Eurovision 2019: UK's bottom-place entry has score lowered by 5 points after miscalculation
The Netherlands remain at the top, with their score increasing by six
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.The UK’s Eurovision score has been lowered following a miscalculation.
Michael Rice’s song “Bigger Than Us” came last in the competition, with the track initially scoring just 16 points.
The contest organisers have since said that an incorrect calculation was made after they created a set of “substitute” points for the Belarusian jury, who were dismissed following the semifinals.
The UK’s score now stands at 11 points. The Netherlands remains at the top of the board with 498 points.
Belarus’s judges were unable to vote in the competition finale after they revealed their semifinal results to the public – something that’s against the rules.
To comply with the way the contest is run, a substitute set of points, calculated based on the results of other countries with similar voting records, was used.
However, the substitute set of votes were found to be wrong due to human error, leading to a drop in the UK’s score.
A statement from the organisers reads: “The EBU and its partners deeply regret that this error was not identified earlier and will review the processes and controls in place to prevent this from happening again.”
Although Rice came last, the UK entrant remained positive, saying: ”I’m so thankful to the fans... as well as my whole team who have supported me throughout this whole amazing journey.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments