RS
Interesting piece on the 'voting patterns' from The Times - block voting very much in evidence :
“Eurovision was intended to bring us all together, but instead it makes it manifestly clear how far apart we are,” said Wogan.
Is there any evidence to support this controversial claim? Well, yes there is, according to Derek Gatherer, an aptly named academic who has been gathering together recent voting patterns in the contest for analysis.
Gatherer identified three blocs that account for about a third of all votes. The biggest is what he calls the Balkan bloc: 11 countries that include Turkey, Albania, various bits that used to be Yugoslavia, Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Hungary. Next is the Eastern bloc of eight countries, including Russia, Poland and Ukraine. (Given the degree to which some of the countries within the Balkan and Eastern blocs hate each other, perhaps Eurovision does indeed break down barriers.)
“The period since the mid-1990s has seen the emergence of large geographical voting blocs from previously small voting partnerships,” Gatherer revealed in a paper pithily entitled Comparison of Eurovision Song Contest Simulation with Actual Results Reveals Shifting Patterns of Collusive Voting Alliances.
“On at least two occasions the outcome of the contest has been crucially affected by voting blocs. The structure of these blocs implies that a handful of centrally placed countries have a higher probability of being future winners.”
Although the eight Nordic and Baltic states form a so-called Viking Empire, there is no western European bloc for the UK to belong to. You will not find the Belgians voting for an Irish turkey. "
So - Terry's right - hardly worth entering really ...
“Eurovision was intended to bring us all together, but instead it makes it manifestly clear how far apart we are,” said Wogan.
Is there any evidence to support this controversial claim? Well, yes there is, according to Derek Gatherer, an aptly named academic who has been gathering together recent voting patterns in the contest for analysis.
Gatherer identified three blocs that account for about a third of all votes. The biggest is what he calls the Balkan bloc: 11 countries that include Turkey, Albania, various bits that used to be Yugoslavia, Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Hungary. Next is the Eastern bloc of eight countries, including Russia, Poland and Ukraine. (Given the degree to which some of the countries within the Balkan and Eastern blocs hate each other, perhaps Eurovision does indeed break down barriers.)
“The period since the mid-1990s has seen the emergence of large geographical voting blocs from previously small voting partnerships,” Gatherer revealed in a paper pithily entitled Comparison of Eurovision Song Contest Simulation with Actual Results Reveals Shifting Patterns of Collusive Voting Alliances.
“On at least two occasions the outcome of the contest has been crucially affected by voting blocs. The structure of these blocs implies that a handful of centrally placed countries have a higher probability of being future winners.”
Although the eight Nordic and Baltic states form a so-called Viking Empire, there is no western European bloc for the UK to belong to. You will not find the Belgians voting for an Irish turkey. "
So - Terry's right - hardly worth entering really ...