00:04Hello and welcome to The Cube, Euronews' fact-checking show.
00:08Now, as viewers tuned in to the Eurovision final this weekend,
00:11scrutiny over the contest voting system gave way to fabricated allegations
00:16that the competition was secretly rigged by Finland.
00:19One viral TikTok post, allegedly written by a Eurovision security guard,
00:23claimed the winner had been chosen in advance
00:25and that Finland had offered around 16 million euros to win the contest.
00:30But this claim did not hold up.
00:31Finland finished sixth, with Bulgaria taking the crown.
00:35Eurovision organizers told us in advance of the show that the post was false information.
00:40It also goes against how Eurovision says its voting system works.
00:44The final result is made up of two separate parts,
00:46professional jury votes by each country and public votes.
00:50Viewers can vote for their favorite acts online or by phone for a small fee,
00:54which is then processed through telecom operators and national service providers.
00:58The final result is combined with the jury scores,
01:01with the winner being the contestant with the most points.
01:04That's not to say Eurovision's voting system hasn't been free from controversy.
01:08Investigations have recently raised questions about Israeli government-linked campaigns
01:12that encourage the public to vote for Israeli acts.
01:15Several countries also boycotted this year's competition due to Israel's participation.
01:20Eurovision organizers later tightened rules and issued a formal warning to Israeli broadcaster Khan
01:26over promotional videos urging viewers to vote 10 times for Israel's act.
01:30Users have a maximum of 10 votes.
01:32Finland was widely projected to be a favorite to win in the run-up to the competition,
01:37meaning this post likely aimed to go viral if the Nordic country had indeed won.
01:41While Eurovision continues to face scrutiny,
01:43giving way to online speculation over influence campaigns,
01:47there aren't any credible reports of predetermined winners or countries outright buying the contest.
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