Voting

[Semi42]

The build up to the Eurovision sparked a memory from either late 80s or early 70s of what I thought was from the Eurovision voting process but googling and watching countless “top 10 moments /greatest hits/controversies “ clips and tv programmes on Eurovision ,I’ve concluded it must not have been as there was no mention of it.

the scene in question was , as I vaguely recall , a voting panel , consisting of various foreign judges, was called upon in turn ,to say the scores of each contestant.
There was one judge , possibly Italian, who wanted the show to be about him and him only. Every time it was his turn to score, and got camera time, he got more and more flamboyant , being more and more ridiculous as the voting went on.
anyone remember this?

[George 1978]

There are old ESCs on YouTube and I am sure that Semi was referring to something around 1973 when they had the "Blankety Blank"-alike panel of judges from different countries giving the scores (perhaps Wogan's game show hosting was inspired by that methinks?) The system back then seems more complex than what we have got used to in the past few decades.

Eurovision also got a mention on the 100 Greatest TV Moments from Hell (well, the Norwegian entries at least, showing a clip of the 1978 equivalent of James Newman, aka the late Jahn Teigen wearing red "Bobby Ball" braces and matching trousers, crooning "Mil Etter Mil" for nul points), as well as one or two others. I only saw TV Heaven back then, not TV Hell so I wouldn't know.