I was going to wish everyone a happy new year, but writing this took so long that I'm not sure I still can do it. But just in case, happy new year everyone!
First, a quick announcement: as you can see I'm posting this under a new account. This is because I post A LOT in my other account and many of my posts are NSFW, which was creating trouble for people who wanted to search for my other drama posts, so I made this account to make things easier. Don't worry, none of the past posts are gone. I'll keep a pinned post in my profile with a neat index of all my
/HobbyDrama posts.
Second, this is the kind of year that needs a disclaimer: Back then I got caught in the drama and I had (and still have) some strong opinions about what happened, so when you read this post remember that I may be biased even when I try not to.
(And of course, after proofreading the text I just had to make a typo in the title. /*facepalm)
The usual glossary for people who may not be so familiar with how things are in Eurovision:
- Eurovision:
The Gay Olympics An international music contest in which most countries in Europe and some not in Europe take part. - EBU: European Broadcasting Union, an international body made by many national broadcasters that organizes Eurovision and sets its rules.
- TVE - Radiotelevisión Española, the Spanish national broadcasters that represents Spain at Eurovision.
- Juries: Panels of alleged music experts who vote, both in Eurovision and in national finals.
- Televote: Vote by the public, usually done by phone/SMS and in some cases by internet, both in Eurovision and in national finals.
- National final: A televised show in which a national broadcaster selects their representative, usually with vote by the public.
- Internal selection: When a national broadcaster doesn't hold a national final, an instead appoints an artist to represent them.
So, let's get started. At the end of my last post, we left Spain in the mid-2010's
flip-flopping between internal selections and national finals every couple years and finding that none of that seemed to work, mostly because the work after they chose the song was not really there.
Nevertheless, in 2017 Spain decided to do a national final again, starting with an online call that yielded 392 songs. To avoid another Chikilicuatre situation, the first thing they did was filter them through a panel of judges that picked 30 that would take part in an online selection process ran by a group of fans of the contest.
The most notable contestant in this stage was Brequette.
Remember her? After narrowly missing the spot in 2014, she was one of Barei's backing singers in 2016 (I absolutely forgot about this until I was writing this post. Shame on me.) and now she came back with
No Enemy, a song she and Barei had written together, and I have to admit it was really good and smartly playing all of her strengths. Since she also was carrying the torch of a painful and narrow defeat, the fans instantly wanted her to do well.
After ten days of voting, 55,000 votes had been received. For comparison, the online phase in 2008 had over 300,000 votes and in 2009 and 2010 it had over two million votes. Part of this was that this received very little promotion, and that (for reasons I'll explain later) the stakes here were pretty low.
The top ten songs in the internet vote qualified to the next round. Surprisingly, despite the fan love Brequette only qualified in third place. In this round, the entries were sifted again through a jury panel that chose three of them to qualify for the live final.
And here's where things start to get weird. The winner of the first round,
Nito, not only didn't qualify but placed dead last with zero points from the juries. Brequette didn't qualify either (although she placed fourth). At the end the three qualifiers were
Javián,
Fruela and Vanesa Cortés, better known as
LeKlein, a DJ that was most notable as the girlfriend of
Patricia Yurena, the first ever Miss Universe contestant to come out as a lesbian (This is not relevant to the post, by the way. I just thought you might like the trivia). There was some criticism for dropping Brequette, but it came mostly from hardcore fans. The rest of the public felt that was part of the process, let's move on.
This all happened in the second half of December in 2016. In early January a live final was held with a winner decided exclusively by online vote. LeKlein got 63% of the vote, and therefore she won... a pass to the next round of the competition.
What, did you think things would be straighforward? First rule of this year: NO.
Turns out this whole trick and pony show was to pick a wildcard for the real final, which is why neither TVE nor the public cared that much about it, even if it got a lot of praise for doing a quite decent show with almost no budget. The real final would be a month later, where LeKlein would face five other artists internally chosen by TVE. Time to meet them:
First we had Mario Jefferson, a one-member boy band with a couple hits under his belt, coming with
Spin my Head. Then Paula Rojo, a country singer and probably the most notable contestant leading to the national final, with
Lo que Nunca fue. Then Maika Barberó, a rock singer and probably the least notable contestant leading to the national final, with
Momento Crítico..
Usually I would link their performances in the national final, but turns out TVE didn't care enough to upload them. They were the bottom three of the final and most of them don't matter that much for this post. As long as you remember who Mario is you're fine.
Then Mirela, who was not at all a stranger to trying for Eurovision. In 2004
she had tried to participate in Junior Eurovision placing second to María Isabel
who won the whole thing that year.. She tried to represent Spain in Eurovision in 2007 with
La Reina de La Noche, placing second, in 2008 with
Stronger, not reaching the final, and in 2009 with
Nada es Comparable a Ti, placing fourth. This year she was trying with
Contigo, a very tropical Spain-by-numbers song.
Then, Manel Navarro, a relative newcomer to the musical scene that had released his first singles the previous year and entered
Do It For Your Lover, which was kinda... reggae influenced surfer pop, dare I say? He had released it earlier that year and it was already bubbling in the charts.
And finally, LeKlein.
You may notice Mario and Manel were singing partly in English and LeKlein had zero Spanish in her song. Maybe RAE protested like they did in previous years, I'm not sure. To be frank, with all that happened this year no one paid attention if they said anything. I recall that the radio version of Manel's song was entirely in English but he added some Spanish for the national final, though.
Mirela and Manel quickly positioned themselves as the frontrunners. Maybe Paula could have a chance to beat them because of her fame but her song was perceived to be too weak, and anything that wasn't either of them going to Eurovision would have been a big upset.
Mirela's supporters nicknamed themselves (ourselves, I was there) #TeamSenosAlAire, which means #TeamBoobsOutInTheAir. (It was because of the intentionally misheard lyrics at the start of Contigo, "Sueños al Aire/Dreams Out in The Air"). Manel's supporters, in an amazing display of creativity, nicknamed themselves #TeamManel.
There was a bit of debate before the final. Manel's fans thought Mirela's song was too stereotypical, going for Spanish clichés, and that she was maybe a bit too desperate to go to Eurovision. Mirela's fans thought Manel's song was too bland and relying on foreign clichés, and that he didn't have that much of a personality. But still, even with the tension and rivalry, the fandom was civil.
The final was planned for February 12th, and it was only a day and a half before that TVE published the rules and the juries and all hell broke loose:
- One of the juries was Javier Cárdenas, a radio host that pretty much hates Eurovision and is stuck in the El Chiki Chiki era, which along with some racist and classist opinions makes him very despised by the fandom.
- Another was Virginia Díaz, a reasonable prestigious TV and radio presenter.
- And finally, Xavi Martínez, a radio host that had been campaigning heavily in favor of Manel, had invited him to interviews in his shows and promoted his song in his programs. He worked for Los 40, a channel renowned for basing its song rankings on label deals instead of popularity and that had a promotional deal with Manel.
Also, there were a couple changes with the rules:
- In previous years, the juries voted at the same time the public did and locked their votes before the televote was revealed, so none of them could influence the other. This year, they would retire to deliberate after the televote ended and then reveal their votes. So, they would be able to adjust their votes based on the results of the televote.
- In previous years, in case of a tie for first place, the tiebreaker would be the televote (This played in 2009 and 2014, sending Soraya and Ruth. Here you can see Ruth's victory). This year, the tiebreaker would be a show of hands by the jury.
Remember, this was published on a Friday, for the final that would take place in Sunday.
Most of the fans instantly called this sus. Even looking at this with the best spirits it seemed that TVE was tilting things heavily in favor of Manel, by putting a jury that was guaranteed to push him to the top and two more juries with close ties to TVE that could push its narrative, and giving the juries the final say just in case.
The conspiracy theory was that, since Manel had recently signed with Sony Music, they were interested in raising his profile and had pulled some strings to make sure he would go to Eurovision and TVE was playing along with it. I have to admit it seems more plausible than other years, although it's never been confirmed.
Manel's fans countered that juries were allowed to have their opinions about the songs and that Xavi had never openly stated that Manel was his favorite, he had only said that he liked the song, and that if anything, TVE was to blame for putting him in the jury.
Here you can see a tweet of Xavi one month before the final, in a photo with Manel, saying
"It's beautiful to be part of the birth of a star. Long live talent and live music. Enjoying you from the start, Manel. You can see in the replies people right after the announcement that he was a jury, asking him "Who will get your top marks tomorrow? I still can't figure it out", asking him if he and Manel were fucking, and calling him disgusting and a sellout.
Manel's competitors complained too. Several did it anonymously, according to a leak in the press, but at least Mario Jefferson
posted a tweet indirectly calling it out. TVE's response was that they had already been informed of the rules and had accepted them. (Although they found out about the juries along with everyone else)
And because one drama was not enough, the day before the final
all the artists complained that the TV setup was riddled with technical problems, the lighting was bad and the sound was barely acceptable, and that the stage had been so poorly planned that they wouldn't be able to show well at the same time for the cameras and the juries.
And because two dramas were not enough, the very same day the winner of 2009, Alexander Rybak,
revealed that he had received a last-minute invitation to appear as a guest in the final, with around 30 hours to travel to Spain and get ready. He obviously said
thanks but no thanks, and other fans
unearthed tweets of TVE trying to contact other artists, presumably with the same purpose. TVE was quite ridiculed for this, particularly because the head of delegation had stated multiple times that they had began working towards 2017 the day after the 2016 contest ended.
By the way, one thing that fans do every years is obsessively check the odds in the bets to win Eurovision and try to guess how well or bad the year will go by how the odds behave. This year, right before the national final, Spain was last. That is, no one believed that any of the songs in the national final had an actual chance at Eurovision.
Remember, all of this happened in pretty much a day and a half. (I missed most of that because I was on vacation with my family and only turned it up to watch the final and I still noticed how bad it was and how biased the juries were)
But enough setup and backstory. Let's dive into the drama.
The final was BAD. TVE only bothered to upload the performances of
Manel,
Mirela and
Leklein but the audio was very rough and the stage looked cheap, bare, and with a nostalgic vibe reminiscent of
Eurovision 1993. I wish they had kept Mario's performance because he was the only one that managed to make the stage look good...ish.
In the prior two days, when discussing Xavi's support for Manel, the fans of Manel had said that he would play fair, maybe even refrain from giving Manel top marks because it could be too blatant.
First rule of this year: NO.
He basically offered Manel a record deal in the middle of the final, gave him his highest mark, and he gave his lowest mark to Mirela. The second jury, Virginia, also put Manel in the top and Mirela in the bottom, and the third jury, Javier Cárdenas, gave his top mark to Mirela and his second top mark to Manel. Overall, Manel ranked first with the juries with 34 points, while Mirela was joint third with 22 points.
Then it came the televote.
Look how happy Manel and Mirela were during the voting. Mirela won with 36 points and Manel was third with 24, so they tied for first place at 58 points and it came down to a show of hands by the juries, with Xavi and Virginia voting for Manel and Javier for Mirela, which meant Manel won... a pass to the next round of competition.
No, I'm just kidding. This was the real thing. Manel won the right to represent Spain at Eurovision.
A large part of the public began whistling, booing and shouting accusations of fraud, to which Manel responded with a
bras d'honeur.. I don't know how familiar you are with this gesture, but it's only slightly more polite than flipping them off. The last time something like that happened in a Spanish national final was with John Cobra back in 2010, and Cobra was... well, Cobra.
This was probably the most chaotic and worst managed national final in Spain. With Cobra they were just taking out a troll but the public, hosts, juries and contestants were all on the same page. Here the public was split in two sides going at each other's throat while one of them was also raging against the juries and the winner.
Also, a man in the public tweeted that Xavi had been assaulted when he was trying to leave the hall. Anyway, plot developments on the next two days:
There was
a press conference to formally present Manel and no one from TVE, not even the Head of Entertainment Toñi Prieto, who had been in charge of organizing and overseeing the national final, went there. They just left Manel to deal with that alone.
In the press conference Manel apologized for his gesture, saying that he had acted on the heat of the moment. It was revealed that
Prieto's daughter worked at Sony and was part of Manel's promotion team.
A Twiter hashtag asking for Prieto to quit or be fired from her position became the #1 trending topic in Spain. At some moments there were three different hashtags against her in the top trends.
Mirela's grandpa died. (
I am NOT making this up)
Manel's defenders blamed the reaction of the public saying that it was full of eurofans and fans of Mirela that were sore losers because their favorite had lost. (Eurofans is basically a stereotype of gay dudes who live for Eurovision and will fall head over heels over the first diva they find. Think me, then add a lot of glitter.)
Xavi, who was getting most of the blame for the results, penned
an open letter defending his decisions, reiterating that the contestants had been informed of the rules and had accepted them, explaining that he had promoted Manel before even knowing that one would be in the final and the other would be a jury, that people should have protested when they knew the rules (
Reminder: they had basically a day and a nalf *on a weekend** to do so and when the artists protested they were shut down*), challenging everyone who accused him of rigging the voting to come forward with proof and saying that he wanted nothing to do with Eurovision again.
He confirmed that a member of the public had assaulted him and he had to resort to the hall security to make it out safely.
His co-judge Virginia also confirmed it. Some fans replied with a similar challenge: If (as he said) the assault had been filmed, he should press charges. As far as I know he never did it. There was a rumor that the aggressor had been
one of the songwriters for LeKlein but he denied it.
People scoured Xavi's twitter looking for every single interaction with Manel and his team to help the narrative (including a dinner with Manel several weeks before the final and getting Christmas gifts from Manel's manager). They also found
a video recorded from the public in the national final showing someone that seemed to be Xavi celebrating Manel's win. At the end it was never confirmed if it was indeed Xavi, but the general consensus was that it was someone else.
A journalist that had been sitting backstage
released a video with is own perspective saying that things had been even more tense than it had shown on TV and that the conflict hadn't just been that the public had been filled with eurofans or supporters of Mirela. There were supporters for all the artists and all of them had split along the vote with a majority siding with Mirela. While he didn't confirm the assault to Xavi, he described a scenario in which it was very credible. And this will sound lame after all that, but he also noted that they had been given sparklers to light during the performances, but no means to light them, just to put an extra nail in the coffin of the organizers.
Several petitions to disqualify Manel were launched, and
most of them were closed the same day when their organizers received threats from other fans.
Let's introduce, because why not, yet ANOTHER player. Nicky Triphook was a singer that took part in the online phase of the competition with
Daddy's Little Girl and had failed to advance past the second jury round, which somehow left him with an axe to grind towards TVE. He had already
criticized Xavi's presence in the juries (you know, the kind of thing Xavi said nothing had done) and called him
shameful, he had
accused Manel's girlfriend of shouting insults to others in the final, and when Xavi asked for proof of the rigging, he
published a purported screenshot of a conversation where, allegedly, one month before the national final someone told him that it was already decided that Manel would go to Eurovision. He didn't give any other information, he didn't speak up before, and it was the kind of thing that was pretty easy to fake, but still a lot of people took the accusations and ran with them. Some took it even further, saying that
all the artists knew it but they had still done it for the exposure.
At least Mario Jefferson took issue with that..
And finally,
a member of the Spanish Parliament put up a motion of inquiry requesting the heads of TVE to clarify what had happened to generate that level of controversy, how had they allowed it to happen, and whether they would keep Manel as a representative. A week later
Toñi Prieto was formally cited to testify before congress.
At the end this came down to a scapegoat. TVE
published a communication defending their decision, saying that they had not broken any of the rules of Eurovision, and also (say it with me) that the artists had been informed of the rules
two days before the final and had
protested but been ignored accepted them. And Federico Llano, the Head of Delegation (that is, the one in charge of everything Eurovision-related in Spain, responding directly to Toñi Prieto) resigned after fourteen years in that position. That was enough to satisfy Congress.
Overall, even if there had been no conflicts of interest, this came up as horribly mishandling the optics. It would have been much better to accept this looked bad, say they would take measures so it wouldn't happen again, and then send Manel anyway.
There was a small part of the fans that felt the entire process of the national final had been so rotten that it was unsalvageable and it would be better to cancel the whole thing and send LeKlein (who at least had won the online phase without that kind of controversy), but again, nothing came out of it.
In a now-deleted interview, LeKlein also levelled her own accusations of vote rigging, which were
denied by Manel.
During the months leading to Eurovision, Manel had to endure a level of bullying and hate that no other Spanish contestant had ever received. Threats, comments in all his social media posts calling him a thief and asking him to quit, wishes for him to place last, fans asking in social media not to vote for him, accusations of sexism because
the official video for the song had several shots of a girl's ass... you name it, it happened. And to be fair to him, save for that first outburst in the night of the final, he handled it rather well.
Probably the dumbest controversy in that time was that the music video had ben shot in a cloudy day. Yup. People took issue with that. Because it was supposed to showcase the best side of Spain and they were surfing and that means SUN. And here again, Nicky Triphook came in with the hot take that the video hadn't been shot in Spain, but in the
Canary Islands. Which are part of Spain. And Spaniards are very touchy about the unity of their country, for
political reasons that we won't talk about, so the fans
jumped to his throat until he clarified that he meant that the WEATHER in the Canary Islands was not the same as in mainland Spain. Crisis averted. 👍
The divisions of the fandom continued during all this time. In one side people attacking the results and convinced that it all had been rigged, and in the other people saying it had all been fair and Mirela's fans were sore losers that had to learn to let go, and they also blamed Mirela for not asking her fans to stop. There were also some guys who thought Mirela was so bad that they were okay with rigging things if that meant she didn't go to Eurovision (If you ask if those were amongst the ones who claimed foul and were all for fair play because of
the allegations of playback in Junior Eurovision, the answer is OF COURSE).
This also sparkled a debate about the general criteria Spain uses to choose their artists. There were comments that Spain had wanted to internally select Manel but they didn't want to face criticism because he didn't have much trajectory, so a final tilted in his favor could be seen as an undercover internal selection, and there was a heated debate about how the Spanish public sometimes has too high standards for the kind of artists they want, which in turn makes credible artists not want to do anything with Eurovision and that leaves spain scraping the bottom of the barrel.
Manel went to several of the pre-contest parties (There are usually six: Amsterdam, London, Madrid, Tel Aviv, Riga and Moscow, but Riga and Moscow are smaller and usually have mostly or only artists from Eastern Europe), he striked a very nice friendship with
Nathan Trent from Austria and Imri Ziv from Israel (If you like shirtless men as much as I do, by all means go to Imri's Instagram. You're welcome), and overall he arrived to Eurovision... not in the best spirits, but in some kind of spirits at least. He was working with Hans Pannecoucke, a stage designer famous for the staging of
the runner up in 2014, which is one of THE mythical stagings in Eurovision, and although no one expected him to do something that good, people were expecting a reasonable quality level.
A couple days before the final TVE finally released the voting data of the national final, showing that Mirela got
more than twice the votes of Manel, because somehow THAT was the perfect moment to do that.
For financial reasons, Spain automatically qualifies to the final, so Manel didn't have to deal with semifinals.
In the final, the performance was... there.
Well, I think it was a performance.. The staging wasn't bad but it wasn't extraordinary either, the backing musicians were standing in front of their instruments and you could hear them in their microphones, the lights were on and sometimes they even moved and changed colors, the backing track was playing and the cameras were rolling. In summary, there were things happening on the staje, but not interesting things. Neither Pannecoucke not Manel delivered. It was a very forgettable performance, which probably the worst thing you can do in Eurovision. Being really bad or wacky at least can make people remember you.
Manel sounded a bit nervous but in general acceptable, until he didn't. Right before the last chorus,
he had one of the worst voice cracks ever in the history of the contest which was probably the most memorable moment of his entire performance.
Then it came the moment of the votes. Since 2016 a new voting system was in place, in which juries and televote give their votes separately and the final score is the sum of both votes. Manel placed last with the juries with no points, and people were preparing for another zero score in the televote.
Now, if you're going to place last in Eurovision, particularly with such a controversial entry as Manel and in a country that has a hate/love relationship with the contest heavily tilted towards hate, it's better to place last HARD. Getting also a zero score from the televote would have meant that from 82 voting bodies that could have voted for Manel (41 other countries in the contest, with a jury and a televote each) he had managed to get none of them to vote for him. It would have been quite a feat.
First rule of this year: NO.
There was a country that got a zero in the televote, but it wasn't Spain. It was Austria, represented by Manel's buddy Nathan Trent. (
Which was a fucking robbery, by the way.) Manel got five points all from Portugal, which still kept him in last place but without even the bragging rights of a complete zero.
Interviewed right after the contest, he said there was nothing he would self-critique, and the Spanish head of delegation also stated that they saw no need to change anything for the following years. Even the public that had been indiferent towards Manel took a stand ridiculing him.
The voice crack got a remix and
multiple parody videos and social media was filled with messages mocking him.
Suddenly, that song and result became something absolutely no one wanted to touch. The yearly talk-show that airs right after Eurovision in Spanish TV to discuss the show and the results was cancelled without even an announcement. This is how much everyone wanted NOT to talk about it.
Manel himself said tried to distance himself from his own participation, saying that
he had written the song when he was 15 and had tried to submit other song instead, implied that he had been forced to go with that one, and said that the whole surfer image he had since the national final had been mostly a character created for TV.
Everyone decided to scapegoat the result on the voice crack (although the juries had voted with the rehearsal of the night before without a voice crack, and still had decided that Manel deserved zero points) and more generally on Manel's performance and lack of experience.
TVE basically left him alone, publishing an editorial titled
Spain places last after Manel's voice crack. The day after the final
Xavi tweeted that the performance and result were "unforgivable" and when he was reminded that he had voted for Manel he tried to discharge responsibility on
all three judges plus the public vote of the national final, and a couple days later he stated that
supporting Manel had been a mistake and the song was not right for Eurovision. (At least
Mario Jefferson came forward to defend Manel. That's something, I guess.)
In the following weeks there was
another Congress inquiry that had the same results as the first one (spoiler: NOTHING), and multiple calls for the dimission of the heads of TVE that achieved also nothing.
And the reaction for a large part of the fandom could be sumed up in a massive
"TOLD YOU SO". (I know I did. I read my old posts about this.)
There was a lot of recrimination amongst fans, still divided between blaming Manel, blaming the lack of support towards Manel, saying that Mirela would have been better, saying that it didn't matter because she was bad... the only thing all the fans agreed was saying that TVE sucked.
Besides blaming Manel, lots of people also blamed Mirela. If only she had stopped her fans from attacking Manel and making him so unsure of himself his voice had cracked... if only the controversy hadn't made this a PR disaster for TVE and Spain... nevermind that hours before the final
she had tweeted in support for Manel, this was more likely a provocation to throw him off balance and a PR move to make herself look good.
A couple months later, asked about the reports that
TVE had blacklisted Mirela from all their shows, Manel commented that
it wasn't her fault, but it was a natural consequence of the actions of her supporters. As something only tangentially related, while I was browsing old forum posts to unearth all this drama (and there was A LOT, I literally skimmed around 300 pages between the national final and the aftermath, plus Nicky Triphook's entire twitter timeline), I found
this sketch that is probably one of the funniest eurovision-related things Spain has ever done. If you don't recognize the girls there it has Soraya, Ruth, Edurne, Rosa, Massiel, and at the end Mirela trying to get in. If you speak any Spanish, give it a try.
I have to confess, writing this was a cathartic experience for me. (This paragraph is mostly my personal perspective, if you allow me) As I said at the beginning, I got caught in the drama and still disliked Manel, but after writing this I mostly feel sorry for him. Seems he was offered a sand castle and then got discarded once he outlived his usefulness to Sony and TVE. Regarding the blame, I would say if you follow the threads you always end up at TVE. Yes, all the harassment Manel had to endure took a toll on him, but there was a whole machinery behind that could have prevented it or tried to stop it and did nothing. Yes, at 20 and with little experience, Manel was one of the greenest contestants Spain had ever sent, but TVE could and should have covered up for his lack of experience. The same year Belgium sent a seventeen year-old reject from The Voice that
reached top 4 and in 2010 Germany won with a nineteen year-old with
basically zero experience, because their TVs put the kind of work that TVE would never put in.
I still dislike Xavi, though.
So, to wrap things up, where are they now?
So far, TVE has complied with their promise of making no significant changes and the results have followed. 2020 was the beginning of a change but we never got to see it in action because the contest was cancelled.
Nearly all the participants in the national final have kept on with music careers, except for Maika that became a youtuber with very extreme opinions about Eurovision that basically no one agrees with.
Brequette still hasn't gone to Eurovision.
Xavi has continued working in radio and was a judge in later editions of the X Factor.
Mirela moved on to do musical theater, and
said that this was a very painful experience for her and she probably won't be willing to go through that again but doesn't completely rule it out.
Manel, surprisingly after all he went through and how damaged his image was after Eurovision, still has a music career. He has released several singles per year and while none of them has been a hit, he still has more a career than, say, Barei. Which is not much but it's something.
He also opened up about how bad things were during and after Eurovision. Oh, and Nicky Triphook had a change of heart and now he loves Xavi and thinks he's an amazing person. So, that's it for this post. Stay tuned for the next couple years, or how letting shippers pick your entry based on their ships is probably not a good idea.
Y'all phones bout to crash!
65. 1957 - Netherlands - "Net als toen" by Corry Brokken (winner of 1957). The winning entry of the very second Eurovision contest. The first couple years were pretty dull, to be honest, but this seems like a logical winner, even if I'm not sure what was the standard of quality at the time. The violin part is sort of nice, but that's the most I can say about this little lullaby. Score: 4/10
64. 1956 - Germany - "So geht das jede Nacht" by Freddy Quinn (placement unknown). I'm almost ready to call anyone who says "50s Eurovision had great songs" a liar. At least in the first two years it's filled with boring songs, and even knowing the titles for at least 10 years and going through every song every once in a while, I still struggle to hum the melody of about half of these songs from memory. This song, at the very least, is fast paced and you can actually say that this is the only song of its kind. I respect this, but I don't necessarily love this. Score: 4/10
63. 1960 - United Kingdom - "Looking High High High" by Bryan Johnson (2nd place). A memorable tune in a largely unmemorable contest. UK were the saviour in the 60s Eurovision, usually sending a song that's easy to sing along to, and this one has some little charm to it. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be done with rants about the boring years for a while. Score: 5/10
62. 1962 - Spain - "Llamame" by Victor Balaguer (nul points). While this song has a nice tune, and some Spanish charm, it registers as "just ok" for me and is just the best song in a very poor year. Still - pretty shocking that this song wasn't good enough for at least some points. Score: 5/10
61. 1964 - Luxembourg - "Des que le printemps revient" by Hugues Aufray (4th place). One thing I like to look for in Eurovision songs is some cultural signatures. And call me cray-cray, but I kind of hear a little bit of Johnny Cash, a little bit of US country ballads, and I get the picture of a guy sitting in saloon, playing this guitar, drinking sasparilla in the breaks, and a bar fight is about to break loose. The song does what it sets out to do pretty well. But - for me to love this, it needs to offer a lot more. Score: 5/10
60. 1968 - Norway - "Stress" by Odd Borre (13th out of 17, shared by two other countries). This is also a fun little number, and even interesting to me. What pulls me to this song? Why I chose this instead of the Troubadours of Dubrovnik? I'm not really sure, but this song really keeps me on my toes, and it deserved much more than meager 2 points, that's for sure. Score: 6/10
59. 1961 - Switzerland - "Nous aurons demain" by Franca di Rienzo (3rd place). Again, a tough choice between this and the winner, "Nous, les amoureux" from Luxembourg. I find the chorus to be charming, even a little bit captivating, but I don't know... a more gut-wrenching finish maybe? Still, far superior to most of the early chanson-types. Score: 6/10
58. 1973 - Luxembourg - "Tu te reconnaitras" by Anne-Marie David (Winner). Arguably, the most commanding winner of all time, exploiting the scoring rules at the time and racking 80% of the available points. Also, one of the more beloved winner of its time. So why so low? Although it is structurally very sound and the message is pretty strong, I just can't describe this song as something "special" to me. Score: 6/10
57. 1977 - Greece - "Mathima Solfege" by Paschalis, Marianna, Robert and Bessy (5th place). A song that excellently showcases what 70s eurovision was about - lovable gimmicks. I really like this, although I have overlistened to this a bit too much and grown a bit tired of hearing it, my feet still moves along to the "Do Fa Fa Fa". Score: 6/10
56. 1987 - Ireland - "Hold Me Now" by Johnny Logan (Winner). I just made it seem like 1987 was my least favourite year of the 80s, didn't I? Well, there are couple years I care a lot less than this one, because there is more than one song I like here - Israel's performance is still something I show everyone who think they have figured Eurovision out, and Italy was nice too. But this is one of the more quintessencial winners of Eurovision, even if a bit overplayed. Score: 6/10
55. 1978 - Israel - "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" by Izhar Cohen (Winner). Or, as Terry Wogan would say, "I wanna be a polar bear that wears a bra". 70s were a lot of fun, but it still lacked that song I could say "Yes, this is the one I love". Winner, however, is without a doubt very worthy and deserving, a true disco masterclass. That breakdown might be the best part of the whole song. Score: 6/10
54. Luxembourg - "Poupee de cire, poupee de son" by France Gall (Winner). One of the eurovision great winners, a quintessential ye-ye classic. Not necessarily what I'd listen on daily basis, but a must-have in every video that showcases the history of Eurovision. Score: 6/10
53. Norway - "Do Re Mi" by Jahn Teigen (shared 9th). Here's the hot take, everyone - Jahn Teigen never sent a bad song to Eurovision. I really enjoy all three of his appearances, and this one is particularly charming. My favourite, however, is the gut-wrenching "Adieu". Alas, 1982 had a different winner for me. But still a great song. And that's another song I put in this top where the chorus is basically just calling out notes. Score: 6/10
52. 1985 - Israel - "Ole Ole" by Izhar Cohen (5th place). My pick of a rather boring 1985 - while 1970s were all about fun and atmosphere, 80s were about... I don't even know to be honest, the middle years were just a little too lost in identity crisis. But a former winner Izhar "Jewish Richard Simmons" Cohen brought us some fun back, with the Israeli tradition of doing a full choreographed number while standing so close together that would make a 2020 watcher uncomfortable. Bravo! Score: 6/10
51. 1984 - Italy - "I treni di Tozeur" by Alice and Franco Battiato (6th place). I think for a 1984 song this is held in high regard, and for a good reason. Some mystique in here, which is always welcome for me. An Italian classic to me. Score: 6/10
50. 1992 - UK - "One Step Out of Time" by Michael Ball (2nd place). So I was struggling to figure out my favourite for 1992 - while other shows in 90s had a standalone favourite for me, or two even, 1992 just had... Michael Ball. However, the song is pretty good and very well performed, and at the last chorus I actually want to join in on him. Score: 6/10
49. 1999 - Cyprus - "Tha'nai Erotas" by Marlain (2nd... from the bottom?). Believe it or not, this was one of the pre-contest favourites to win. The most modern, current song Cyprus had attemptet up to then, and it does sound even better after 20 years, to be honest. The last bridge is the best part of the song, and somehow it still wasn't enough to propel this song to the heights it deserved. What happened? Did someone accidentally wrote the country's name as "Sweden"? Score: 7/10
48. 1988 - Italy - "Vivo (ti scrivo)" by Luca Barbarossa (shared 12th). One of the songs that shouldn't be doomed to irrelevance, but alas. Maybe it was trying too hard, with the electric guitars? Still - I love it not as an Italian classic, but as a very beautiful love ballad, with a very captivating chorus. Give it a listen and tell me, do I need my ears changed or is this something actually good? Score: 7/10
47. 1971 - Finland - "Tie uuteen paivaan" by Markku Aro and the Koivisto sisters (8th place). One of the first songs that told us "Yo, 70s bout to be real fun". Even though the staging reminds me of something very dated and the local musicians doing performances for closed events, there is something working very well in that chorus. Score: 7/10
46. 1976 - France - "Un deux trois" by Catherine Ferry (2nd place). Yes, "Save Your Kissed for Me" is a very worthy winner, and a very well known even here in Latvia. But this song just edges this one out in the 1976 contest, which itself is quite dear to my heart - I remember checking the whole show out on a whim while being hangover after Midsummer celebration (a big deal here, I'd say even bigger than Christmas. I'm not joking). Hearing most of the '76 songs for the first time, I was pleasantly surprised at the time how much I liked them, and this one stood out as the particular favourite for me. I'm gonna repeat myself, guys - check out 70s eurovision, if you haven't already! Score: 7/10
45. 1991 - Italy - "Comme e ddoce o mare" by Peppino di Capri (7th place). Italy has won and therefore also hosted the contest two times - once in Naples, in 1965. And the other time was in 1991, in Rome. And it seems kinda funny to me, that the only song in Neapolitan was showcased in the Rome contest. However, what a beautiful song that is. It's fascinating to sing along to, and although the pace of the song is a bit slow, the bridge is one of the most stunning things in the decade. Score: 7/10
44. 2011 - Iceland - "Coming Home" by Sjonni's Friends (20th place). I think it's not gonna be a hot take anymore - 2011 was one of the most disappointing contests, having a weak lineup and many of the better songs not even getting high placements. My favourite of that weak year still remains "Coming Home" composed by late Sigurjon "Sjonni" Brink, delivered as an homage by some of his, I would believe, friends. Not necessarily the song of the highest caliber, but incredibly sweet and it did hit the spot for me. P.S. Should've kept it Icelandic. Score: 7/10
43. 2000 - Croatia - "Kad zaspu andeli" by Goran Karan (9th place). 2000 is a special contest for Latvia - we debuted, already got the 3rd place, and the band Brainstorm actually became huge celebrities after the show, selling out big shows even nowadays (well, in 2018 was their last tour). Also, we really like them Olsen Brothers. However, I have picked Croatia, and this is one mighty powerful chorus.That alone is enought to be selected as my favourite of 2000. Also, he looks a lot like Balkan Tommy Wiseau, and I wish someone would do a parody of him belting out "Oh hiiiiiiii Maaaaark!" instead of "Ostani" Score: 7/10
42. 1958 - Italy - "Nel blu dipinto di blu (Volare)" by Domenico Modugno (3rd place and a Grammy). What is arguably the most succesful Eurovision song doing so low? Well, I'm not one to enjoy the same things as hivemind all the time, however, it is still a great, great song. I remember auditioning for a choir by performing this song in full, even if I didn't speak Italian then (I don't speak it now, but I have taken a course). The choir master told me that I was too good and would probably make other participants sad, and he politely asked me never to come again. Score: 7/10
41. 1966 - Spain - "Yo soy aquel" by Rafael (a shared 7th place). Well, ain't this a Spanish classic. The delivery of that chorus is truly something, and a ray of brightness in whatever the hell 60s were giving us. Score: 7/10
40. 2017 - Portugal - "Amar pelos dois" by Salvador Sobral (You'll never guess - a winner). Let's be clear - musicwise, I hate 2017. "Hate" is a strong word you'll say, and you're right - the songs in Eurovision and outside of it were so uninteresting that even "hate" is an emotion they couldn't provoke. The whole year I wanted to finally get something that would finally make me feel some emotion. And "Amar pelos dois" was deffinitely the closest one to do that. Of course, if Lithuania had sent Greta Zazza's "Like I Love You" instead of shooting themselves in the scrotum, I would be much more favourable to 2017 at least Eurovision-wise. But I have to say - "Amar pelos dois" is a great and even needed winner, and I don't want to take that away with my 2017 slander. Score: 7/10
39. 2001 - Croatia - "Strings of My Heart" by Vanna (10th place). So the only times Croatia cracked the top 10 in the 21st century are the only years they're my favourite entry. That'll be 10 bucks for that fun fact. However, 2001 is a puzzling year - many songs that actually try to bring something different and contemporary to Eurovision, and this might actually be one of the first years when you can say that Eurovision tries to bring together different songs. Some succeeding (Denmark, Slovenia), some not so much (UK). This one I really like - the promised strings elevate the song, and her voice matches them perfectly. Score: 7/10
38. 1990 - Italy - "Insieme: 1992" by Toto Cutugno (Winner). It's been 30 years since Italy last won Eurovision - explain that, Europe! And "they didn't participate" work as an excuse half the time. The best ever Eurovision host (sarcasm, everybody, sit down!) delivered big time, wanxious tones that make you expect a great chorus and when it came, it really felt beautiful. This is one of the songs that has suffered from me overplaying them a bit, tho, but still. Also note, that this is technically the only win for Slovenians - Pepel in Kri, who represented Yugoslavia in 1975, were backing Toto here. Score: 8/10
37. 1967 - Luxembourg - "L'amour est bleu" by Vicky Leandros (4th place). Can we make it so that Vicky and the country of United Kingdom switch their victories? We'll get to 1972 UK entry in a bit, but 1967 Vicky was far superior to "Apres toi" in almost every way. French classic at its best, with Vicky changing her pitch to match the mood perfectly and even if you can't speak French, you get the gist of the song perfectly. Score: 8/10
36. 1993 - Norway - "Alle mine tankar" by Silje Vige (5th place). Years ago, I partook in a Eurovision 30 songs challenge, and when I had to choose a song from my birthyear, I was a bit stunned. Like, what is the song from 1993 that I actually like? Only one I knew was "In Your Eyes" and, as a winner, it makes me scream "How? Who actually thought that this is the best song of them all?". But when I came around "Alle mine tankar", everything just hits right for me. The only song written in Nynorsk, the other of the two Norwegian standard forms, and it is hauntingly beautiful from the first to the last second. Score: 8/10
35. 1963 - Monaco - "L'amour s'en va" by Francoise Hardy (shared 5th place). Can this get any more underrated? There is something absurdly beautiful in her delivery of the chorus. I just want more of it, a lot more of it. But that 2nd part of the chorus is just exceptional for the year and that state of Eurovision. Eurovision romanticism at its best. Score: 8/10
34. 1972 - UK - "Beg, Steal or Borrow" by The New Seekers (2nd place). So this is the UK entry I mentioned a few spots earlier. Some Mamas and Papas vibes here, to be honest, it almost seems a little late for the 60s, but boy this is one of the greats. I love that UK was trying in those times. It even seems weird to say - UK was actually trying. Score: 8/10
33. 1998 - UK - "Where Are You?" by Imaani (2nd place). Talking about UK greatness, songwise this beats "Diva" in a punch. Perfect execution, winner's charisma and catchy melody. Songs like this is what gives me a positive oppinion about eurovision in the seconds half of the 90s (bar 1999). Score: 8/10
32. 1986 - Portugal - "Nao sejas mau para mim" by Dora(14th place are you kidding me???). 1986 had some truly fabulous music worldwide, with my 80s favourite "(I Just) Died In Your Arms" coming out that year, but it wasn't matched in eurovision. There was one truly fabulous song, however, and it's this. The way the tone of the song changes when the chorus starts always gets me. Score: 8/10
31. 1982 - Portugal - "Bem bom" by Doce (13th place??). 1980s Portugal was a whole different beast, and this isn't the last you see if that beast in this top, and for a very good reason. "Bem bom" is the song of 1982 that immediately got stuck in my head once I first head it, and I wasn't disappointed. Score: 8/10
30. 1989 - Austria - "Nur ein Lied" by Thomas Forstner (5th place). This also could've been a Portgual selection, with "Conquistador" being exceptionally catchy. However, Dieter Bolen's genius got me here, and whenever Thomas does his chorus I get reminded why this isn't just any other 80s dull ballad. Score: 8/10
29. 1959 - Italy - "Piove (Ciao ciao bambina)" by Domenico Modugno (shared 6th place in a pool of 11 countries I'm scratching my head here guys). This man, Domenico Modugno, singlehandedly saved 50s Eurovision from me never revisiting it. And yes, "Piove" is the one I actually like, nay, love more. Although not with a grandeur of "Volare", the more intimate sound of this one and the instrumental accompanying the marvelous chorus creates a more beautiful combination. Score: 8/10
28. 2015 - Estonia - "Goodbye to Yesterday" by Elina Born and Stig Rasta (7th place - ha, we beat them!). But 2015 was a great year, you'll say. And I completely agree. It's just no song on its own isn't really doing it on the same level as the following song. "Goodbye to Yesterday" is a great, great song with some clichees but the most amazing melody. And Elina's emotional delivery just steals the show. There is a song I like even more from this contest, however - "Building Bridges" by Conchita. Easily, the best winner's reprise ever, and I didn't even like "Rise Like A Phoenix". Score: 8/10 (10/10 for Building Bridges).
27. 2019 - Sweden - "Too Late For Love" by John Lundvik (5th place). My favourite entry from Sweden by far? You betcha! Even if it is in line with their typical Melfest pop standards we've been hearing for years with no end, "Too Late For Love" does something extra and something very right - the chorus is magnificent, and the Mamas on the back are a clear response to everyone who says there's no soul in Swedish cooking. Shout out also to the honorable mention Kobi Marimi, who deserves a lot more respect. Score: 8/10
26. 2003 - Spain - "Dime" by Beth (shared 8th). Spain being hot-blooded and succeeding with it - that's what everyone loves to see. Never a dull moment in this song, Beth's chorus contains both excitement and emotion, things I both love. Score: 9/10
25. 1996 - Estonia - "Kaelakee haal" by Maarja-Liis Ilus and Ivo Linna (5th). So this is the first succesful Baltic entry, and well deserved - the English version can still be encountered even in our retro radio. It was a hard tossup between this and Poland's Kasia Kowalska with "Chce znac swoj grzech" - seriously, check that out. But the perfect delivery of Maarja and Ivo (and the keyboardist's face) along with the outstanding beauty of Estonian language and Maarja's voice pulled this on top. Score: 9/10
24. 1997 - Turkey - "Dinle" by Sebnem Paker and Grup Ethnic (3rd). Turkey's first entry that actually succeeded. One of the rare songs where verses I enjoy more than the chorus. The mystical haunting beauty in Sebnem's voice before the chorus rings in and you have a typical Turkish fun chorus works for a wonderful contrast. Score: 9/10
23. 2016 - Germany - "Ghost" by Jamie-Lee Kriewitz (Last in the final, oh boy). This actually is a very nice, moody song and even in a year of very strongs I still pick this as my winner. The 4 minute version is better, however, but the "alternate ending" part still gets me. Score: 9/10
22. 1979 - Israel - "Hallelujah" by Gali Atari and Milk and Honey (Winner). My favourite winner of the 1970s in a tight competition with "Ding A Dong". The harmonies are absurdly good, the structure with the singers joining in is nothing short of perfection and that's before I even try to sing along to this. Israel skipped 1980 because of a religious holiday which is weird, because they would still be hosts, couldn't they plan this any other week? I wager they were just tired of winning too much. Score: 9/10
21. 1975 - UK - "Let Me Be The One" by The Shadows (2nd place). If you'd ask me for a year where I strongly like the actual top 3, 1975 is easily the one, and the pick was a tough choice. It took a while for me to grasp this piece, but oooh boy it's good. Lot of genius moves to make this song feel classic yet interesting. Score: 9/10
20. 1969 - Switzerland - "Bonjour Bonjour" by Paola del Medico (5th place, yet somehow first of the non-winners). That's right, the winning 4 don't do it for me, but the quadruple bridesmaid Paola is the one that has the most excellent song of the year. The brass announcing every verse is what makes this for me, and this is one of the more fun sing-alongs from the early half of contest, and that's saying something, because "fun" is the theme from late 60s to early 80s. Score: 9/10
19. 1974 - Israel - "Natati La Khayay" by Kaveret (shared 7th). That's right, it's not ABBA. People fail to grasp that 1974 had a lot more to offer than the golden child of Eurovision. Olivia Newton-John, for example, participated this year. Portuguese entry started a revolution - literally! Entries from Netherlands and Yugoslavia are also great in my oppinion. And even the last placed Germany is somewhat dear to me. This protest to Golda Meir from Israel is the most exciting to me though - that 70s nostalgia charm, the interesting structure, that je-ne-sais-quoi quality in the instrumentation, something just works magically here. Score: 9/10
18. 1980 - Portugal - "Um grande, grande amor" by Jose Cid (1980). This is how you do a propper Elton John impersonation - with an absolutely amazing song that never seems to stop for a beat (well, except when it does before the last chorus). And this is probably my last chance to say that Portugal was ridiculously disrespected in the 1980s with at least 4 absolute bangers. Score: 9/10
17. 2002 - UK - "Come Back" by Jessica Garlick (shared 3rd place). 2002 was a very good year for Latvia in Eurovision. But it's very clear - our winning entry isn't liked very well. Malta's "7th Wonder" is the one that actually is most fondly remembered from this year, and I absolutely agree - it is a very great song. However, Britain's last top 3 finisher is my favourite from this year. Taking a page from Toni Braxton's book of doing a fantastic RnB inspired love ballad - I want more of this in modern Eurovision, not gonna lie. Score: 9/10
16. 2012 - Bosnia and Herzegovina - "Korake ti znam" by MayaSar (18th place). This was the toughest choice, honestly. I love Cyprus, Azerbaijan and Malta, each for different reasons. And this year is the year of strong ballads - really, some of the strongest in Eurovision history. I typically hate oversaturation of ballads, but when they are this good, like Albania, Estonia, Germany, Bosnia, Azerbaijan... oh my, 2012 needs some revisiting, this is a goldmine of a year. "Korake ti znam" actually was a slow grower to me and I ended up falling in love just a year ago, but the emotional breakdown after the second chorus is one of the most magical minutes in Eurovision history. Score: 9/10.
15. 2018 - Ireland - "Together" by Ryan O'Shaughnessy (16th place). Not to be the hipster guy, but I declared this my favourite of the year even when everyone was putting it at last place on their youtube tops. Even if it is a pandering with the gay couple, the music video was the best in recent years for any Eurovision song, and it amplified the emotion in the bridge immensely, and it wouldn't be the same if they didn't try to recreate that feeling in a live show. Ireland really is a songwriter coountry and when they create a song that genuine, it tends to be a masterpiece. Hope to see Ryan returning someday for an even better placement. Score: 9/10
14. 1981 - Austria - "Wenn du da bist" by Marty Brem (17th place). For real guys, check out that live performance. That WTF-ness of performance is the standard of a ridiculous staging that every joke entry should be striving for. However, this is not a joke song - it actually is an absolutely beautiful composition, excellently enhanced by the instrumentation during chorus. And that little tease of bass guitar is what puts this song so high on this list. And just to note - 1981 had a chock full of amazing songs. Score: 10/10
13. 1994 - UK - "We Will Be Free (Lonely Symphony)" by Frances Ruffelle (10th place). I'm still puzzled how this one couldn't match the heights of oh so many previous and succeeding UK songs. By far the most exciting song in this monumental year of riverdance, Ireland breaking the record and seven debuts. Just amazing. Score: 10/10
12. 1995 - Norway - "Nocture" by Secret Garden (Winner). From 1992 to 1996 four times out of five the winner was Ireland. Five times out of five, there was an Irish performer, Fionnuala Sweeney this time. This entry is famous for being the winner with the least words (Finland 1998 tried to outmatch them, but was far from winning). And who needs many words when you can provide experience like that. Everything beautiful associated with Norway in these strings. Score: 10/10.
11. 2004 - Serbia and Montenegro - "Zauvijek moja" by No Name (7th place). No contest, this is my all time favourite entry from this political entity with a short lived Eurovision career, sorry Željko. When it comes to showcasing the Balkan sound, no song has done better than this, I honestly love everything here. Also, those hairstyles need to come back. Score: 10/10
10. 2007 - Hungary - "Unsubstantial Blues" by Magdi Ruzsa (9th place). We're now in a territory of songs so good they transcend Eurovision standards. So slick, so professional, the one song from 2007 I want to listen to over and over. And I kinda do feel stupid for putting "L'amour a la francaise" and "Mala dama" above this. Still loving those two songs tho, but Magdi is on a whole different level with this song. More amazing examples of certain genres, please! Score: 10/10.
9. 2013 - Germany - "Glorious" by Cascada (21st place). Rarely anything makes me feel amazing (or glorious, if you will) quite as much as a late 00s / early 10s pop edm banger. And it took me years to realize this, but this song showcases the things I liked the most from the pop songs of the era beautifully. And this is my tough pick for 2013 - me being one of the rare cases who's ready to declare 2013 as his overall favourite contest of them all. Score: 10/10.
8. 1970 - Spain - "Gwendolyne" by Julio Iglesias (shared 4th place). Am I crazy to present this conspiracy theory that Spain's previous two ugly victories killed this masterpiece's chances of a well earned win? Because this is a magnum opus level of genius by Latino legend himself. Granted, for a very narrow pool of 12 countries, 1970 was a surprise in how high in quality the song were. UK and France would be my favourite in many of the previous years, and Monaco is my other 10/10 from this year even. Predictable score: 10/10.
7. 2020 - Bulgaria - "Tears Getting Sober" by Victoria (we'll never know...). This year was robbed from us, and it's hard to believe how Victoria could make a song even better than this one in 2021. But every note sung here was just loaded with the right emotion, and my eyes sure weren't sober after the first listen. Easily my favourite entry in the last few recent shows. Score: 10/10
6. 2006 - France - "Il etait temps" by Virginie Pouchain (too damn low. I mean, 22nd place). Maybe it was the weak live, but oh my goodness, this song matches incredibly well with rainy mood. There's something in that magical instrumentation that conjures Paris in rain for me. Underrated gem by many, but one of my all time top songs for sure. Score: 10/10
5. 2009 - France - "Et s'il fallait le faire" by Patricia Kaas (8th place). I'll start with something that won't be recieved well by many of you - I will never recognize "This Is Our Night" and "Dum Tek Tek" as anything more than shallow crap and the fact that these songs finished above France makes my blood boil. Incredible masterpiece musically, lyrically, every way. This year had two more 10/10 songs for me, both underrated by general populace - Portugal and Switzerland. However, the sheer craftsmanship of Patricia Kaas is what makes this as the perfect choice here. Score: 10/10.
4. 2004 - Turkey - "For Real" by Athena (4th place). Ska rock is possibly the strongest genre in Eurovision, with its limited appearances always getting high placements (Greece 2013, Moldova 2006, Moldova 2011 also did good). And this performance is the most polished of them all, and as for any typical ska song, I enjoy the live performance quite a bit more than the studio version. Score: 10/10
3. 2010 - Romania - "Playing With Fire" by Paula Seling and Ovi (3rd place). If I had to name my all time favourite winner, without any hesitation I'll say it's Lena. But even she falls second in my personal top of 2010 to this masterpiece. Whatever I said about "Glorious" applies here as well, but even more so - I love how the beat of the song seemingly goes nowhere, like many songs of the time, but the progression of the song falls on the shoulders of the singers, and do they deliver. My all time 3rd favourite song. Score: 10/10.
2. 2008 - Turkey - "Deli" by Mor ve Otesi (7th place). Easily the best rock performance for me by any country. My second all time, and for a while it was strongly considered my all time favourite song. It's hard to describe in words what I feel for this song. Score: 10/10
1. 2014 - The Netherlands - "Calm After the Storm" by The Common Linnets (2nd place). In 2014, I was very stressed. I was about to finish 2nd year of Uni, and I had no peace of mind, I rarely could spend time alone with my thoughts, I grew ever more distant from anyone in my life and I couldn't even properly follow Eurovision that year because of these issues, even hearing many of the songs for the first time while watching the show live. Watching that semifinal one night, I was already dismissing songs left and right on twitter, but then this song came on, and it was exactly what my nervous system craved for. Nothing loud, nothing explosive, just calmness in a single camera shot focusing on the emotion of the singers. I thought Europe wouldn't get this and I was extatic when this song qualified, and even achieved 2nd place. From then on the discussion of my all time favourite Eurovision song was settled. Score: 10/10.
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