Zero points for Germany – no coincidence. Political solidarity and cultural proximity often determine the ESC result before the show.
Germany once again occupies one of the last places and receives zero points from the audience. But why is that – and who actually votes for whom?
In 1997, so-called televoting was introduced at the ESC and initially completely replaced the jury. From 2009 onwards, the experts returned – creating today’s 50/50 split system. The logic behind it is reminiscent of my school days. The jury voting is the exam – evaluated objectively, according to criteria. The audience vote is the verbal grade: it is sometimes based on sympathy and popularity instead of pure performance. The annoying child who speaks up before the question is even asked gets 12 points orally – without necessarily giving the correct answer. And if dad helps finance the new sports hall, you’ll definitely move up to the next class. Because the largest donors are automatically in the final. Germany sits far back on the left in this class. Unpopular – and that seems to be partly independent of performance.
Who chooses whom?
Televoting does not follow any random logic. Geographical proximity, cultural kinship and diaspora communities have shaped voting behavior for decades. Romania and Moldova traditionally exchange high scores, the Nordic countries stick together, and Greece and Cyprus reliably give each other top marks.
Political solidarity also plays a role: Ukraine’s victory in 2022, shortly after the Russian invasion, felt less a musical judgment than a pan-European statement. Israel’s jury vote is all the more remarkable – booed at the ESC and yet coming second in the audience votes. Despite the reformed voting limit, top ratings from six countries continued.
What stands out
The most striking pattern this year was Bulgaria’s rare double victory: DARA won not by a single voting bloc, but by broad approval from across Europe – both from juries and from the audience. Structurally, this is the exception, not the rule – and makes it clear how much the other results depend on those same blocks.
Because the rule goes like this: Romania got 232 televote points, Moldova got 183 – but both were largely ignored by the juries. Diaspora voting is behind these numbers: millions of Romanians and Moldovans live in Western Europe and vote for their homeland. France and Poland work the other way around – jury favorites, hardly noticed by the audience.
The last allies
And Germany? Germany did poorly not only in the public voting, but also in the juries. Only Bulgaria, Belgium, Italy and Portugal dropped a few points. The German jury, for its part, identified Poland, Italy and Finland as the strongest performances of the evening.
Surprising to many: Israel won the German televoting with 12 points, followed by the overall winners Bulgaria and Greece.
