Turkey’s broadcaster TRT indicated that the country may not return to the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The country has been quite successful in the last decade which included a victory in 2003 as well as six additional Top 10 placings. However Turkey unexpectedly withdrew from the contest citing dissatisfaction with the introduction of a mixed jury/televote voting system and the current status of the “Big Five”.
Based on their most recent statements their position has not changed and according to Ibrahim Sahin unless the EBU gets rid of the Big 5 as well as the juries, Turkey will not be in Copenhagen. “Five countries directly entering the grand final in this competition is unfair. If this system continues, we will not take part”. The statement continues “”We are waiting for changes to the current voting system before a final decision is reached. Time is not over yet however, there is still a chance we can participate next year”
Whether or not Turkey will follow through with it remains to be seen but considering their most recent actions it wouldn’t come as surprise. With one of the best track records in the recent past, the sudden attitude change towards to contest came as a surprise and a lot of fans from Turkey and abroad are upset by the broadcaster’s attitude. The social media is already buzzing and it’s expected to get only worse closer to the deadline.
The readers for ESC United recently discussed the Big 5 situation which can be found HERE
The EBU has not officially responded to the Turkish demands but it is unlikely that they will comply with either of the two requests.
What are your thoughts on this? Is Turkey doing the right thing by not taking part to make a point or are they over reacting? Share your thoughts with us and join us HERE for detailed discussions.
Jael Summers
September 19, 2013 at 16:21
Even though this Big 5 is unfair, Eurovision needs the money. However, Ace had always said that countries who do not qualify for the final should take it in turns to gain qualification each year. If a country never qualified, they would be top of the list to be in amongst the big 5 and hosts the following year. But a country who hasn’t qualified for, say, 10 years, may have to wait for some years unless they did qualify in the meantime.
This may help to stop countries from leaving the contest because they can’t qualify.
I would like to see Luxembourg back, but also Czech Rep, and Andorra, Slovakia and so on.
ESC_vienna
September 16, 2013 at 15:53
I think it’s strange & sad that Turkey cries out loud. Those people, who have their people spread all over Europe and vote for their OWN SONG – which is by the way aganst the rules – but they call certain rules “unfair” ….???? OMG ….
Zack
September 15, 2013 at 22:18
Turkey actually usually gave quite their 12 points every year to Azerbaijan since Azerbaijan entered in 2008. So losing Turkey is a bad thing for Azerbaijan. It gives them at the least, a 2 point advantage over everyone else…
Roy van der Merwe
September 15, 2013 at 06:53
Personally I donot miss Turkey that much, their absence makes AZERBAIJAN do even better
Gerry Avelino
September 14, 2013 at 23:39
I saw the link to this news on Facebook and my only reaction was to sadly exclaim “nooooo…….”