Voting in the Eurovision Song Contest
| Author | Daniel Stockemer,André Blais,Filip Kostelka,Chris Chhim |
| Published date | 01 November 2018 |
| Date | 01 November 2018 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0263395717737887 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/0263395717737887
Politics
2018, Vol. 38(4) 428 –442
© The Author(s) 2017
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DOI: 10.1177/0263395717737887
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Voting in the Eurovision
Song Contest
Daniel Stockemer
University of Ottawa, Canada
André Blais and Filip Kostelka
University of Montreal, Canada
Chris Chhim
McGill University, Canada
Abstract
The Eurovision Song Contest is not only the largest song contest worldwide but also probably
the world’s largest election for a non-political office. In this article, we are interested in the voting
behaviour of Eurovision viewers. Do they vote sincerely, strategically according to rational choice
assumptions (i.e. for the song they believe will be the likely winner) or for another song? Using
data from a large-scale survey carried out in Europe, we find interesting voting patterns with
regard to these questions. Roughly one-fourth of the survey participants would vote for either
their preferred song or for the song they think will win. However, the percentage of strategic
voters is lower (11%). In contrast, many individuals (i.e. 36% of participants) would vote for
another song, one that is neither their preferred song, the likely winner, nor a rational choice.
The reasoning behind these remaining votes may include neighbourhood voting, ethnic voting, and
voting for one’s favourite European country.
Keywords
Eurovision, strategic voting, voting
Received: 13th November 2016; Revised version received: 26th March 2017; Accepted: 7th August 2017
Today [the Eurovision Song Contest] is a magical place where (mostly) European countries
come together to battle one another using insanely elaborate costumes (and nudity), glitter,
and fireworks instead of bombs and guns.
Vox World (2016)
Corresponding author:
Daniel Stockemer, University of Ottawa, 120 University, Ottawa, ON K1N 6G2, Canada.
Email: dstockem@uottawa.ca
737887POL0010.1177/0263395717737887PoliticsStockemer et al.
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