Eurovision 2016: Jury member gave entirely the wrong points
Turns out, we're not the only ones confused by the Eurovision Song Contest's new voting system
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Yes, we were all entirely confused by Eurovision Song Contest's new scoring system.
Yet, surely it's a different case entirely when it comes to the actual jury members tasked with doling those points out? Surely, out of all the people on the planet, they'd be the ones in the know? Apparently not, as the set up also confused one jury member enough for them to allocate entirely the wrong scores for their country.
Danish jury member Hilda Heick managed to gravely misunderstand the ranking system, in which members are asked to order all 26 songs, with 1 being their favourite and 26 being their least favourite. Heick did the complete opposite.
Her top choice was, like many other jury members, Australia's Dami Im; however by giving the song only '1 point', Australia ended up receiving a mere 10 points as a whole from the Danish jury. On the show, Denmark were seen to award Ukraine with 12 points, due to Heick personally awarding them with '26 points'; in reality, they shouldn't have been awarded any at all.
Heick told Danish tabloid BT: "My heart stopped… When you realise you’ve done something wrong, it’s really mortifying. When I saw the other [jury member’s votes], I could see that I had voted the opposite way to them."
The mistake wouldn't have altered the final results, with Ukraine's Jamala winning on a total of 524 points, though it certainly would have closed the gap with runners-up Australia; boosting their total to 513 points.
The 69-year-old juror has admitted she's received abuse over the mistake, leading her to reconsider her involvement in Eurovision in the future. "It’s my huge mistake and I completely admit it – but I am not senile, despite people saying on Facebook that I should retire and be kept away from everything," she stated. "It may well happen that I do not say yes to more with [Danish Eurovision selection] Melodi Grand Prix in the future – but I will not retire yet."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments