How Australia lost out in the final few seconds of Eurovision

AUSTRALIA’S Dami Im was romping home. Then, in the final seconds of the vote count, Ukraine surged into the lead.

Dami Im — winner to us. Picture: AFP PHOTO / JONATHAN NACKSTRAND

WE. WUZ. ROBBED.

That was the inescapable feeling for many Aussies watching yesterday’s 2016 Eurovision Song Contest, after our own Dami Im — a clear leader for the majority of the vote count — was suddenly overtaken by Ukraine in the final seconds.

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It was a new voting system this year, with an opaque ‘50/50 split vote’ delivered separately for the first time. As each country’s score was announced, Australia was still far out in front — favourites Ukraine and Russia needed several hundred votes apiece to overtake us.

Oh all right Ukraine rub it in why don’t you. Picture: AFP/Jonathan Nackstrand

The problem was, this new voting system was opaque to even the experts — SBS commentators Julia Zemiro and Sam Pang admitted they weren’t entirely sure how many votes could be awarded during the jury section.

Eurovision themselves explain this confusing new voting system thusly:

“In previous years the results of the professional juries and viewers have been presented as a combined result, each accounting for 50 per cent of the final score. From 2016, the professional juries and televoters from each country will each award a separate set of points from 1 to 8, 10 and 12. This now means the top 10 countries in both the jury and televote will receive points, adding a new level of excitement for hundreds of millions of viewers in Europe and beyond.”

Excitement for some, disappointment for others.

The world’s most graceful runner-up, Dami Im. Picture: AFP/Jonathan Nackstrand

“After the presentation of the scores from the juries, the televoting points from all participating countries will be combined, providing one score for each song. These televoting results will then be announced by the host, starting with the country receiving the fewest points from the public and ending with the country that received the highest number of points, building towards a guaranteed climax.”

So, basically: each nation received a score from both the jury and the public vote, which were then combined with a 50/50 split to work out the final score. Clear as mud, right?

Robbed. Australia should hold a referendum to leave the EU... #Eurovision

— Justin Stevens (@_JustinStevens_) May 14, 2016

Ugh. Australia and Russia were robbed. RT @Eurovision: And the winner is...... UKRAINE! #Eurovision https://t.co/EVe6lkeTkL

— Taufiqur Rizal (@TarizSolis) May 14, 2016

WE. WUZ. ROBBED.