Eurovision voting set to move fully online for 2027

What the Eurovision voting change would mean for Irish fans

The European Broadcasting Union has confirmed it is investigating a switch to wholly online audience voting for the Eurovision Song Contest, replacing phone and text votes, in a change organisers hope will "dilute" the effect of "mobilised bloc voting", The Journal reported.

The EBU is understood to have written to broadcasters suggesting viewers pick their top three acts, a format meant to stop repeat voting for one contestant, RTÉ reported, citing BBC News.

Viewers can currently vote up to 10 times per payment method by phone, text or online — a cap the EBU already halved from 20 for this year’s contest.

"We can confirm that we have begun investigating a move to wholly online audience voting for the Eurovision Song Contest and more details will be announced in the months ahead," said in a European Broadcasting Union statement

The review follows concerns raised by several broadcasters in 2025 about social media posts on Israeli government accounts encouraging people to vote multiple times, and whether they swayed the result.

Ireland has its own stake in how the rules land: it was one of five countries, with Spain, the Netherlands, Iceland and Slovenia, that sat out this year’s contest after threatening to withdraw unless Israel was excluded over the war in Gaza.

For Irish viewers, who follow the contest on RTÉ, an online-only system would mean voting from a phone or laptop rather than dialling in, a shift RTÉ audiences have seen before, from a major change to RTÉ Player to sign-in requirements across its apps.

The EBU says more detail is due well before the 2027 contest in Burgas, Bulgaria.