The Eurovision Song Contest was started in the 1950s with the noble aim of bringing the countries of Europe together after WWII.

But many of the competition's regular viewers have more than a sneaking suspicion that all is not equal when it comes to the voting patterns.

From Scandinavian mutual back-slapping to former Eastern bloc favouritism, the accusations of bias usually come thick and fast as soon as the judges register their scores.

The introduction of a combination of televoting and jury votes has altered voting patterns but, according to Dr Derek Gatherer, it has not ended regional bloc voting.

He has made a statistical study of how Eurovision votes are cast, in the hope of finding out what's really going on.

Under the voting system used, countries award their ten favourite songs with marks which rise from 1 to a maximum of 12.

Using his calculations, Mr Gatherer predicted Russia would win the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest.

The BBC's Eurovision page has details about this year's contest

Video journalist: Tom Beal