UK: British press reports the "vote rigging scandal"!

These allegations, and they are still allegations at the moment, have been rife for some time and now the British press are even reporting it. This blogger actually feels pretty sad at the moment - our contest is becoming more and more of a sham and a joke.

The Mirror reports that an anonymous executive (who worked behind the scenes in Malmo) was contacted by several broadcasters as they were keen to do "dodgy deals". Bonnie Tyler, who came 19th respectably, gave an interview to a French newspaper where she is supposed to of overheard a Russian delegation ask why they didn't get the votes they paid for. Another "insider" has said that the Macedonian delegation wanted to do a deal a week before the contest was even held. Meanwhile, the DailyMail have reported the Azerbaijani delegate offered 'enough money to live for a year' in an exchange for points... Maybe I'm being a bit sensitive here but I'm really quite upset. It also looks like Macedonia and Azerbaijan aren't the only countries who payed for votes, according to the Mail another four countries also wanted to use underhand tactics. I'm guessing Malta is one of these - they've awarded Azerbaijan 12 points since 2010 although this has been denied by the Maltese delegation..

In an opinion column in the Daily Mirror, Cheryl Baker (one quarter of Bucks Fizz) said:

You'll always get people voting for their neighbour, but taking money, I think that's shocking, a travesty. It's turning a really joyous occasion into something really sordid and nasty.

It does look like members of the Azerbaijani delegation paid some Lithuanian students (and gave them free SIM cards) to vote for Azerbaijan - a video surfaced ages ago. The EBU are keen to get to the bottom of these allegations though, as Sietse Bakker informed...

Our investigation into the allegations towards Azerbaijan is still ongoing. We have a very clear policy on such ­speculations. First of all, we always look into the story. If necessary, we investigate further. And if we would find actual proof that the rules have been breached, we will impose firm sanctions and do everything we can to avoid it in the future.  

I remind you that nothing has been proven. Innocent until proven guilty, huh?