Liberal Democrat MP Richard Younger-Ross has called for the voting system for the Eurovision Song Contest to be changed because, he says, countries vote for their neighbours instead of the best song, something which, he maintains, is "harmful to the relationship between the peoples of Europe". Don't know whether his constituents have called for this in anyway, but, nevertheless, he's spent some of his no doubt valuable time tabling an EDM (early day motion) which has been backed by fellow Lib Dem Colin Breed as well as two Labour MPs, John Robertson and David Drew.
Actually, not everyone agrees with Younger-Ross that Eurovision is 100% biased. One Derek Gatherer (really, that's his name) has spent some of his own no doubt valuable time studying Eurovision voting patterns and he says voters aren't quite as biased as many say, although he admits geography can be a factor. He says: "Less than a third of the total votes for the winning entry were ones which seemed to have been influenced by block voting. It does make it rather harder for us to win, but it's not to suggest that all the votes are necessarily given out according to these local alliances".
That said, Younger-Ross isn't alone in expressing concern about Eurovision voting rules this week. Elsewhere, the Malta contingent have implied that it's all a bit of a fix, and that the phone voting system isn't being properly monitored in eastern Europe, whilst Germany's national tabloid Bild is asking why the Western entrants should be paying shitloads of cash to fund a contest they're seemingly no longer in with a chance of winning. I've been thinking similar thoughts myself, though Bild perhaps aren't taking into account the cash that it also generates for those countries. However, Bild do have something that I don't, and that's a quote from this year's German entrant Nicole, who says: "It is obvious that Eastern European countries engage in dirty trade with points every year. Germany should withdraw from the competition".
What a palaver, eh? Last word to Paul Gambaccini, who told Radio 4 that he thinks it's all political: "Britain's votes plummeted with the invasion of Iraq and have stayed in the basement with the occupation. There has always been a political dimension to Eurovision, the love-fest between Greece and Cyprus has been noted for a long time. Now with the public voting instead of the panel voting it is really extensive".