Macedonia Police Foil Bid to Rig Eurovision Vote

Police in Macedonia are questioning four people in relation to attempts to rig the voting for Eurovision.

They include a music producer, a song writer and one of the owners of the company that organized the televoting at the Skopje song festival on Thursday.

"We have determined that they carried out coordinated and organized activities, preparing [mobile phone] SIM cards and telephone devices, so they could send a large number of SMSs during the vote," a police spokesman said.

The group was allegedly after the prize fund of 45,000 euro, offered by the organizer of the Skopje festival, Macedonian Radio and Television.

"There are no signs that Macedonian Radio and Television was involved in the scheme, or was aware of what was going on," police said.

Police said they foiled the plan on time so that it did not influence the voting process.

The winner at Thursday's festival was a relative newcomer to the stage, Daniel Kajmakoski, with a song called "Autumn Leaves". Tamara Todevska ranked second with a song called "Sinking Ship".

Kajmakoski's team denied any connection to the crime allegations. "Neither I nor my team work under such principles," Kajmakoski's manager wrote in response.

Kjmakoski will represent Macedonia at the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna.