Rest of the World in the Eurovision Song Contest
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In 2023, the Eurovision Song Contest introduced a "Rest of the World" vote in which viewers from non-participating countries could cast votes for their favourites, with their votes aggregated and presented as one individual set of points, equivalent to one participating country.
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Background and introduction
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The first vote for viewers from non-participating countries in a Eurovision event was introduced at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2014, where international audiences were invited to vote for their favourite entries via a dedicated website. The online vote was intended to determine the recipient of a special award rather than affect the contest results, with the winner to be presented with a trophy;[2] however, the award was ultimately not presented after the voting website crashed.[3]
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest replaced traditional televoting with an online vote in 2017, allowing viewers to vote regardless of their country of residence. Jon Ola Sand, then-executive supervisor of both the Eurovision Song Contest and Junior Eurovision Song Contest, stated that a similar system could be introduced to the adult contest in future editions.[4]
On 22 November 2022, the European Broadcasting Union announced that, beginning with the 2023 contest, viewers from non-participating countries would be able to vote in all shows, with their votes being aggregated and presented as one individual set of points under "Rest of the World". Those viewers would be able to cast votes via the online platform Esc.vote, which requires ownership of a credit or debit card for verification.[5][6]
The introduction of the "Rest of the World" vote altered the balance between the jury and public vote, giving the latter a slight majority of approximately 51% to 49% in the overall result, instead of the previous equal weighting.[5]
Voting
Points awarded by the Rest of the World
| Score | Semi-final 1 | Semi-final 2 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 points |  Israel |
 Albania |
Israel |
| 10 points |  Finland |
 Armenia |
Finland |
| 8 points |  Latvia |
 Austria |
Armenia |
| 7 points |  Sweden |
 Australia |
Sweden |
| 6 points |  Portugal |
 Slovenia |
Albania |
| 5 points |  Czechia |
 Belgium |
 Ukraine |
| 4 points |  Moldova |
 Lithuania |
 Norway |
| 3 points |  Croatia |
 Iceland |
Croatia |
| 2 points |  Serbia |
 Estonia |
 Spain |
| 1 point |  Malta |
 Georgia |
 France |
| Score | Semi-final 1 | Semi-final 2 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 points | Ukraine |
Israel |
Israel |
| 10 points |  Ireland |
 Netherlands |
Ukraine |
| 8 points | Croatia |
Armenia |
Croatia |
| 7 points | Slovenia |
Estonia |
Ireland |
| 6 points |  Luxembourg |
 Switzerland |
Switzerland |
| 5 points | Lithuania |
 Greece |
Armenia |
| 4 points | Serbia |
Georgia |
Luxembourg |
| 3 points | Portugal |
Norway |
Greece |
| 2 points | Australia |
 San Marino |
France |
| 1 point | Finland |
Czechia |
 Italy |
| Score | Semi-final 1 | Semi-final 2 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 points | Albania |
Israel |
Israel |
| 10 points | Ukraine |
Latvia |
Albania |
| 8 points | Iceland |
Czechia |
Ukraine |
| 7 points | Sweden |
Greece |
Greece |
| 6 points |  Poland |
Finland |
Sweden |
| 5 points | Portugal |
Lithuania |
Finland |
| 4 points | Estonia |
 Denmark |
Poland |
| 3 points | Norway |
Malta |
Spain |
| 2 points | Croatia |
Australia |
Estonia |
| 1 point | Netherlands |
Ireland |
Austria |
| Score | Semi-final 1 | Semi-final 2 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 points | Moldova |
 Bulgaria |
Bulgaria |
| 10 points | Israel |
 Romania |
Moldova |
| 8 points | Poland |
Ukraine |
Ukraine |
| 7 points | Serbia |
Albania |
Romania |
| 6 points | Lithuania |
Australia |
Israel |
| 5 points | Finland |
 Cyprus |
Albania |
| 4 points | Croatia |
Czechia |
Greece |
| 3 points | Greece |
Switzerland |
Finland |
| 2 points |  Montenegro |
Latvia |
Australia |
| 1 point | Belgium |
Denmark |
Poland |
Detailed voting results
2023
| R/O | Country | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Austria | 13 | |
| 02 | Portugal | 20 | |
| 03 | Switzerland | 26 | |
| 04 | Poland | 23 | |
| 05 | Serbia | 22 | |
| 06 | France | 10 | 1 |
| 07 | Cyprus | 24 | |
| 08 | Spain | 9 | 2 |
| 09 | Sweden | 4 | 7 |
| 10 | Albania | 5 | 6 |
| 11 | Italy | 15 | |
| 12 | Estonia | 25 | |
| 13 | Finland | 2 | 10 |
| 14 | Czechia | 17 | |
| 15 | Australia | 12 | |
| 16 | Belgium | 14 | |
| 17 | Armenia | 3 | 8 |
| 18 | Moldova | 11 | |
| 19 | Ukraine | 6 | 5 |
| 20 | Norway | 7 | 4 |
| 21 |  Germany | 16 | |
| 22 | Lithuania | 19 | |
| 23 | Israel | 1 | 12 |
| 24 | Slovenia | 18 | |
| 25 | Croatia | 8 | 3 |
| 26 |  United Kingdom | 21 |
2024
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2025
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2026
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Contributing countries
Since the introduction of the "Rest of the World" vote in 2023, the EBU has annually revealed, in no particular order, a list of around ten non-participating countries that provided the highest total number of votes across all live shows. As of 2025[update], seven countries have appeared on the list in every edition in which the vote has been used: Canada, Hungary, Mexico, Slovakia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States. Of these countries, Hungary, Slovakia, and Turkey have previously participated in the contest.
| X | Appeared in the top voting countries list – Countries identified by the EBU as being among those that contributed the highest number of votes to the "Rest of the World" result across all shows in that year's edition |
| X | Previously participated – Countries that had participated in the contest in the past, but not in the respective edition, and which were among those contributing the highest number of votes to the "Rest of the World" result across all live shows |
| Did not appear in the list – Countries that may have voted as part of the "Rest of the World", but were not identified by the EBU as being among the countries contributing the highest number of votes | |
| † | Ineligible – Countries that were unable to vote as part of the "Rest of the World" as they participated in the contest in that edition and therefore voted independently |
| Country | 2023[20] | 2024[21] | 2025[22] | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bulgaria | X | † | ||
 Canada | X | X | X | TBD |
 Chile | X | TBD | ||
 Hungary | X | X | X | TBD |
 Kosovo | X | X | TBD | |
| Luxembourg | X | † | † | † |
 Mexico | X | X | X | TBD |
 New Zealand | X | TBD | ||
| Romania | † | X | X | † |
 Slovakia | X | X | X | TBD |
 South Africa | X | X | TBD | |
 Turkey | X | X | X | TBD |
 United Arab Emirates | X | X | X | TBD |
 United States | X | X | X | TBD |
| Total no. of countries/territories that voted[b] | 107 | 119 | 109 | TBD |