Place of points at the ESC 2025: How does the voting system work?

Glomex!

« Germany: Zero Points ». This is the mocking saying that the critic of the ESC likes to announce in this country. It has its origins in Germany’s more than poor success story in the past decades. In the allocation of points, Germany went away empty -handed than with most other participants. Improvement in sight? Already in 2023 there were 18 points for the red lantern, and in 2024 our act with sensational 117 (!) Even scored in 12th place. It was Isaak Guderian with « Always on the Run », which has achieved the best German result in Malmö on May 11, 2024.

But how does this voting system work? Here we explain how the points awarded by the individual countries are composed. You will also find out how the announcement of the points at the ESC Finale 2025 works.

Point award at the ESC Finale 2025: This is how the voting system works

The awarding of points at the ESC Finale is a science in itself. In national singing competitions such as « Deutschland sucht den Superstar », either the jury or the audience vote on the points awarded. At the ESC, on the other hand, there are various coordination procedures for the individual competition sections and a mixture of jury and audience votes. Before the final, the participants will be in the two competitions Semi -finals 1 and Semi -finals 2 divided. Only the countries are eligible for the preliminary decision that also take part in the corresponding semi -finals.

However, Germany does not have to face this procedure. Together with Italy, France, Spain and Great Britain, the Federal Republic is one of the so -called « Big Five ». As the largest donor in the competition, these are automatically qualified for the final. In contrast to the semi -finals, all countries participating in the ESC 2025 are entitled to vote – even if they are eliminated in the semi -finals. The individual nations may not vote for themselves only for themselves. The points you missed are made up of the voices of an expert jury and the televoting. In each country, a jury consisting of music experts and interested laypersons is commissioned to evaluate the individual appearances. The jury then awards 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point (e). All other countries do not receive any points.

After each country has given the points of its expert jury, the points from televoting are added. This has been around since 1998. Since the jury’s awarding points can differ significantly from that of the audience, it remains exciting until the end. Because a good rating by the audience can mix the ranking list shortly before the end.

If there is a points between several countries at the end, further factors decide. First, it is compared from how many countries the candidates have received points. If this is not enough, the number of maximum ratings is consulted. Thereupon the number of awarding ten points, then 8, and so on. If all of this does not lead to any result again, the candidates are simply placed according to their start number.

Here again the procedure at a glance:

Jury voting (50 % of the overall ranking)

Li): Relative List-None (&> Li): PL- (1.2EM) (&> Li): Marker: Text- (0) (&> Li): Relative (&> Li): Before: Absolute (&> Li): Before: W-3 (&> Li): Before: H-3 (&> Li): Before: BG-fire (& Li): Before: LEFT-0 (&> Li): Before: Top- (8px) (&> Li): Before: Rounded-Full My-5 « >
• In every participating country there is a five-member jury (mostly music professionals).
• They do not rate the songs during the live final, but in the dress rehearsal the evening before (the so-called « jury final »).
• The jurors individually award points: 12, 10, 8–1 points to their top 10 (without voting for their own country).
• These points are added, and this results in the country’s jury voting.

Televoting (50 % of the overall ranking)

Li): Relative List-None (&> Li): PL- (1.2EM) (&> Li): Marker: Text- (0) (&> Li): Relative (&> Li): Before: Absolute (&> Li): Before: W-3 (&> Li): Before: H-3 (&> Li): Before: BG-fire (& Li): Before: LEFT-0 (&> Li): Before: Top- (8px) (&> Li): Before: Rounded-Full My-5 « >
• The audience coordinates during the show by phone, SMS or ESC app (depending on the country).
• Here, too, the voices are collected and converted into points: 12, 10, 8–1 points for the most popular contributions – again not for your own country.

Points in the final

Li): Relative List-None (&> Li): PL- (1.2EM) (&> Li): Marker: Text- (0) (&> Li): Relative (&> Li): Before: Absolute (&> Li): Before: W-3 (&> Li): Before: H-3 (&> Li): Before: BG-fire (& Li): Before: LEFT-0 (&> Li): Before: Top- (8px) (&> Li): Before: Rounded-Full My-5 « >
• First, each country announces the jury points-traditionally moderated by a live or video pokes (« Germany, 12 points go to … »).
• After that, all televoting results are summarized and announced one after the other-from very few to most points.

Changes since 2023/2024

Li): Relative List-None (&> Li): PL- (1.2EM) (&> Li): Marker: Text- (0) (&> Li): Relative (&> Li): Before: Absolute (&> Li): Before: W-3 (&> Li): Before: H-3 (&> Li): Before: BG-fire (& Li): Before: LEFT-0 (&> Li): Before: Top- (8px) (&> Li): Before: Rounded-Full My-5 « >
• Non-participating countries (rest of the world) can also vote via online voting. These voices are considered « an additional country ».
• HEMPINAL: Only the audience decides who comes to the final (no jury in the semi -finals – except for tiebreaks).

ESC 2025: This is how the announcement of the points is distributed

Just like the allocation of points, the announcement of the distribution of points has changed over time over time. Originally, all points awarded by the respective experts jury were read to the audience. But over time, the number of participating countries increased. In the meantime even takes Australia Part of the ESC. Therefore, the process had to be shortened. In the ESC 2025 it is now the case that the representatives of the countries only read the country that has received 12 points from the jury. This prevents the score from drawing too long and the ESC transmission This blends the time frame.

The announcement of the points from the jury classification is followed by that of the audience voting. How many points the individual countries have received from the audience is announced in turn by a moderator team. The order is based on the placement of the nations after the jury rating. This can certainly lead to some surprises if a participant from the midfield suddenly takes the top through an outstanding result in the audience voting.