Nordic Circle

The Nordic countries - Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden - are among the most common examples given of a Eurovision voting bloc: a group of countries that regularly award one another high points. Statistical studies of the 2001-2005 results point to regional bloc voting, but how much of it comes from diaspora voting, cultural closeness, shared musical taste or politics is debated. Former Eurovision TV director Bjorn Erichsen argued that bloc voting does not decide the outcome, noting that Russia's 2008 win needed points from thirty-eight countries.