Rotterdam 2021🇳🇴 Norway

🇳🇴 NRK comments on reports of voting issues during MGP final

Norwegian news website VG has reported that several viewers had problems voting during the Melodi Grand Prix final yesterday, which saw TIX selected as the Norwegian act for Rotterdam. NRK has replied saying that the result was verified and all votes were counted.

NRK’s Head of Audience Products Inge Thorud blamed the problems on the large amount of people accessing the website. The system interpreted this large amounts of voters as suspicious activity, meaning some people were unable to cast their vote.

Voters told to ‘reload the page’

Despite some voting problems, Thorud assured viewers that the number of people that could not vote was very small compared to the total 2 million votes that they received.

The scope has been very small compared to the total number of users who voted yesterday, and has not affected any of the results in the three rounds of voting.

– Inge Thorud, speaking to VG

While trying to submit their votes on the MGP website, some viewers were faced with a message telling them that “something went wrong, try reloading the page [or] try to delete cookies”.

It is not the first time that Melodi Grand Prix has faced voting problems. Last year, a back-up jury had to select the four ‘gold finalists’ after the website crashed during the first voting window in a debacle which some fans described as “scandalous”. Also, some viewers voting via old iOS and Android operating systems faced voting problems in semi-final 1 and semi-final 2 this year.

Result “confirmed and verified”

Thorud also added that NRK were pleased to see so much support for the acts and the show throughout its six-week run this year.

We are very pleased with this year’s MGP, and its register of great enthusiasm among the audience.

– Inge Thorud, speaking to VG

He was also questioned by the news outlet about international voting. The vote is intended for Norwegian citizens only – including those living abroad. Despite the issues raised by VG, Thorud assured fans that the result was “confirmed and verified”, and that “little and not significant activity” was found internationally during last night’s vote.

Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021

After winning last night’s Melodi Grand Prix, TIX will represent Norway in Rotterdam with “Fallen Angel”. He faced KEiiNO in the Gold Duel, beating the group by just under 100,000 votes.

Hailing from Bærum, just outside of the Norwegian capital, TIX is one of Norway’s most popular artists at the moment. He had his first major breakthrough in 2015 with “Sjeiken” which became a party anthem at Norwegian high school graduations that summer. In 2018, he co-wrote “Sweet but Psycho” which became a global hit for Ava Max.

Did you experience voting problems during the show last night? Are you happy that TIX won?

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

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button