ESC 2022 analysis
Surprise: Only one jury gave Germany last place – that’s why there were still zero points
Waiting in vain for jury points: Malik Harris is sitting in the green room in Turin and following the scoring
© Jens Büttner / DPA
Zero points from the juries: This is the meager result of Germany and Malik Harris at the ESC 2022 in Turin. But the data analysis shows that the juries rated him better than it seems.
Last again. This time even with zero points from the juries. With Malik Harris and his “Rockstars” at the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Germany did even worse than many had feared. The fans and the German delegation at least hoped that his singing talent would be recognized by music experts all over Europe. In vain. But the data analysis shows that he was rated better than the overall result suggests.
The jury voting makes up 50 percent of the overall result at the ESC. A total of five music experts from each participating country make up the national juries. Everyone ranks through all 25 titles. The results are then added together and a joint national jury result is created. On Sunday, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) published the individual votes from each country and each jury vote. With an amazing result.
Only an ESC jury put Harris in last place
Only one of the 40 juries gave Harris last place, namely Finland. Everyone else saw him further ahead, some even in good midfield. Australia and Austria saw the 24-year-old German in 11th place. He was only one rank short of a points classification from these two countries. Croatia ranked him 12th, North Macedonia 13th, Israel, Spain and Latvia 14th. Overall, many juries saw him in midfield. Despite this, Harris ended up receiving zero points in the jury result.
Why is that? The zero points are due to the point system and result from arithmetic. Because only those who make it into the top ten of one of the juries receive a point. Unfortunately, Harris did not succeed. This point principle is often referred to as “The winner takes it all”. A system in which all candidates receive the points that correspond to their ranking would be fairer.
Criticism of ESC scoring for years
As early as 2014, after Ann-Sophie (“Black Smoke”) placed last, there was criticism of the ESC’s point system. The total number of points to be awarded was then doubled. The probability of getting no points at all has become smaller. But it still cannot be ruled out. Switzerland, for example, was penalized with zero points from the audience vote this year. Here Harris received at least six points. Small consolation.
Note: A first version of this article stated that no jury gave Harris the final ranking. That’s wrong. We corrected the mistake.