The Oxford Student - Official Student Newspaper


Academics from Oxford University have mathematically proven long held suspicions that the Eurovision Song contest is a fix. The team, led by Professor Neil Johnson of Lincoln College, compared statistical models of a contest where votes were fairly cast purely on musical merit with actual results over twelve years of the competition's history to expose the complex political allegiances and cliques at the heart of Eurovision.

The habit of close neighbours, such as Greece and Cyprus, Norway and Sweden, and Russia and Belarus of awarding each other maximum points in the contest, has long been a subject of controversy. Last year, television host Terry Wogan condemned the competition as "biased" and called on the Broadcasting Union to take action. The study was designed to ascertain how 'European' various countries were.

The Eurovision Song Contest was selected as the subject of the study because of its relative lack of economic and government bias. As such it was judged to be a good measure of compatibility between countries. Some of the findings, which were published in arXiv, an online archive more at home with papers on physics, were surprising. Britain, for example, was deemed more integrated into Europe than France, drawing votes from a far wider area.

However, this doesn't appear to have helped Britain's entry Javine, who was placed 22nd in this year's contest held in the Ukranian capital of Kiev. Sadly, however, Dr Johnson did not much enjoy the competition on Saturday. "Personally I didn't think much of any of the songs," he commented, professing that he does not watch it for the music, although he remains very fond of 1974's winner, Waterloo.

Gianfranco Fracassi is the webmaster of two popular free stuff web sites. You can find many subjects that will interest you. Check out this web sites at: http://www.isjustfree.com or http://www.freestuff4net.com







Related News



Husson College to become a university - Portsmouth Herald News

Husson College to become a university
Portsmouth Herald News, NH -15 hours ago
By AP At the stroke of midnight Saturday, the Bangor school will be renamed Husson University. At homecoming festivities earlier in the day, Maine Gov. ...


State school outshines private rivals - Independent

CollegeOTR

State school outshines private rivals
Independent, UK -10 hours ago
*Rafuku Kobuyashu: Cambridge, University College London, Imperial, London School of Economics and Royal Holloway. *Jitesh Mistry: University College London, ...
Degrees from top universities boost earning powerguardian.co.uk
Recognition where it's dueGlobe and Mail
Britons give California colleges the nodLos Angeles Times
Bloomberg - The Statesman
all 315 news articles

Amid protests, ban lifted on dorm displays at University of Texas - Dallas Morning News

ABC News

Amid protests, ban lifted on dorm displays at University of Texas
Dallas Morning News, TX -Oct 10, 2008
But the adamant protests of the College Republicans, University Democrats and other students caused officials to rethink the policy, said Jeff Graves of the ...
UT reverses punishment of students for political signHouston Chronicle
University Of Texas Decides Not To Punish Students For Obama ...CollegeOTR
Texas Targets Two Students Over Political Window SignsU.S. News & World Report
Politico - Houston Chronicle
all 214 news articles

Metabolic Syndrome Raises Colon Cancer Risk 75% - Washington Post

Metabolic Syndrome Raises Colon Cancer Risk 75%
Washington Post, United States -12 hours ago
The finding stems from an analysis conducted by Scott Tenner and his colleagues from the State University of New York and New York College of Osteopathic ...
Lung cancer in non-smokers a separate diseaseReuters
all 11 news articles

Virginia Tech To Host Climate Change Summit; Hundreds Of Youth ... - WTKR Your NewsChannel 3

Voice of America

Virginia Tech To Host Climate Change Summit; Hundreds Of Youth ...
WTKR Your NewsChannel 3, VA -15 hours ago
... Radford University, George Mason University, Northern Virginia Community College, University of Mary Washington, Virginia Commonwealth University, ...
Can one school's college democrats change a state from red to blue?College News
Republicans hope to improve their campaign grade by going back to ...Irish Times
College students face barriers to votingDetNews.com
Bloomberg - Barre Montpelier Times Argus
all 61 news articles

Fired professor in noose incident sues Columbia - The Associated Press

1010 Wins

Fired professor in noose incident sues Columbia
The Associated Press -8 hours ago
NEW YORK (AP) — A black Columbia University teacher who reported finding a noose on her door is suing the New York City school for firing her after a ...
Professor in Columbia noose sandal sues over firing for plagiarismNew York Daily News
Fired Professor Madonna Constantine Sues ColumbiaCU Columbia Spectator
Fired Professor In Noose Incident Sues Columbia U.WNBC
all 140 news articles

College gets grant to improve teaching in low-performing schools - Sacramento Bee

College gets grant to improve teaching in low-performing schools
Sacramento Bee,  USA -2 hours ago
... and Claremont Graduate University and Pomona Unified. The grant to Chico State's School of Education and College of Natural Sciences in partnership with ...
Feather River College and Chico State try new degree programCentral Valley Business Times
CSUCI enrollment period will end Nov. 30Camarillo Acorn
all 4 news articles

ND University System Chancellor Bill Goetz, Bismarck, column: ND ... - Grand Forks Herald

ND University System Chancellor Bill Goetz, Bismarck, column: ND ...
Grand Forks Herald, ND -4 hours ago
... the 2009-11 budget request also limits four-year university tuition increases to no more than 4 percent per year and holds community college tuition ...

Usrey to leave dean’s post at Friends University - Bizjournals.com

Usrey to leave dean’s post at Friends University
Bizjournals.com, NC -18 hours ago
The dean of the Friends University College of Business, Arts, Sciences, and Education will be the next president of a Lithuanian university, ...
University of Memphis digs deeper to meet budget cutsMemphis Commercial Appeal
all 9 news articles

Tenn. college student charged in e-mail threat - The Associated Press

CollegeOTR

Tenn. college student charged in e-mail threat
The Associated Press -Oct 9, 2008
(AP) — A 19-year-old student at Middle Tennessee State University has been arrested on terrorism charges after threatening e-mails forced the cancellation ...
Video: Tennessee Student Charged With TerrorismAssociatedPress
all 387 news articles