Rotterdam 2021🇳🇱 Netherlands

🇳🇱 T-Mobile to issue refunds to people whose votes weren’t counted in the Grand Final

Some Dutch viewers reported problems with voting via SMS

T-Mobile have said that they will issue refunds to anyone whose vote was not counted during the Grand Final of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. Some voters in the Netherlands said that they received messages hours after the final had finished which said that their votes were not counted.

The telecom company have said that they are still investigating why the problem arose but that anyone whose vote wasn’t counted would now receive a refund. T-Mobile have declined to reveal how many people were affected by the problem. Initial reports surfaced of problems with the Dutch televote the day after the grand final.

No clear cause of the problem

A spokesperson for T-Mobile told ANP that an investigation is still underway regarding the problem with no direct cause currently found. The company’s system are not showing any clear indications as to why a problem arose on the night.

The problem affected some Dutch viewers who attempted to vote via SMS. Many of these affected voters received text messages between 01:00 and 05:00 CET on the Sunday morning following the grand final stating that the voting had already ended and their vote would not be counted. The only voters affected were customers of T-Mobile, who have around 6 million customers in the Netherlands.

The EBU have confirmed that the outcome of the Dutch televote will remain valid as they can only accept the points based on votes registered at the time. France was awarded 12 points from the televote, followed by Greece receiving 10 points and Iceland receiving 8 points.

Jeangu’s time on home ground

For 2020 and 2021, the Netherlands chose Jeangu Macrooy to fly the Dutch flag on home ground. In 2020, he was set to perform “Grow” before the contest was cancelled.

This year, he returned with “Birth Of A New Age” – a song he performed in both English and Sranan Tongo, the language of Suriname. As host nation, the Netherlands directly qualified for the final alongside the Big 5. Jeangu finished in 23rd place with eleven points, all from the juries. The contest took place in Rotterdam.

Were you affected by televoting problems in the Netherlands? Do you think the voting should remain valid?

Let us know in the comments below and on social media @ESCXTRA.

One Comment

  1. What about Russian televote who has registered by mistake all the confirmation messages people were ought to send, as votes for Cyprus, which resulted in an undeserved 12 points to them? Shame.

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