slightly smaller than its percentage of jury points within this group. The upshot of this was 143 of the 165 televote points which Lithuania received had to come from countries outside the Baltic area.

Nordic and Baltic
Things get even more interesting when the Nordic and Baltic countries are analysed together as one group, because it’s possible to see how Nordic countries favour (or not favour) Baltic countries and vice versa.

Jury Voting

From Country

Jury to Finland

Jury to Iceland

Jury to Lithuania

Jury to Norway

Jury to Sweden

Denmark

8

10

0

3

2

Estonia

7

8

2

0

0

Finland

n/a

8

3

0

5

Iceland

5

n/a

0

0

0

Latvia

4

10

6

0

0

Lithuania

0

4

n/a

0

0

Norway

0

2

0

n/a

10

Sweden

0

7

0

2

n/a

Group Total

24

49

11

5

17

Overall Jury Total

83

198

55

15

46

% of Jury Total

28.92%

24.75%

20.00%

33.33%

36.96%


Televoting

From Country

Tele to Finland

Tele to Iceland

Tele to Lithuania

Tele to Norway

Tele to Sweden

Denmark

7

12

4

8

10

Estonia

12

3

10

4

1

Finland

n/a

12

5

4

3

Iceland

12

n/a

4

1

10

Latvia

8

5

12

2

1

Lithuania

7

3

n/a

5

1

Norway

6

10

12

n/a

8

Sweden

12

10

7

8

n/a

Group Total

64

55

54

32

34

Overall Tele Total

218

180

165

60

63

% of Tele Total

29.36%

30.56%

32.73%

53.33%

53.97%


Ex-Yugoslavia
Serbia was the only ex-Yugoslav country which qualified for the Grand Final this year. Of course, the other three ex-Yugoslav countries (Croatia, North Macedonia, Slovenia) which took part in the semi-finals but failed to qualify still voted in the Grand Final; however, they could only give and not receive jury and televoting points in the final. The upshot of this was, Croatia, North Macedonia and Slovenia were able to give jury and televoting points to Serbia, but Serbia could not give jury or televote points to Croatia, North Macedonia or Slovenia. For this reason, Serbia is omitted from the awarding countries within this group.

Jury Voting

From Country

Jury to Serbia

Croatia

7

North Macedonia

12

Slovenia

0

Group Total

19

Overall Jury Total

20

% of Jury Total

95.00%


As can be seen, Serbia received the top score of 12 jury points from North Macedonia, but only 7 jury points from Croatia and no jury points from Slovenia. This blew anyone’s expectation that Croatia, North Macedonia and Slovenia would each give 12 jury points to Serbia. Interestingly Serbia’s total of 19 jury points from within this group amounts to 95.00% of its overall jury score, but bear in mind, Serbia ended up with a disappointing jury total of just 20 points. Still, Serbia’s one remaining jury point had to come from outside the Ex-Yugoslavia group; interestingly that one jury point was from Albania, which although not an ex-Yugoslav country, is nonetheless located next-door to the former Yugoslav area.

Televoting

From Country

Tele to Serbia

Croatia

12

North Macedonia

12

Slovenia

12

Group Total

36

Overall Tele Total

82

% of Tele Total

43.90%


As can be seen, Croatia, North Macedonia and Slovenia each gave their top score of 12 televote points to Serbia. That meant Serbia did as well as it could within this group in the public vote, 36 televote points. Even so, that was less than half of Serbia’s televote total of 82 points. The remaining 46 televote points which Serbia received had to come from countries outside the Ex-Yugoslavia group.

English Speaking Countries
Another group worth looking at here are the English-speaking countries Australia, Ireland, Malta and the United Kingdom. Within this group, the United Kingdom automatically qualified for the Grand Final as a Big Five member. Of the other three countries which took part in the semi-finals, Malta qualified for the Grand Final, whereas Australia and Ireland failed to qualify. Of course, Australia and Ireland still voted in the Grand Final, but could only give and not receive jury and televoting points in the final.

Jury Voting

From Country

Jury to Malta

Jury to UK

Australia

12

0

Ireland

10

0

Malta

n/a

0

United Kingdom

0

n/a

Group Total

22

0

Overall Jury Total

208

0

% of Jury Total

10.58%

Incalculable


Malta did well within this group, however the 22 jury points that it received within this group were just 10.58% of its overall jury total of 208 points. This most of Malta’s jury points had to come from outside this group. Interestingly Malta received no jury points from the United Kingdom, thereby ruling out any expectation that Malta would receive jury points from every other country in this group.

The United Kingdom received no jury points at all, let alone within this group. This clearly shows that the United Kingdom cannot rely on Australia, Ireland or Malta to get some jury points.

Televoting

From Country

Tele to Malta

Tele to UK

Australia

8

0

Ireland

4

0

Malta

n/a

0

United Kingdom

6

n/a

Group Total

18

0

Overall Tele Total

47

0

% of Tele Total

38.30%

Incalculable


Malta received televote points from each of the other three members of this group but since they were all single digit scores (highest 8 from Australia), Malta scored just 18 televote points within this group. However, since Malta ended up with 47 televote points altogether (much lower than its overall jury score), Malta received 38.30% of its televote points from within this group. Obviously, that still meant that over three fifths of Malta’s televote points had to come from outside this group.

The United Kingdom received no televote points at all, let alone within this group. This clearly shows that the United Kingdom cannot rely on Australia, Ireland or Malta to get some televote points.

Central Europe
Another group is the Central European countries Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Slovenia and Switzerland (Hungary and Slovakia didn’t enter this year). Within this group, Germany automatically qualified for the Grand Final as a Big Five member. Of the other five countries which took part in the semi-finals, only Switzerland qualified for the Grand Final. Austria, Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia, all of which failed to qualify, were only able to give, and not receive, jury and televoting points in the Grand Final.

Jury Voting

From Country

Jury to Germany

Jury to Switzerland

Austria

2

10

Czech Republic

0

5

Germany

n/a

10

Poland

0

7

Slovenia

0

7

Switzerland

0

n/a

Group Total

2

39

Overall Jury Total

3

267

% of Jury Total

66.67%

14.61%


This group seems a bit more complicated with countries favouring one another. No jury gave 12 points to any other country within this group. The highest individual jury score from one country to another within this group was 10 points. Switzerland, which won the jury vote overall, received jury points from every other country in this group, including 10 from both Austria and Germany. Even so, Switzerland’s group total of 39 jury points was just 14.61% of its overall jury total of 267 points. Thus, the majority of Switzerland’s jury points had to come from outside this group.

Germany received 2 jury points from Austria, and no jury points from the remaining countries in this group. Although Germany’s resulting group total of just 2 jury points seems low, that was two thirds of its overall jury total of 3 points. Germany’s 1 remaining jury point was from Romania.

Televoting

From Country

Tele to Germany

Tele to Switzerland

Austria

0

5

Czech Republic

0

3

Germany

n/a

2

Poland

0

7

Slovenia

0

5

Switzerland

0

n/a

Group Total

0

22

Overall Tele Total

0

165

% of Tele Total

Incalculable

13.33%


Switzerland received televote points from every other country in this group, the highest being 7 from Poland. The resulting group total of 22 televote points was just 13.33% of Switzerland’s overall televote score of 165 points. Therefore, the majority of Switzerland’s televote points had to come from outside this group. Of course, Germany received no televote points at all, let alone within this group.

Other
Unsurprisingly Greece and Cyprus, both of whom qualified for the Grand Final, gave each other 12 jury points and 12 televoting points.

The Netherlands gave 6 jury points and no televote points to Belgium. This blew out of the window anyone's expectation that the Netherlands would give its 12 jury points and/or 12 televote points to Belgium. Belgium’s tiny televote total of just 3 points consisted of 1 televote point from Ukraine and 2 televote points from Lithuania.

Belgium gave no jury points and no televote points to the Netherlands. This blew out of the window anyone's expectation that Belgium would give its 12 jury points and/or 12 televote points to the Netherlands.

Portugal gave no jury points and no televote points to Spain. This blew out of the window anyone's expectation that Portugal would give its 12 jury points and/or 12 televote points to Spain.

Spain gave 5 jury points and 1 televote point to Portugal. This blew out of the window anyone's expectation that Spain would give its 12 jury points and/or 12 televote points to Portugal. Interestingly Spain gave both of its 12-point scores to France.

Back to the top

Alternative Voting Presentation
During the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 Grand Final, the jury voting points from each of the participating 39 countries (including the 13 non-qualifiers) were presented in the traditional way, i.e. for each country the 1 to 10 point scores were displayed on screen when the spokesperson appeared, added to the scoreboard as a block and the spokesperson announced the 12-point score. The voting order was: Israel, Poland, San Marino, Albania, Malta, Estonia, North Macedonia, Azerbaijan, Norway, Spain, Austria, United Kingdom, Italy, Slovenia, Greece, Latvia, Ireland, Moldova, Serbia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Belgium, Germany, Australia, Finland, Portugal, Ukraine, Iceland, Romania, Croatia, Czech Republic, Georgia, Lithuania, Denmark, Russia, France, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands.

This whole process took about 34 minutes. After a short break, Chantal and Jan announced the televoting totals for each of the 26 finalists, one by one, starting with the country which had the lowest jury score and finishing with the country with the highest jury score. For countries which finished in the top ten of the televote and/or jury vote, Green Room shots of the applicable artists were shown. This process, from start to finish, took about 16 minutes.

Televote Totals Last to First
What if, after the 39 countries’ jury points had been put on the scoreboard in the manner they were (from Israel to the Netherlands), the televote totals had been announced in the way they were from 2016 to 2018 inclusive, going from the finalist that finished last in the televote to the finalist that finished first in the televote? For this description, I've started with the final jury scoreboard, as it appeared when all 39 sets of jury points had been put on the scoreboard.

1

Switzerland

267

14

Lithuania

55

2

France

248

15

Moldova

53

3

Malta

208

16

Cyprus

50

4

Italy

206

17

Sweden

46

5

Iceland

198

18

San Marino

37

6

Bulgaria

140

19

Azerbaijan

32

7

Portugal

126

20

Albania

22

8

Russia

104

21

Serbia

20

9

Ukraine

97

22

Norway

15

10

Greece

91

23

Netherlands

11

11

Finland

83

24

Spain

6

12

Israel

73

25

Germany

3

13

Belgium

71

26

United Kingdom

0


Afterwards Chantal and Jan would have announced the televote totals for each of the 26 finalists, starting with the bottom 16 from 26th to 11th, in rapid succession, as follows. N.B. I have simulated the procedure by inserting the televote totals alongside the jury totals into a spreadsheet and sorting it as each televote total was added. This is how I've been able to describe country movements on the scoreboard. To see all the simultaneous movements by multiple counties as each televote total would have been read out, one would need an animated graphic simulation of the scoreboard. Comments that Graham Norton might have said are shown in square brackets.

0 points to the Netherlands (keeping them in 23rd place for now)
0 points to Germany (keeping them in 25th place for now)
0 points to Spain (keeping them in 24th place for now)
0 points to the United Kingdom (keeping them in 26th place for now)
3 points to Belgium (taking them to 12th place initially)
13 points to San Marino (taking them to 16th place initially)
20 points to Israel (taking them to 10th place initially)
27 points to Portugal (taking them to 6th place initially)
30 points to Bulgaria (taking them to 6th place initially)
33 points to Azerbaijan (taking them to 14th place initially) [That’s quite a big change.]
35 points to Albania (taking them to 15th place initially)
44 points to Cyprus (taking them to 10th place initially) [That’s quite a big change.]
47 points to Malta (taking them to 2nd place initially) [Well, that changes everything, we won’t be going to Malta next year.]
60 points to Norway (taking them to 14th place initially) [I thought the public would respond to that song a bit better, but that’s still a big change.]
62 points to Moldova (taking them to 8th place initially)
63 points to Sweden (taking them to 9th place initially)

The scoreboard would have looked like this after the bottom 16 televote totals were announced (countries which had already received their televote totals are in bold).

1

Switzerland

267

14

Greece

91

2

Malta

255

15

Finland

83

3

France

248

16

Norway

75

4

Italy

206

17

Belgium

74

5

Iceland

198

18

Azerbaijan

65

6

Bulgaria

170

19

Albania

57

7

Portugal

153

20

Lithuania

55

8

Moldova

115

21

San Marino

50

9

Sweden

109

22

Serbia

20

10

Russia

104

23

Netherlands

11

11

Ukraine

97

24

Spain

6

12

Cyprus

94

25

Germany

3

13

Israel

93

26

United Kingdom

0


The countries placed 10th to 4th would have been announced at a much slower pace. Chantal and Jan would (almost certainly) have announced the recipients of the top ten televote totals alternately. Each time the applicable country's score would have been updated and repositioned on the scoreboard, and viewers would have seen a brief shot of the applicable artist in the Green Room.

The country that got the 10th highest score, with 79 points is Greece (taking them to 6th place initially)
The country that got the 9th highest score, with 82 points is Serbia (taking them to 12th place initially)
The country that got the 8th highest score, with 100 points is Russia (taking them to 5th place initially)
The country that got the 7th highest score, with 165 points is Lithuania (taking them to 4th place initially)
The country that got the 6th highest score, with 165 points is Switzerland (keeping them in the lead for now) [Well this is interesting, is that enough for a win? We don’t know how many points are left, but with four zeroes and lots of low scores earlier, there are probably hundreds of public vote points still up for grabs.]
The country that got the 5th highest score, with 180 points is Iceland (taking them to 2nd place initially) [A respectable score from the public for Iceland, but they can’t win now. There they are, in their room.]
The country that got the 4th highest score, with 218 points is Finland (taking them to 3rd place initially)

At this point the scoreboard would have looked like this (countries which had already received their televote totals are in bold):

1

Switzerland

432

14

Serbia

102

2

Iceland

378

15

Ukraine

97

3

Finland

301

16

Cyprus

94

4

Malta

255

17

Israel

93

5

France

248

18

Norway

75

6

Lithuania

220

19

Belgium

74

7

Italy

206

20

Azerbaijan

65

8

Russia

204

21

Albania

57

9

Greece

170

22

San Marino

50

10

Bulgaria

170

23

Netherlands

11

11

Portugal

153

24

Spain

6

12

Moldova

115

25

Germany

3

13

Sweden

109

26

United Kingdom

0


With just three countries (France, Italy, Ukraine) still awaiting their televote points, Switzerland would have been currently in the lead with its final score of 432 points. Chantal or Jan would have said “The winner can now be Switzerland, who are currently in the lead, or one of the three countries that haven’t received their points from the public vote, that’s France, Italy or Ukraine”. Green Room shots of the artists representing Switzerland, France, Italy and Ukraine would have been shown in four on-screen windows before continuing.

Actually, it would now have been mathematically impossible for Switzerland to have held its lead and won outright, because the minimum any of the three remaining countries could have received from the public would have been 218 points (just like Finland). If France had received 218 points, their final score would have been 466, thereby putting them ahead of Switzerland. That's a straightforward calculation (248 + 218 = 466) which one could easily have done whilst awaiting the announcement of the next country and its actual score. However, whilst writing this, I've analysed this moment more deeply. There would have been 836 televote points remaining to share among France, Italy and Ukraine, but each of them would have had to have received at least 218 points (just like Finland). If two of the three remaining three countries had each received 218 points, that would have left 400 points for the televote winner. If France and Italy had been the next two countries, both receiving 218 points, that would have left 400 televote points for Ukraine, taking their final score to 497, which would have been enough to win outright. Alternatively, if France and Ukraine had been the next two countries, both receiving 218 points, that would have left 400 televote points for Italy, taking their final score to 606 (an outright win). If Italy and Ukraine had each received 218 points, that would have left 400 televote points for France, taking their final score to 648 (an outright win). Thus, there would still theoretically have been three possible winners, France, Italy or Ukraine.

Of course, very few viewers (if any) would have known how many televote points were left for the remaining three countries at this point. Chantal and Jan would have continued as follows.

The country that got the 3rd highest score, with 251 points is France, putting them in the lead. So the winner can now be France, or one of the two countries that haven't received their points from the public, Italy or Ukraine. [Well France is now in the lead, but is that enough to win? We’ll see. Of course, we don’t know how many points are still left.]

Green Room shots of the artists representing France, Italy and Ukraine would have been shown, left to right, across the screen, before continuing.

Actually, there would have been 585 televote points left at this point, but the minimum either Italy or Ukraine could now have received would have been 251 points (just like France), thereby leaving 334 points for the other country. If Ukraine had won the televote with 334 points, their final score would have been 431, and Italy would, with the remaining 251 televote points, have finished with a combined total of 457 (second place). Whatever happened now, it would no longer have possible for Ukraine to win, but it would have still been possible for Italy to win. Italy would have needed 294 points or more to pass France and win.

The country that got the 2nd highest score, with 267 points is Ukraine (taking them to 4th place initially) [That’s a massive boost for Ukraine, putting them in the top five, but it’s not enough for a win.]

The favourite, according to you at home, is Italy, but will they get enough points to pass France, who are currently in the lead? Italy now needs at least 294 points to pass France. [There could well be that many public vote points still available, we shall see. This is an exciting moment, it’s down to the wire.] (Green Room shots of the artists representing France and Italy would have been shown, left to right, across the screen.) Italy, the public have given you 318 points, which is enough to them in the lead. And we have a new winner of the Eurovision Song Contest, it’s Italy with 524 points.

The final scoreboard would have looked like this:

1

Italy

524

14

Sweden

109

2

France

499

15

Serbia

102

3

Switzerland

432

16

Cyprus

94

4

Iceland

378

17

Israel

93

5

Ukraine

364

18

Norway

75

6

Finland

301

19

Belgium

74

7

Malta

255

20

Azerbaijan

65

8

Lithuania

220

21

Albania

57

9

Russia

204

22

San Marino

50

10

Greece

170

23

Netherlands

11

11

Bulgaria

170

24

Spain

6

12

Portugal

153

25

Germany

3

13

Moldova

115

26

United Kingdom

0


Televoting First, Jury Totals Last
What would have happened if the televoting points from each calling country had been announced by the 39 spokespersons first? Let's assume the order of presentation was the same as was used for announcement of the jury points, as specified above.

Two things are obvious:
Italy would have finished 1st with 318 points and Ukraine would have finished 2nd with 267 points (a margin of 51 points).
The United Kingdom, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands would have all finished with zero points.

The following are speculated. Although all the jury points and televoting points each of the 39 countries awarded to the finalists are available on eurovision.tv, the only way to confirm the following would be able to create a graphic simulation of the scoreboard, starting with the finalists on zero in the order they performed, and each of the 39 countries' televoting points (1 to 12) being added in the order mentioned above.
For some of the voting a “cat and mouse” situation might have occurred between Italy, Ukraine and France.
From some point, Italy would almost certainly have held its lead to the end.
A few countries towards the end, Italy would almost certainly have become uncatchable on televoting points alone.

Once all 39 spokespersons had finished announcing their televoting points, the scoreboard would have looked like this.

1

Italy

318

14

Malta

47

2

Ukraine

267

15

Cyprus

44

3

France

251

16

Albania

35

4

Finland

218

17

Azerbaijan

33

5

Iceland

180

18

Bulgaria

30

6

Switzerland

165

19

Portugal

27

7

Lithuania

165

20

Israel

20

8

Russia

100

21

San Marino

13

9

Serbia

82

22

Belgium

3

10

Greece

79

23

United Kingdom

0

11

Sweden

63

24

Spain

0

12

Moldova

62

25

Germany

0

13

Norway

60

26

Netherlands

0


N.B. The four countries still on zero televote points would still have been in their performance order. In fact, their performance order would have been the “last resort” tiebreaker rule to separate their placings; hence their official places would have been as shown above (23rd United Kingdom to 26th Netherlands). Switzerland received televote points from 34 other countries, whereas Lithuania received televote points from 27 other countries, hence Switzerland was 6th and Lithuania was 7th in the public vote, despite both of them having 165 points.

A short break would have been held, during which Edsilia would have spoken to MÃ¥neskin from Italy, congratulating them for having won the public vote.

Two methods of announcing the 26 finalists' jury totals are outlined below.

Jury Totals Going Up Televote Scoreboard
The exact opposite of what happened in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 Grand Final. Chantal and Jan would have started with the country that finished bottom of the televote (Netherlands), and worked their way up the scoreboard, country by country, until they reached the televote winner (Italy). Here I have simulated the procedure by inserting the jury totals alongside the televoting totals into a spreadsheet and sorting it as each jury total was added. This is how I've been able to describe country movements on the scoreboard. To see all the simultaneous movements by multiple counties as each jury total would have been read out, one would need an animated graphic simulation of the scoreboard. Comments that Graham Norton might have said are shown in square brackets.

Jan: As we’ve just explained, we will begin with the country that is now in last place, that is the Netherlands, and the Netherlands gets, from the juries, 11 points. (taking them to 22nd place initially) [At least the host nation managed to get a few points from the juries.]
Chantal: Alright we move on to Germany, and Germany has received, from the juries, 3 points. (taking them to 24th place initially) [They’ve not done much better with the juries.]
Jan: Moving on to Spain, and the jury points going to Spain are 6 points (taking them to 23rd place initially)
Chantal: We move on to the United Kingdom. [Hopefully we (the UK) should get something from the juries, we normally do.] The United Kingdom, you have received, from the juries, I’m sorry, 0 points. (keeping them in 26th place) [I honestly don’t know what to say, you can hear the response in the hall. Good for you James Newman, good for you. He’s so popular with all the other delegations.]
Jan: We have to continue. So let’s move on now to Belgium. Belgium, the juries have given you 71 points. (taking them to 11th place initially) [That’s a big change, at least they got some love from the juries.]
Chantal: And we move on, we go to San Marino. San Marino, you have received, from the juries, 37 points. (taking them to 15th place initially)
Jan: We have to move on to Israel now. Israel, the juries have given you 73 points (taking them to 9th place initially) [They’ve had quite a boost from the juries, they’re in the top ten now, but they are unlikely to be there long]
Chantal: Next up is Portugal, are you ready? Portugal, the juries have given you 126 points. (taking them to 8th place initially) [There you go, the juries come along and change everything.]
Jan: We have to move on to Bulgaria now. Bulgaria, the juries have given you 140 points. (taking them to 6th place initially) [They too were strongly favoured by the juries.]
Chantal: Next up is Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan, you received, from the juries, 32 points. (taking them to 15th place initially)
Jan: We have to move on to Albania now. Albania, the juries have given you 22 points. (taking them to 19th place initially)
Chantal: We move on to Cyprus, and Cyprus has received, from the juries, 50 points. (taking them to 11th place initially)
Jan: Next up is Malta. Malta are you ready? You have received, from the juries, 208 points. (taking them to 3rd place initially) [Wow, the juries loved Malta. They can’t win outright, but did they win the jury vote? We shall see.]
Chantal: Moving on to Norway, and the juries have given Norway 15 points. (taking them to 16th place initially) [After a reasonable score from the public, the juries gave them a disappointingly low score.]
Jan: Let’s move on to Moldova. The juries have given you 53 points. (taking them to 11th place initially).
Chantal: We move on to Sweden. [They should do well; in recent years they’ve done considerably better with the juries than with the public]. The juries have given Sweden 46 points. (taking them to 12th place initially) [Well, that’s a shock, they’ve got less from the juries than from the public this year.]

With just ten countries left to receive their points from the juries, the scoreboard would have looked like this (countries which had already received their jury totals are in bold):

1

Italy

318

14

Cyprus

94

2

Ukraine

267

15

Israel

93

3

Malta

255

16

Serbia

82

4

France

251

17

Greece

79

5

Finland

218

18

Norway

75

6

Iceland

180

19

Belgium

74

7

Bulgaria

170

20

Azerbaijan

65

8

Switzerland

165

21

Albania

57

9

Lithuania

165

22

San Marino

50

10

Portugal

153

23

Netherlands

11

11

Moldova

115

24

Spain

6

12

Sweden

109

25

Germany

3

13

Russia

100

26

United Kingdom

0


Chantal: OK edging towards that moment of truth, just ten results to go, the moment that millions of people out there have been waiting for.
Jan: Ten songs still waiting for points, and from those last ten, the winner will be revealed.

Chantal: Alright, deep breath. As we said, we have ten countries left. Next up is Greece. Greece has received, from the juries, 91 points. (taking them to 7th place initially)
Jan: OK let’s move on to Serbia. Serbia, the juries have given you 20 points. (taking them to 14th place initially) [Harsh, after they did quite well in the public vote.]
Chantal: Alright, only eight countries left, and next up is Russia. Russia are you ready? You have received, from the juries 104 points. (taking them to 6th place initially)
Jan: OK let’s move on to Lithuania. Lithuania, get ready to get, from the juries, 55 points (taking them to 5th place initially) [It just goes to show, as we go up here, some of these really popular countries with the public may get comparatively low scores from the juries.]
Chantal: We move on, we move on to Switzerland. [This should do well with the juries.] Switzerland, get ready to receive, from the juries, 267 points. That means Switzerland is now in first position. Switzerland is in the lead. [That is amazing., Is that enough to win though? Of course, we don’t know how many points are left, but there could well be more high scores.]
Jan: Only five countries left. Let’s move on to Iceland. OK this will be interesting, did the juries respond to Iceland? There they are, in their room.] Iceland, from the juries, you are getting 198 points. (taking them to 2nd place initially)
Chantal: Moving on to Finland. Finland has received, from the juries, 83 points (taking them to 4th place initially) [That is unbelievable. Evidently the juries weren’t so keen on hard rock as the public were. That’s a wake-up call for Italy.]

At this point the scoreboard would have looked like this (countries which had already received their jury totals are in bold):

1

Switzerland

432

14

Sweden

109

2

Iceland

378

15

Serbia

102

3

Italy

318

16

Cyprus

94

4

Finland

301

17

Israel

93

5

Ukraine

267

18

Norway

75

6

Malta

255

19

Belgium

74

7

France

251

20

Azerbaijan

65

8

Lithuania

220

21

Albania

57

9

Russia

204

22

San Marino

50

10

Greece

170

23

The Netherlands

11

11

Bulgaria

170

24

Spain

6

12

Portugal

153

25

Germany

3

13

Moldova

115

26

United Kingdom

0


With just three countries (France, Ukraine, Italy) still awaiting their jury points, Switzerland would have been currently in the lead with its final score of 432 points. Chantal or Jan would have said “The winner can now be Switzerland, who are currently in the lead with 432 points, or one of the three countries that haven't received their points from the national juries, that's France, Ukraine or Italy”. Green Room shots of the artists representing Switzerland, France, Ukraine and Italy would have been shown in four on-screen windows before continuing.

I have analysed the situation as it would have been at this point. There would have been 551 jury points left to share among France, Ukraine and Italy. For all three of them to have finished one point below Switzerland, France would have had to have received 180 jury points, Ukraine would have had to have received 164 jury points and Italy would have had to have received 113 jury points. That would have left 94 unallocated jury points. In other words, it would have been mathematically impossible for Switzerland to have held its lead and won. Of course, most viewers wouldn’t have known that had this method of presenting the points been used. Anyway, Jan and Chantal would have continued as follows.

Jan: We move on to France. [This should do very well with the juries.] France, the juries have given you 248 points, and now France is in the lead. [That could well be enough to win. We shall see.]

Green Room shots of the artists representing France, Italy, and Ukraine would have been shown, left to right, across the screen, during the next announcement.

Chantal: France is now in the lead, but bear in mind that two countries still need to receive their points from the national juries. So the winner can be either France, or one of the two countries that haven’t received their points from the juries, Ukraine or Italy. It feels like almost everyone in Europe is holding their breath right now. We’re moving on. The next country is Ukraine. Ukraine, the juries have decided to give you 97 points. (taking them to 4th place initially) [Oh, that’s another example of a song which did very well with the public, but far less well with the juries. Still, whatever happens now, they will finish in the top five.] Everything, everything is balancing on this pivotal moment.

Green Room shots of the artists representing France and Italy would have been shown, left to right, across the screen, during the next announcement.

Jan: So only one country left. France is currently in first place, and Italy has not received their points yet. One of you will be the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2021. [I’d have thought France would do better in the jury vote than Italy. They need to get at least 182. Of course, we don’t know how many points are left.]

Chantal: If Italy gets at least 182 points, they win. So it’s either France or it’s Italy. Who will be the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2021? [I’d be surprised if Italy get that much from the juries; we’ve already seen what happened to Finland in the jury vote, but this has been full of surprises tonight.]

Jan: So here’s a recap, Italy needs at least 182 points to win. Are you ready? Italy has got, from the juries, 206 points, and now Italy is in the lead. Italy is the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with 524 points. [Wow, unsurprisingly Italy’s hard rock song got less points from the juries than from the public, but it was still enough for them to win outright].

The final scoreboard (with Italy’s jury total included) would have looked like this

1

Italy

524

14

Sweden

109

2

France

499

15

Serbia

102

3

Switzerland

432

16

Cyprus

94

4

Iceland

378

17

Israel

93

5

Ukraine

364

18

Norway

75

6

Finland

301

19

Belgium

74

7

Malta

255

20

Azerbaijan

65

8

Lithuania

220

21

Albania

57

9

Russia

204

22

San Marino

50

10

Greece

170

23

The Netherlands

11

11

Bulgaria

170

24

Spain

6

12

Portugal

153

25

Germany

3

13

Moldova

115

26

United Kingdom

0


At this point individual countries would have been able to announce their own national jury points. Graham Norton would almost certainly have read out the UK's national jury results to UK viewers.

Jury Totals Last to First
What if, after the 39 countries' televote points had been put on the scoreboard (from Israel to the Netherlands), the jury totals had been announced going from the finalist that finished last in the jury vote to the finalist that finished first in the jury vote? Here is the scoreboard again, as it would have appeared after all the televote points had been announced, and Italy had been confirmed as having won the televote.

1

Italy

318

14

Malta

47

2

Ukraine

267

15

Cyprus

44

3

France

251

16

Albania

35

4

Finland

218

17

Azerbaijan

33

5

Iceland

180

18

Bulgaria

30

6

Switzerland

165

19

Portugal

27

7

Lithuania

165

20

Israel

20

8

Russia

100

21

San Marino

13

9

Serbia

82

22

Belgium

3

10

Greece

79

23

United Kingdom

0

11

Sweden

63

24

Spain

0

12

Moldova

62

25

Germany

0

13

Norway

60

26

Netherlands

0


Afterwards Chantal and Jan would have announced the jury totals for each of the 26 finalists, starting with the bottom 16 from 26th to 11th, in rapid succession, as follows. Once again, I have simulated the procedure by inserting the jury totals alongside the televoting totals into a spreadsheet and sorting it as each jury total was added. This is how I've been able to describe country movements on the scoreboard. To see all the simultaneous movements by multiple counties as each jury total would have been read out, one would need an animated graphic simulation of the scoreboard. Comments that Graham Norton might have said are shown in square brackets.

0 points to the United Kingdom (keeping them in 23rd place for now)
3 points to Germany (taking them to 23rd place initially) [So that means we (the UK) will end up last now.]
6 points to Spain (taking them to 22nd place initially)
11 points to the Netherlands (taking them to 22nd place initially)
15 points to Norway (taking them to 11th place initially)
20 points to Serbia (taking them to 8th place initially) [Harsh, after they did quite well in the public vote.]
22 points to Albania (taking them to 14th place initially)
32 points to Azerbaijan (taking them to 12th place initially)
37 points to San Marino (taking them to 16th place initially)
46 points to Sweden (taking them to 8th place initially) [Well, that’s a shock, they’ve got less from the juries than from the public this year.]
50 points to Cyprus (taking them to 11th place initially)
53 points to Moldova (taking them to 8th place initially)
55 points to Lithuania (taking them to 4th place initially) [Well, that changes everything, we won’t be going to Lithuania next year.]
71 points to Belgium (taking them to 15th place initially) [At least they got some love from the juries.]
73 points to Israel (taking them to 13th place initially)
83 points to Finland (taking them to 2nd place initially) [We won’t be going to Finland next year either. That should be wake-up call to Italy if the juries aren’t keen on hard rock.]

The scoreboard would have looked like this after the bottom 16 jury totals were announced (countries which had already received their jury totals are in bold).

1

Italy

318

14

Greece

79

2

Finland

301

15

Norway

75

3

Ukraine

267

16

Belgium

74

4

France

251

17

Azerbaijan

65

5

Lithuania

220

18

Albania

57

6

Iceland

180

19

San Marino

50

7

Switzerland

165

20

Malta

47

8

Moldova

115

21

Bulgaria

30

9

Sweden

109

22

Portugal

27

10

Serbia

102

23

The Netherlands

11

11

Russia

100

24

Spain

6

12

Cyprus

94

25

Germany

3

13

Israel

93

26

United Kingdom

0


The countries placed 10th to 4th would have been announced at a much slower pace. Chantal and Jan would have (almost certainly) announced the recipients of the top ten jury totals alternately. Each time the applicable country's score would have been updated and repositioned on the scoreboard, and viewers would have seen a brief shot of the applicable artist in the Green Room.

The country that got the 10th highest score, with 91 points is Greece (taking them to 7th place initially)
The country that got the 9th highest score, with 97 points is Ukraine, putting them in the lead. [They’re in the lead for now. Whatever happens now, they can’t win, but they can enjoy their moment in the lead. Still, that’s another example of a song which did very well with the public, but far less well with the juries.]
The country that got the 8th highest score, with 104 points is Russia (taking them to 6th place initially)
The country that got the 7th highest score, with 126 points is Portugal (taking them to 10th place initially) [There you go, the juries come along and change everything. Whatever happens now, they will finish on the left-hand side of the scoreboard.]
The country that got the 6th highest score, with 140 points is Bulgaria (taking them to 9th place initially) [They too were strongly favoured by the juries, and they too will finish on the left-hand side of the scoreboard.]
The country that got the 5th highest score, with 198 points is Iceland, and now they’re in the lead. [It’s good that they juries liked them, as much as the public. There they are, in their room. They can’t win, but they can enjoy their moment in the lead.]
The country that got the 4th highest score, with 206 points is Italy, and they’re now in the lead.

At this point the scoreboard would have looked like this (countries which had already received their jury totals are in bold):

1

Italy

524

14

Serbia

102

2

Iceland

378

15

Cyprus

94

3

Ukraine

364

16

Israel

93

4

Finland

301

17

Norway

75

5

France

251

18

Belgium

74

6

Lithuania

220

19

Azerbaijan

65

7

Russia

204

20

Albania

57

8

Greece

170

21

San Marino

50

9

Bulgaria

170

22

Malta

47

10

Switzerland

165

23

The Netherlands

11

11

Portugal

153

24

Spain

6

12

Moldova

115

25

Germany

3

13

Sweden

109

26

United Kingdom

0


With just three countries (France, Switzerland, Malta) still awaiting their jury points, Italy would have been currently in the lead with its final score of 524 points. Chantal or Jan would have said “The winner can now be Italy, who are currently in the lead, or one of the three countries that haven't received their points from the national juries, that's France, Switzerland or Malta”. Green Room shots of the artists representing Italy, France, Switzerland and Malta would have been shown in four on-screen windows before continuing.

I have analysed the situation as it would have been at this point. There would have been 723 jury points left to share among France, Switzerland and Malta, but the minimum any one of those three countries could now have received would have been 206 points (just like Italy). If any two of the remaining three countries both received 206 jury points, that would have left 311 points for the jury vote winner. 311 jury points would have been insufficient for either Switzerland or Malta to have won, but it would have been more than enough for France to pass Italy and win. Since it would now have been mathematically impossible for Switzerland or Malta to win, there would now have only been two possible winners, Italy or France.

Of course, very few viewers (if any) would have known how many jury points were left for the remaining three countries at this point. Chantal and Jan would have continued as follows.

The country that got the 3rd highest score, with 208 points is Malta (taking them to 5th place initially)

Green Room shots of the artists representing Italy, France and Switzerland would have been shown, left to right, across the screen, during the next announcement.

Italy is still in the lead with 524 points. So the winner can now be Italy, or one of the two countries that haven't received their points from the juries, France or Switzerland. [France could still do it, we’ll see. France needs 274 or more to win].

The country that got the 2nd highest score, with 248 points is France (taking them to 2nd place initially) [Is that enough? No, no it’s not. I think we’re off to Italy. I think we’re off to Italy.]

The favourite, according to the juries, is Switzerland, but will they get enough points to pass Italy, who are currently in the lead? Switzerland now needs at least 360 points to pass Italy. [I don’t think Switzerland can do it, I doubt if there are that many jury points left, but this has been full of surprises tonight.] (Green Room shots of the artists representing Italy and Switzerland would have been shown, left to right, across the screen.) Switzerland, the juries have given you 267 points, which is not enough to pass Italy (taking them to 3rd place). [It’s not enough. Where does that put him? Third place for Switzerland.] And we have a new winner of the Eurovision Song Contest, it’s Italy with 524 points.

1

Italy

524

14

Sweden

109

2

France

499

15

Serbia

102

3

Switzerland

432

16

Cyprus

94

4

Iceland

378

17

Israel

93

5

Ukraine

364

18

Norway

75

6

Finland

301

19

Belgium

74

7

Malta

255

20

Azerbaijan

65

8

Lithuania

220

21

Albania

57

9

Russia

204

22

San Marino

50

10

Greece

170

23

The Netherlands

11

11

Bulgaria

170

24

Spain

6

12

Portugal

153

25

Germany

3

13

Moldova

115

26

United Kingdom

0


At this point individual countries would have been able to announce their own national jury points. Graham Norton would almost certainly have read out the UK's national jury results to UK viewers.

Conclusion
This was the fifth time the two-part voting system first introduced in 2016 was used, and the second time of announcing the televoting totals starting with the country that received the lowest jury score and finishing with the country that received the highest jury score. Once again, it certainly produced some shocks and surprises, and plenty for keen fans to analyse well after the winner was announced. The biggest shock of the night was seeing the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands all receive zero points from the public. I did wonder if a mistake had occurred, because there is only likely to be one, or at the most two, 0-point totals in the public vote. From 2016 to 2019, even if one country has had 0 points from the pubic, the near-bottom few countries in the public vote have tended to get a few points (single figures).

With all this in mind, after five contests of this two-part voting system being used, I still like this system very much, and feel it's perfectly fair. I hope the EBU continues using this system in 2022 and beyond. The announcement of the televoting totals adds to the excitement of the scoring procedure; in fact, I think it's the highlight of the entire Grand Final. Mark my words, next year's Eurovision Song Contest will tell another story as far as the jury and public results are concerned.

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