The results continue to come in from our third annual survey of Eurovision fans across the globe.
Last week we gave you details on who the average fan is, this week we look at the views people have on the Contest including the country's participating and the scoring system.
We also break down the results by Australian fans, United Kingdom fans, other European fans and fans from the Rest of the World. We separated UK only because of the large volume taking part in this survey.
These are the results:
Fans support debut for Kazakhstan and Kosovo
We asked fans "Which of these would you support entering Eurovision?" with Canada, China, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and the United States as options.
The support for both Kazakhstan and Kosovo was incredibly strong, while others were somewhat lacking.
Results from all fans surveyed were:
86% for Kosovo
84% for Kazakhstan
38% for Canada
14% for China
14% for the United States
Support for Kosovo was highest among Australian fans (90%) closely followed by the UK (89%). The rest of Europe (excluding UK) was lowest at 82%.
Currently Kosovan broadcaster RTK can not become a member of the EBU as they must be members of International Telecommunications Union which requires United Nations Membership. Kosovo isn't recognised by the UN.
Nevertheless, in 2011 Kosovo did take part in Eurovision Young Dancers back in 2011.
Those backing Kazakhstan were strongest from fans part of 'Rest of the World' (outside of Europe & Australia) at 89%, while Australia and the UK were both at 87%. Europe was lower, but still high, at 78%.
Kazakhstan has competed at Junior Eurovision in 2018, 2019 and 2020 finishing runner-up on two occasions with performances that have impressed fans. As an Associate Member of the EBU they have yet to be invited to take part
The only majority of support for any other nation came from 'Rest of the World' fans for Canada at 56%.
The lowest support for Canada, China and the United States came from the United Kingdom (29%, 9% & 10% respectively).
Surprisingly the Americans in the Rest of the World group also didn't support their nation's debut, only 20% of fans from the USA wanted to see themselves at Eurovision.
Fans most want Turkey to return
We also gave fans an option of choosing one country to return to Eurovision, with Turkey coming out a comfortable winner. The results were:
Turkey - 37%
Luxembourg - 15%
Hungary - 14%
Bosnia and Herzegovina - 13%
Andorra -8%
Montenegro - 6%
Slovakia - 5%
Morocco - 3%
Fans are happy with the current scoring system... just
We also asked fans what they thought of the current scoring system. Should it stay as it is, or would they prefer an alternative?
The were the results:
53% want the current scoring system of 50/50 split with the points done separately
9% would prefer the previous scoring system of 50/50 split but the points combined as one
26% would like a split that includes the jury but favours the televote higher than 50%
2% would like a split that includes the televote but favours the jury
8% want a return to 100% televote
0.2% want a return to 100% jury
So there is majority support (53%) for the current scoring system, but only just. If it were to fall under 50% we doubt Eurofans would come to agreement on a new method based on these result!
Support has dropped 7 percentage points from 60% in our last survey so it is one to keep an eye on. The grumblings appear to be about juries with those backing more televote involvement increasing.
In terms of regional differences, Australia was the only region who had the current scoring system in the minority at 43%. While UK and Rest of the World were strong at 62% and 68% respectively.
Australia was also more likely to want the previous scoring system (16%), perhaps as we all know Dami would have won under that in 2016, But also the most likely to want a split that favours televoters. 34% of Australian fans wanted this compared to only 19% in the UK and Rest of the World.
Support for a returnt to 100% televote system was highest among Europeans (excluding UK) at 11%.
Strong support for Australia's participation continues
Each year we ask fans if Australia should be in the contest. The results in 2021 were:
Yes, permanently - 86%
Yes, but for a limited time - 4%
Not sure - 7%
No - 3%
Support for permanent participation stayed steady at a very high 86% of all fans (including Australians), but up significantly from 62% back in 2018 when we first polled fans.
Those saying that Australia should not be in Eurovision dropped again this survey to only 3%. This is down from 4% last year and 6% in our initial poll.
Support was highest among, surprise surprise..., Australians at 90%, with Rest of the World on 88%, United Kingdom on 85% and the rest of Europe on 82%.
The highest against Australia taking part was 5% from Rest of the World, while Europe (without UK) was lowest on 2% (yes even Australia was higher on 3%).
Favourite Australian song among fans?
As an Australian based site we had to ask all fans what Australian entry was their favourite, and it was closer than you might think!
The results were:
Dami Im - 'Sound of Silence' - 30%
Kate Miller-Heidke - 'Zero Gravity' - 28%
Guy Sebastian - 'Tonight Again' - 23%
Jessica Mauboy - 'We Got Love' - 9%
Montaigne - 'Don't Break Me' - 7%
Isaiah Firebrace - 'Don't Come Easy' - 3%
Although Dami Im was the overall fan favourite, she wasn't an outright winner in any region.
Favourites (with many draws) were:
Australia: 'Sound of Silence' and 'Zero Gravity'
Europe: 'Tonight Again'
UK: 'Tonight Again', 'Sound of Silence' and 'Zero Gravity'
RoW: 'Zero Gravity'
Additionally Europe was more likely to go for 'We Got Love' (12%), UK & Europe more likely to go for 'Don't Come Easy' (4%), while 'Don't Break Me' was most popular among the Rest of the World (11%).
What would people change about Eurovision?
Each year we ask fans in an open commentary field what one thing they would change about Eurovision if they could.
We of course get the make it less political, make UK have better entries and this year definitely "had bring back Jon Ola Sand!"
But in terms of themes of how the show and contest is run, these were the most common (not in popularity order):
Allow live instruments on stage
Allow more people on stage
All backing vocalists must be on stage
Bring back the need to sing in local language
Bring back the orchestra
Expand the amount of countries taking part
Increase timing of songs beyond 3:00 minutes
Increase the amount of people in a jury
Read out more than the 12 points
Remove the Big 5 rule
Whether any of these are likely to happen,is another story.
This is the second article in our series of our Eurovision Fan Survey 2021. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to keep up with more insights in the next few weeks.