DOUZE POINTS THROUGH TIME
Eurovision voting history
The famous 12 points are only one chapter in a voting system that has been rebuilt repeatedly since 1956. Here is how Eurovision moved from secret juries to a global jury-and-audience scoreboard.
Why Eurovision scores from different eras are not directly comparable
A winning total depends on the number of participating countries and the voting rules in force that year. A score from the 1960s cannot be compared directly with a modern total that combines separate jury and audience points. Song Contest Radar therefore preserves the original scoreboard format on each yearly results page.
1956
Secret jury voting at the first Contest
Seven broadcasters sent two jurors each to Lugano. The voting was secret, juries could vote for their own entries, and the complete scores were never published. Only Lys Assia's victory for Switzerland was announced.
1957
The live scoreboard arrives
Each country had ten jurors and every juror cast one vote for a favourite song. Countries could no longer vote for themselves, and the points were shown live on screen for the first time.
1962–1964
Eurovision experiments with shorter point scales
The early 1960s brought rapid changes. In 1962 each country awarded 3, 2 and 1 points. In 1963 the national result used 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1. From 1964, juries had nine points to distribute among one, two or three songs, commonly as 5, 3 and 1.
1971
Two jurors score every other song
Each broadcaster appointed two jurors who rated every competing song except their own from one to five points. The format guaranteed every entry a substantial score but was criticised because jurors could use the scale very differently.
1975
12, 10, 8…1 becomes the Eurovision language
Stockholm 1975 introduced the familiar scale: 12 points to a country's favourite, 10 to second place, then 8 down to 1 for the rest of the top ten. The same point values remain at the heart of Eurovision today.
1997–1998
Viewers begin deciding the votes
Five countries tested televoting in 1997. The experiment worked well enough that from 1998 participating broadcasters were encouraged to use public televoting wherever possible, transforming the relationship between viewers and the scoreboard.
2009
National juries return to the Grand Final
Professional juries were reintroduced to balance public televoting. Jury and televote results each contributed 50% of a country's Grand Final result, beginning the modern era of combined professional and audience voting.
2016
Jury and public points become separate scoreboards
From Stockholm 2016, each participating country effectively awarded two sets of Eurovision points: one from its jury and one from its televoters. The jury 12s are announced by spokespersons, while the audience totals are revealed separately.
2027
Seven-member juries, audience voting and Rest of the World
The Burgas 2027 rules use seven-member national juries and audience voting, with the familiar 12-to-1 scale for each voting set. Audiences outside participating countries are aggregated into a Rest of the World vote, and juries are part of both Semi-Final and Grand Final voting.
What has stayed the same since 1975?
The exact mix of juries and viewers has changed, but the most recognisable part of Eurovision voting has survived: the top ten receive 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 points. A full set therefore distributes 58 points.
Current voting
For the current rules, including jury composition, audience voting, the Rest of the World vote and tie-breaking, use our current voting explainer rather than an older historical formula.
Other rules that changed Eurovision
The scoreboard was not the only rulebook element that evolved. Eurovision also moved between national-language restrictions and open language choice several times.
Primary Eurovision sources
This timeline is based on official Eurovision historical pages and current rules. Key milestones include the public scoreboard introduced in 1957, the 12-point system introduced in 1975, the first televoting trial in 1997, the return of professional juries in 2009 and the separate jury/public presentation introduced in 2016.