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The Eurovision Song Contest introduced semi-finals in 2004. Last year, I noticed you are only allowed to vote in one of the two semi-finals, the one your own country is in (unless you're the host, or one of the five permanent countries). What is the reason behind this?

I thought of one theoretically possible reason which is very unlikely: if you could vote in both semi-finals, and your country is in the first semi-final, you could vote for poor contestants in the second one, leading to less strong competition in the final (if your country qualifies, of course). But then, why would the five permanent countries and the host nation be allowed to vote at all? So that can't really be the reason.

Dom
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Glorfindel
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  • Maybe you can't vote in the one where your home country is in? I know you can't vote on your own country, but you could perhaps vote tactically still. Like, vote on some awful song instead of the best one. – Amarth Jan 09 '23 at 20:10
  • You can only vote in the same semi-final as your home country is in. I presume more people are watching that one, but there are enough people watching both of them. – Glorfindel Jan 10 '23 at 07:54
  • The Big Five and the host nation can vote on both semi-finals because they aren't tied to the contesting countries and their votes aren't biased. This doesn't mean your reasoning for banning of contesting countries to vote on both semi-finals is incorrect. – Snack Exchange Aug 08 '23 at 11:10

1 Answers1

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I noticed you are only allowed to vote in one of the two semi-finals. What is the reason behind this?

Those are the rules.

The Contest format comprises three live shows: the First Semi-Final (Tuesday evening), the Second Semi-Final (Thursday evening), and the Grand Final (a Saturday night spectacular).

And

In the Semi-Finals, only those countries who took part in that specific show can vote (along with 2 or 3 of the ‘Big Five’ who are already in the Grand Final), whereas in the Grand Final, all competing countries can vote.

Source: How the Eurovision Song Contest works | Eurovision Song Contest

And you said:

if you're in the first semi-final, you could vote for poor contestants in the second one,

This is incorrect:

With the exception of 2 or 3 of the big 5 only countries who performed in that specific show can vote, so no votes for the other show.

why would the five permanent countries and the host nation be allowed to vote at all?

Again, they can only vote in the semi-final in which they participated (that why it says 2 or 3).

DavidPostill
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