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Have you ever wondered how the televoting during the Eurovision Song Contest really works? You may get some answers below:

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For the last three years, juries and televoters in participating countries have together affected the results of the contest. Back in 2004, EBU wanted to centralize the televoting system and gave the responsibility to Cologne-based company, Digame.

Digame also handles voting on several popular German television shows but when it comes to Eurovision, it's far more complex.

When the voting starts after all the performances, viewers can vote by using their telephones. After fifteen minutes of voting, staff at Digame starts to work.

The SMS messages are processed by Digame in real time and the outcome of telephone calls from a range of telephone service providers from across Europe are sent to Cologne. All the votes are collected within a few minutes. When the votes are counted, they send the results to the broadcasters for spokespersons who will read them on television.

The results will be double checked in case of any mistakes.

Staff at Digame will know the winner before anyone else, even before the Executive Supervisor of Eurovision Song Contest. However, they are not allowed to tell anyone who the winner is.

Digame team leader Rene Klmiheit told Deutsche Welle that online voting is a realistic option in the future when we can be sure that voting is fair and secure. How the televoting system will look in the future is of secondary importance for the moment as the team is preparing for Saturday's final.

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SOURCE: DW, Digame, EBU, eurovision.tv

PICTURE: DW, blog.prinz.de, EBU