Six Countries' Juries Disqualified Mid-Show for Coordinated Voting

MAY 15 2022 · 12:50

EBU action (Azerbaijan, Georgia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, San Marino juries) · "N/A" · Multiple · 2022 Language: N/A · Venue: PalaOlimpico · Host: Turin, Italy · Type: voting drama · Broadcast: streaming era During the second semi-final of Eurovision 2022, the EBU's voting-pattern monitoring team detects statistically impossible overlap between six national juries — Azerbaijan, Georgia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, San Marino. Their jury scores in semi-final 2 form a near-identical voting pattern. Hours before the grand final, the EBU invalidates all six juries' final scores and substitutes algorithmic 'aggregate equivalent' votes. No live on-air announcement is made to viewers. Context The six juries' coordinated pattern is the most overtly detectable collusion case in Eurovision history. Retrospective analysis showed similar (less extreme) coordination had occurred in prior years. The substitute algorithm used aggregate patterns from other jurisdictions' voting to simulate how the six countries 'should' have voted. Legacy The EBU's subsequent rule changes included stricter jury composition requirements, stronger non-disclosure agreements between jury members, and statistical-anomaly thresholds that would trigger automatic investigation. Six-jury collusion was not an isolated event — the 2013 Azerbaijan sting had documented similar coordination. The 2022 intervention is cited as the first time the EBU publicly demonstrated it would intervene mid-show on jury integrity.