Ireland has become the latest country to request a breakdown in Eurovision voting numbers from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) after a surge in audience votes for Israel’s contestant, Yuval Raphael, during the grand final.
The request comes after Spain’s public broadcaster RTVE demanded an audit, while concerns were also publicly raised by Belgium’s Flemish broadcasting company VRT.
This year’s event was surrounded by controversy due to Israel’s participation, as with last year, while the country continues to carry out its attacks on Gaza.
Israel’s 2025 contestant Raphael came close to winning the event in a nail-biting final that ultimately saw Austria’s singer JJ come in first place, while Raphael came second with a total of 357 points from the combined jury and public scores.
Broadcasters have since raised concerns after their public votes awarded high scores to Israel, with Belgium and Spain giving the full 12 points to Israel.
A spokesperson for RTÉ, Ireland’s public broadcaster, confirmed on Tuesday evening (20 May) that it had requested a “breakdown in voting numbers” from the EBU and its voting partner Once.
Katia Segers, a Flemish MP, said: “A system in which everyone can cast up to 20 votes is a system that encourages manipulation.
“Whether this manipulation occurred in our country and all other participating and non-participating countries must be investigated.”
She added: “The VRT must take the lead in requesting this investigation. And in holding the debate on the televoting system within the EBU and on Israel’s participation.”
The EBU confirmed that RTVE and VRT had been in contact and said it took the complaints “seriously”.
In a statement to The Independent, Martin Green, director of the Eurovision Song Contest, said: “We congratulate our winner JJ and ORF for their incredible victory at the 69th Eurovision Song Contest with ‘Wasted Love’.
“We remain in constant contact with all participating broadcasters of the Eurovision Song Contest and take their concerns seriously. We can confirm that we have been in touch with several broadcasters since Saturday’s Grand Final regarding voting in the competition.
“Now the event has concluded we will have a broad discussion with participating broadcasters, to reflect and obtain feedback on all aspects of this year’s event as part of our planning process for the 70th Eurovision Song Contest next year.”
He continued: “It is important to emphasise that the voting operation for the Eurovision Song Contest is the most advanced in the world and each country’s result is checked and verified by a huge team of people to exclude any suspicious or irregular voting patterns. An independent compliance monitor reviews both jury and public vote data to ensure we have a valid result.
“Our voting partner Once has confirmed that a valid vote was recorded in all countries participating in this year’s Grand Final and in the Rest of the World.”
Following JJ’s win, the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest will be held in his home country of Austria.
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