The only reason ITV figures are released is because of the Soapstar Superstar debacle. Ofcom fined them nearly 6m due to ignoring the public votes most of the series. Pretty sure it was an OFCOM recommendation.
Should apply to BBC as they didn't escape unscathed from that whole scandel
I don't think any involved premium rate voting. Ofcom had very little control over BBC regulation at the time anyway.
But the manipulation on SS was extraordinary and many alarm bells were ignored by senior ITV bosses hence the 6m fine and recommendation.
Ofcom do now, And while the BBC do not make a profit from phone calls they still cost 15p so the details should be published.
The general ticket sale starts at 1800 GMT tonight
📣TICKET ALERT!📣
Tickets for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 will go on sale today! Come and join us in sunny Tel Aviv to watch all the participants take to the stage and compete for your vote!
This year's ticket sale controversy (as there's always one) was that the queuing system quietly began four hours early, meaning the majority of those who got live Grand Final tickets had to randomly be on the page at about 2pm GMT. Luckily I was one of them, got a queuing spot of about 15,000 which was kept when sales began at 6pm, and secured my (bloody expensive) final ticket just after 7:20 - the queue went surprisingly quick in the end, possibly from people seeing the high prices and not bothering to book.
Normally I see the jury and family shows too, but to avoid being completely broke I'm sticking to just the live final this time. Hostel and flights (flying via Wroclaw on the way there and Athens on the way back) were secured back in October, so all good to go.
Can imagine a huge sigh of relief from many if a country like Belgium wins this year, would be much easier to just pop over from London next time on a direct Eurostar/overnight bus. At least it's not like Moscow 2009/Baku 2012 which would have both required expensive visas at the time of the contests - Russia still does but Azerbaijan's got a lot easier/cheaper to enter since.
JM
JamesM0984
Yes, it would be nice if a well-organised country could win this year.
Yes, it would be nice if a well-organised country could win this year.
So not the UK then?!
JM
JamesM0984
Ha.
Why the queue opened up four hours early I'm unsure - last year it was random places so I opened as many browsers on as many computers as I possibly could. At one point I had IE, Edge, Chrome, Firefox and Opera all going on 9 different machines but to no avail.
Should add I did the Jury shows in Lisbon but this year it ain't happening. Means I can fly out Monday, not Sunday, so a night's less stay which has also bought the cost down. Found a decent studio apartment to hire for the week too for under 400 quid; last year I stayed at an Ibis which was probably a bit OTT for my needs.
EasyJet are flying to TLV from Luton, again the prices are reasonable - just over 300 quid including a hold bag. As I'm on the early flight I'll do what I did last year and kip at the Ibis Budget, as you basically get a night's stay, parking and transfers for little more than a week's parking would set me back.
The ticket prices are what's killing me this year - and I'm not being funny but why does Green Room cost more than the arena? Pay more to watch the show on television?! I imagine most will shun that idea and just watch in the EuroVillage.
JM
JamesM0984
I'm not sure I should even be giving this the oxygen of publicity, but for the sake of documenting "as it happens" for future generations... UA:PBC have said they'll come back for the 2020 show...
...provided, of course, a certain country doesn't win in Tel Aviv.
For once, BM11's wild theories hold water - the Russian-hosted World Cup last year didn't get broadcast in Ukraine (although they failed to qualify anyway) and UA:PBC have as good as said they won't be participating in any Russian-hosted Eurovision. Even if Sergey doesn't win in Tel Aviv, they will do sooner rather than later.
One wonders if the EBU should ban countries that are in active conflict with other member states - which would kick out Ukraine, Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Ukraine/Russia thing is just pathetic, and are we really supposed to believe that every single Armenian and Azeri juror in both ESC and JESC history has just so happened to like the other nation's song the least?
Last edited by JamesM0984 on 2 March 2019 2:35am
JM
JamesM0984
Also, sorry for the spamming - an interesting development on the "banned items" list - no flags allowed this year!
This is an unusual step - presumably to guard against any Palestinian flags getting on screen?
Also, sorry for the spamming - an interesting development on the "banned items" list - no flags allowed this year!
This is an unusual step - presumably to guard against any Palestinian flags getting on screen?
They may ban people bringing in flags from outside (almost certainly for the reason you have said), but I hope they'll offset this by having their own supply of flags of participating countries inside the venue to hand out to the audience.