Israel at Eurovision 2025: Finland and Iceland express doubts about the public vote, where Israel won with a big majority
Following criticism from the national broadcasters of Spain and Belgium, Finland and Iceland have now joined the list of countries calling for a renewed examination of the Eurovision voting system. This marks another development in the growing wave of criticism following the results of Eurovision 2025, with countries taking a critical stance toward Israel questioning the transparency and reliability of the current voting process.
Finland Seeks Change—But Proceeds with Caution
The chief entertainment producer of the Finnish national broadcaster Yle, Juha Lahti, confirmed that Finland will raise the issue of voting with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). According to him, this has been a subject of ongoing discussion in Finland. Lahti clarified: “We will ask the EBU to consider whether it is time to update the rules, or at least to examine if the current rules allow for abuse.”
He further noted that one way to improve the situation could be to adjust the balance between the public and jury votes. Currently, both systems carry equal weight (50% each), but Lahti believes there is room to increase the influence of the public—provided that the ability of a single individual to vote multiple times is limited: “If we intend to put more emphasis on the public vote, we really need to consider whether it makes sense for one person to be able to vote twenty times,” he said.
Iceland Demands Transparency: “We Have No Information Beyond What Was Made Public”
The general director of the Icelandic national broadcaster RÚV, Stefán Eiríksson, announced that Iceland will also request detailed data from the EBU regarding the phone voting in Eurovision 2025. His remarks followed similar requests already submitted by Spain and Belgium.
In an interview with his broadcaster, Eiríksson explained: “Of course, we will follow developments and request the same information from the EBU regarding phone voting, as the Spanish national broadcaster did.”
He further emphasized: “The public vote is entirely the responsibility of the EBU, which negotiates with telecom companies in each country to conduct it, so we have no access to information beyond what has already been made public at this stage.”
Did Voting for Israel Lead to Doubts?
In the same interview, Eiríksson was asked whether Iceland would have sent participants to the contest if Israel had won Eurovision 2025—a question that highlights how political and charged this year’s contest has been. He responded: “The results from last Saturday night were interesting, and they will undoubtedly lead to discussions within the EBU, in which we will continue, as we have in the past, to monitor and participate.”
At this point, it is unclear whether his statement expresses reservations or is simply a neutral remark intended to convey attentiveness and caution.
Countries Receiving the Highest Votes from Iceland
Alongside the calls for transparency, the results of Iceland’s phone voting were also published. While these results did not cause particular controversy, they offered insight into local preferences:
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Poland – 12 points
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Sweden – 10 points
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Norway – 8 points
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Estonia – 7 points
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Netherlands – 6 points
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Finland – 5 points
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Israel – 4 points
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Austria – 3 points
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Denmark – 2 points
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Germany – 1 point
Eurovision 2025: The 69th Eurovision Song Contest was held in the city of Basel, Switzerland, on May 13, 15, and 17. This marked the third time Switzerland hosted the contest, with the previous occasion being in 1989 in Lausanne. The venue for the event was St. Jakobshalle, which has a capacity of 12,400 seats. It was the first time that Basel served as the host city for the Eurovision Song Contest.
