Spanish
Geneva.- The Eurovision Festival organization defended on Monday the televoting system used to choose the winner of the contest and assured that it is "the most advanced in the world", after Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE) asked it to detail the distribution of the Spanish votes, which gave the highest score to Israel for the second consecutive year.
"The results from each country are reviewed and verified by a large team of people to rule out any suspicious or irregular voting patterns," said the festival director, Martin Green, in response to questions from EFE.
He added that the company supporting the organization in the supervision of the voting, the Dutch firm Once.net, confirmed that the televote had been valid in all the countries that participated in this year's final, as well as in the rest of the world.
In addition, an independent compliance supervisor reviewed both the jury and public votes "to ensure the result was valid," he emphasized.
Although Israel held a discreet position in the betting odds and was only in fifteenth place after the jury vote, it was the country that achieved the most points in the televote, which lifted it to second final position.
In addition to Spain, the televote awarded it 12 points in Germany, Australia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, United Kingdom, Sweden and Switzerland, as well as in the popular vote grouped in "rest of the world", corresponding to the votes of the non-participating countries in the final and the semi-finals.
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Green confirmed that the festival organization is in contact with RTVE since Saturday's final regarding the controversial vote.
"We maintain constant contact with all participating broadcasters in Eurovision and take their concerns seriously," said the director of the festival.
He indicated that once the 2025 edition is concluded, "a broad debate will be held to reflect and obtain feedback on all aspects of this year's contest" in preparation for the 2026 edition, which will be held in Austria.
