Eurovision rip-off

In disbelief, television viewers in various (western) European countries saw last week's Eurovision Song Contest. In various countries voices were heard from audience, organisers and participants that the present set-up is not good to guarantee a fair competition. A Dutch MEP has suggested organising an EU song festival from Brussels instead of the present big joke. Most agree that quality of song and performance are no criteria in the allotment of points. Why otherwise would the Turkish participation always get 12 points in Germany.

However, in my opinion, the winner this year had a very good song and performance.

I noticed that the "televoting" cost in Malta was 30c while in the Netherlands it was 35 euro cents! Enquiries with the local telephone provider showed that the fee is set by the Maltese organisers of the programme.

Is it really necessary to rip off local fans with SMS prices double the rate paid by viewers in other countries, where people on average also earn much higher salaries?

Another interesting figure was that the television audience during the semi-final was 50 per cent higher than on the final night in the Netherlands, whose singer was also eliminated on Thursday night.