Voting discussion shadows Eurovision
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Hürriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mayıs 22, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - Armenian Public Television has claimed that the channel that broadcast the Eurovision Song Contest in Azerbaijan manipulated the voting process.
According to the Russian news agency RIA Novosti, APT says the Azerbaijani channel obscured the screen when Armenia’s tele-voting number was shown.
In this year’s contest, Azerbaijan gave no votes to Armenia, but Armenia gave one to Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani singer Aysel Teymurzadeh and her pop-star partner, Arash Labaf, delivered a third-place finish for their country.
The Armenian sister duo Inga and Anush Arshakyan came in 10th in the finals, behind Bosnia & Herzegovina Ğ an outcome that would not have differed even if Azerbaijan had given 12 points to Armenia. APT filed an official complaint with the European Broadcasting Union, alleging a serious violation of the Eurovision Song Contest rules.
The EBU said it could not comment about the claims, as they are yet unsubstantiated, but it is investigating the matter and will report on the outcome in the next few days.
In this year’s contest, Azerbaijan gave no votes to Armenia, but Armenia gave one to Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani singer Aysel Teymurzadeh and her pop-star partner, Arash Labaf, delivered a third-place finish for their country.
The Armenian sister duo Inga and Anush Arshakyan came in 10th in the finals, behind Bosnia & Herzegovina Ğ an outcome that would not have differed even if Azerbaijan had given 12 points to Armenia. APT filed an official complaint with the European Broadcasting Union, alleging a serious violation of the Eurovision Song Contest rules.
The EBU said it could not comment about the claims, as they are yet unsubstantiated, but it is investigating the matter and will report on the outcome in the next few days.