My favourite Eurovision songs - Traveling Psychiatrist

I first watched the Eurovision Song Contest in 1993, and I have watched it almost every year since then. Sadly, last year it was cancelled due to the pandemic. However, even though the pandemic is far from over, the contest has not been cancelled this year and the final is due to take place tonight. Today, I’d like to take this opportunity to look back to the last two decades and share my favourite Eurovision songs from 40(ish) participating countries (as well as some interesting facts and trivia).

I have to admit that choosing my favourite song from each participating country proved quite a challenge; some countries have participated with many excellent songs; others not with any (or, at least, not any songs that I like). At the end of the day, the taste in music is something very personal. So, without further ado, let’s begin…

Albania

I kick off my Eurovision journey with Albania, a country that first participated in 2004. Their best result was in 2012 (5th place). My favourite Albanian entries, however, are ‘Tomorrow I Go’, performed by Ledina Çelo in 2005 (16th place), and ‘Zemrën e lamë peng’, performed by Olta Boka in 2008 (17th place).

Armenia

Armenia is one of the three countries (along with the neighbouring Georgia and Azerbaijan) entirely located in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. This former Soviet republic was the first of these three countries to participate in Eurovision. Armenia first took part in 2006, and has done rather well since then. My country favourite is ‘Qélé, Qélé’, performed by Sirusho in 2008. It is Armenia’s joint-highest position to date (4th place).

Australia

Let’s now move away from Europe, but before we go all the way to Australia, let’s remind ourselves that Morocco took part in Eurovision in 1980; it is the only African country that has participated in the contest to date.

Similarly, Australia, is the only Oceanian country to have taken part in Eurovision; they debuted in 2015 and have done pretty well so far. My country favourite, as well as the most successful Australian entry thus far, is the 2016 runner-up ‘Sound of Silence’, performed by Dani Im.

Austria

Back to Europe now. In my humble opinion, Austria has such a great classical music tradition that discussing their (rather mediocre) Eurovision entries amounts to hubris. The country first participated in the contest in 1957 and has won twice, in 1966 and again in 2014 with the ballad ‘Rise Like A Phoenix‘, performed by Conchita Wurst.

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan is one of the last countries to join the Eurovision Song Contest. They debuted in 2008, and have done remarkably well since then. They’ve had 5 top 5 results, including a victory in 2011. ‘Running Scared’, performed by Ell & Nikki, was amongst my favourite Eurovision songs that year, and is also my favourite Azerbaijani entry to date.

Belarus

Belarus debuted in 2004 but has never won. Their best result was in 2007 (6th place). My favourite Belarusian entry, however, is ‘Love Me Tonight’, written by the Greek hitmakers Nikos Terzis and Nektarios Tyrakis, and performed by Angelica Agurbash in 2005. Unfortunately, the song failed to qualify for the final that year.

Belgium

Belgium is one of the 7 countries that have been participating in Eurovision since its inauguration in 1956. They have won only once, though, in 1986. In the last two decades, they have been rather inconsistent, having been represented by a couple of excellent songs, some mediocre, and some pretty bad ones. My favourite Belgian Eurovision songs are ‘Rhythm Inside’ (performed by Loïc Nottet in 2015) and ‘City Lights’ (performed by Blanche in 2017). They both did well, finishing 4th.

Bulgaria

Bulgaria debuted in 2005. Theri best result was in 2017, when they finished second. My favourite Bulgarian entry is ‘Water’, performed by Elitsa & Stoyan in 2007 (5th place).

Cyprus

Cyprus and Greece are notorious for awarding douze points to each other. This should not come as a surprise, considering that the two countries share the same music industry, taste in music, and language. Furthermore, Cyprus has often been represented by Greek non-Cypriot artists, whereas Cypriots artists have represented Greece many times.

Cyprus debuted in 1981, but has never won the competition. In 2018, however, they finished 2nd; ’Fuego’ was performed by Eleni Foureira, a pop singer who was born in Albania and grew up in Athens, Greece.

Whilst growing up, I was a huge fan of Evridiki, a pop Greek Cypriot singer, who represented her home country three times in total. She finished 11th both in 1992 and in 1994, but did not qualify for the final in 2007. Her 1994 song ‘Eimai anthropos ki ego’ is my favourite of the three, as well as one of my all-time Eurovision favourites.

Out of all the Cypriot Eurovision songs competing in the last two decades, however, my favourites are two under-rated entries, ‘Firefly’ and ‘Life Looks Better in Spring’. The former was performed by Christina Metaxa in 2009, and unfortunately did not make it to the final, whereas the latter, performed by Jon Lilygreen and The Islanders in 2010, qualified to the final but finished only in the 21st place.

Czech Republic & Slovakia

The Czech Republic made its debut in 2007, whereas neighbouring Slovakia, the other half of former Czechoslovakia, debuted in 1994 and last participated in 2012. Neither country has won. Their best results were in 2018 (6th place) and in 1996 (18th place) for the Czech Republic and Slovakia respectively. None of their entries has deeply impressed me. So, I’m moving on to Denmark.

Denmark

Having debuted in 1957, Denmark was the first Scandinavian country to participate in Eurovision, but has fewer victories than Sweden, which joined the contest the following year. So far, the Danes have won 3 times (so have the Norwegians): in 1963, 2000 and 2013. One of my favourite Eurovision songs ever, ‘Believe Again’ performed by Niels Brinck and co-written by Ronan Keating, finished 13th in 2009. It is, nonetheless, my favourite Danish Eurovision song of the last 20 years. The duet ‘In a Moment Like This’ performed by Chanée & N’evergreen the following year is my second favourite Danish Eurovision song (4th place).

Estonia

Estonia is one of the many (7 to be precise) countries that debuted in 1994. It has won once, in 2001. My favourite Estonian entry is the duet ‘Goodbye to Yesterday’, performed by Elina Born and Stig Rästa in 2015 (7th place).

The Big Five

The so-called Big Five are the five countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom) that are the biggest financial contributors to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which produces the Eurovision Song Contest. France, Italy and Germany have been taking part since the contest inauguration in 1956 (along with Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Switzerland), whereas the UK debuted in 1957 (together with Austria and Germany). Spain was the last Big Five country to join the Eurovision family (in 1961). Since 2000, the Big Five automatically qualify for the final, and do not compete in the semi-finals (first introduced in 2004).

France

I admit that I have a soft spot for the French music (in general), the French language, and basically anything French. Perhaps this is why many French Eurovision songs are among my all-time favourites. These include the power ballads ‘Je n’ai que mon âme’ (performed by the Canadian Natasha St-Pier in 2001, 4th place), ‘Il faut du temps’ (performed by Sandrine François in 2002, 5th place), ‘Monts et merveilles’ (performed by Louisa Baïleche in 2003, 18th place), and ‘Et s’il fallait le faire’ (performed by Patricia Kaas in 2009, 8th place).

Other French favourites of mine include the indie-pop ‘Divine’ (performed by Sébastien Tellier in 2008, 19th place) and ‘Mercy’ (performed by the duo Madame Monsieur in 2018, 13th place), whereas ‘Voilà’ (performed by Barbara Pravi) stands out this year and gets my douze points. Overall, France has won 5 times, the last one being in 1977. Will it win again in 2021?

Finland

Finland has won once only, in 2006, 45 years after they joined the contest (in 1961). My favourite Finnish Eurovision song, however, is ‘Leave Me Alone’, performed by Hanna Pakarinen in 2007 (17th place).

Germany

Germany has won twice only, in 1982 and again in 2010, despite being the country with the most appearances (63 in total). ‘Satellite’ was one of my favourite songs in 2010 (as well as my all-time favourite German Eurovision song), and I was very pleased when Lena was announced as the winner that year.

Georgia

Georgia first took part in 2007; their highest position to date is 9th place (in 2010 and also in 2011). My favourite Georgian entry? Let’s just move to Greece, instead.

Greece

My home country, Greece, first took part in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1975. Prior to that, Greek singers Nana Mouskouri and Vicky Leandros had both represented Luxembourg; the latter participated twice and in 1972 she won with ‘Après toi’.

Back in the 1990s, when I started watching it, the contest was not popular in Greece, something reflected on the Greek musicians’ lack of interest in representing the country. Things began to change in the 21st century, soon after two Greeks born and raised in Sweden represented Greece and their uptempo ‘Die For You’ finished 3rd – the best result thus far. Antique had already had success on the Scandinavian music charts, as well as elsewhere in Europe, but they were relatively unknown back home.

Three years later, Greek superstar Sakis Rouvas represented the country for the first time, and ‘Shake It’ finished 3rd. It was the following year, however, that Greece won (for the first and only time so far). After Antique disbanded, Elena Paparizou launched her solo career and in 2005 she was selected to represent Greece in Eurovision. ‘My Number One’ was the song with which she returned to the contest, and ultimately won.

My favourite, however, Greek Eurovision song is the one that represented my home country when the contest was held in Athens in 2006. ‘Everything’ is a power ballad performed by Anna Vissi, the Greek Cypriot megastar, who had already participated in Eurovision twice: first in 1980, when she represented Greece and finished 13th, and again in 1982, representing Cyprus and finishing 5th. ‘Everything’ finished 9th.

Hungary

Hungary debuted in the contest in 1994, when they got their best result so far – 4th place. Two are my favourite Hungarian entries: ‘Forogj, világ!’, performed by NOX in 2005 (12th place), and ‘Unsubstantial Blues’, performed by Magdi Rúzsa in 2007 (9th place).

Iceland

Iceland was the last Nordic country to join the contest (in 1986) and is the only one yet to win. Generally speaking, they have not done particularly well; in the last 20 years, they have only had 3 top 10 results. To be honest, none of the Icelandic Eurovision songs is among my favourites, but they are not amongst my least favourite ones either. ‘Is It True?’, performed by Yohanna in 2009, was the runner-up that year (their best result to date), but I think I prefer the two songs performed by Jonsi: ‘Heaven’ (19th place in 2004) and ‘Never Forget’, a duet with Greta Salome (20th place in 2012).

Ireland

Taking part since 1965, Ireland holds the record for the most victories (seven), with the last one being in 1996. It is also the only country with three consecutive wins (in 1992, 1993 and 1994). Johnny Logan is the only artist who has won twice as a performer (in 1980 and 1987). Unfortunately, the country has done rather badly in the last two decades; this is rather unsurprising given the very low standard of most of the recent Irish Eurovision songs. My favourite dates back to 2003, when Mickey Harte performed the ballad ‘We’ve Got the World’ and finished 11th.

Israel

Although it is located entirely in Western Asia, Israel has been a member of the Eurovision family since 1973, and has won a total of four times (in 1978, 1979, 1998 and 2018). My 21st-century Israeli favourite is the power ballad ‘HaSheket SheNish’ar‘ (‘The Silence that Remains’) performed by Shiri Maimon in 2005 (4th place).

Italy

Italy is another country that I have a soft spot for. With regards to Eurovision, they have won only twice, in 1964 and in 1990. Surprisingly, one of the most popular Eurovision songs ever, ’Nel blu, dipinto di blu’ (also known as ‘Volare’), was not a winner. It was performed by Domenico Modugno in 1958, when it finished 3rd. Italy took a 14-year break from the contest, returning in 2011.

My favourite Italian Eurovision songs of the last decade are the 2011 runner-up jazzy ‘Madness of Love/Follia d’amore’ (performed by Raphael Gualazzi), and the ballads ‘L’essenziale’ (performed by Marco Mengoni in 2013, 7th place) and ‘No degree of separation/Nessun grado di separazione’ (performed by Francesca Michielin in 2016, 16th place). All these songs had also participated in the Sanremo Music Festival, the famous festival, which is also used as a method for choosing the Italian Eurovision entry. In 2011, Gualazzi won the Newcomers Section, whereas Mengoni won the Big Artists Section in 2013. Michielin finished second in 2016 (but also in this year’s Sanremo).

Latvia

Latvia debuted in 2000 and won only two years later, in 2002. My favourite Latvian entry is ‘Love Injected’, performed by Animata in 2015 (6th place).

Lithuania

Lithuania first participated in Eurovision in 1994, but has not done as well as the other Baltic states, and has never won. Their best result was in 2006 (6th place). I have to admit that I am not a huge fan of the Lithuanian entries, so I will move on to Malta.

Malta

Malta has never won the contest (quite rightly, according to my always humble opinion). Having debuted in Eurovision in 1971, it is the only non-winning country to have achieved four top three results (in fact, Malta was the runner-up in 2002 and again in 2005).

Moldova

Moldova first participated in 2005 but has never managed to win. Their best result was in 2017 (3rd place). My favourite Moldovan entry is ‘Fight’, performed by Natalia Barbu in 2007 (10th place).

Norway

Taking part since 1960, Norway has won three times: in 1985, 1995 and 2009. Although I love Norway and the Norwegian music in general, the Norwegian Eurovision songs are usually not among my favourites. Two notable exceptions are the 2014 and 2015 entries, which both finished 8th. ’Silent Storm’ was performed by Carl Espen, whereas the duet ‘A Monster Like Me’ was performed by Kjetil Mørland and Debrah Scarlett.

Poland

Poland debuted in 1994, when they got their best result so far – 2nd place. I’m not a huge fan of the recent Polish entries, but if I were to choose my favourite, that would be the latin-sounding ‘Love Song’, performed by Blue Café in 2004 (17th place).

Portugal

Portugal is another country with a great music tradition, the country where fados originated from. For this reason, I am of the opinion that discussing their (rather mediocre) Eurovision entries amounts to hybris. Having first participated in Eurovision in 1964, Portugal has only won once, in 2017, with the song ‘Amar Pelos Dois‘, performed by Salvador Sobral.

Romania

Romania is another country that debuted in 1994, but is yet to win, despite the fact that many Romanian pop artists (Edward Maya, Alexandra Stan, Inna) achieved worldwide success in the first decade of the 21st century. Their best result was 3rd place (twice actually, in 2005 and again in 2010). If I were to choose my favourite Romanian entry, that would probably be the song ‘I Admit’, performed by Sanda in 2004 (18th place).

Russia

Like Romania, Russia also debuted in 1994, and has won once, in 2008. It is one of the most successful countries in the contest in the 21st century. My favourite Russian entry is ‘Ne ver’, ne boysia’, performed by t.A.T.u. in 2003 (3rd place).

San Marino

San Marino is the third smallest country in Europe, after Vatican City (which has never taken part in Eurovision) and Monaco (last participated in 2006), and the fifth smallest country in the world. With a population of 33,000, San Marino is completely surrounded by Italy. Since their debut in 2008, they have reached the final twice; their best result was in 2019 (19th place) with their worst song to date. Now, as far as my favourite Sammarinese song is concerned, I’d probably choose this year’s entry ‘Adrenalina‘, performed by Senhit feat. Flo Rida.

Spain

Like Italy and Germany, Spain has also won twice, but both victories were quite a while ago (in 1968 and 1969). Despite the feel-good vibe of the Spanish Eurovision songs, as well as the fact that the Spanish language is not only very pleasing to the ear, but also rather popular (as a foreign language), Spain has not done particularly well in the last 20 years. My country favourite is ‘Para llenarme de ti’ (performed by Ramón in 2004, 10th place).

Sweden

Sweden debuted in 1958 and became the second Scandinavian country to join Eurovision (after Denmark). It is currently the country with the second-highest number of wins (six in total, with the first one being in 1974 with ‘Waterloo’ performed by ABBA). Considering the high quality of the Swedish Eurovision songs and how well they have been doing in the last 20 years (11 top 5 results since 2001, including 2 wins in 2012 and 2015), I think that Sweden will soon overtake Ireland.

My favourite Swedish Eurovision songs include the two winners ‘Euphoria’ (performed by Loreen in 2012) and ‘Heroes’ (performed by Måns Zelmerlöw in 2015), as well as the songs ‘Popular’ and ‘Undo’, which both finished 3rd. The former was performed by Eric Saade in 2011, whereas the latter was performed by Sanna Nielsen in 2014. Saade also took part in this year’s Melodifestivalen (the music competition that determines the country’s representative in Eurovision), finishing second.

Reflecting on my Eurovision favourites, I realise that there are rather few winning songs amongst those; ‘Euphoria’ and ‘Heroes’ are notable exceptions.

Switzerland

The first ever Eurovision Song Contest took place in Lugano, Switzerland, in 1956; the first ever winner was the Swiss song ‘Refrain’, performed by Lys Assia. Interestingly, the runner-up was also a Swiss song, also performed by Lys Assia, who represented Switzerland once again in 1957 (8th place), as well as in 1958 (2nd place). The second Swiss victory came in 1988 with ‘Ne partez pas sans moi’ performed by and launching the international career of the Canadian megastar Céline Dion.

Since then, Switzerland has not done well in the competition. Quite like Belgium, they have been represented by some good, some mediocre and some pretty bad songs. After the introduction of the semifinals in 2004, they have failed to reach the final in 11 of 16 contests. Neither ‘Era Stupendo’ (performed by Paolo Meneguzzi in 2008) nor ‘The Highest Heights’ (performed by Lovebugs in 2009) reached the final.

Turkey

Turkey is a transcontinental country located mainly in Western Asia, with a smaller (but densely populated) portion in Southeastern Europe. The Turks first participated in Eurovision in 1975, but they have not taken part since 2012. They won once; the trend-setting ‘Everyway that I can’, performed by Sertab, was the winning song in 2003. A few years later, in 2010, ‘We Could Be the Same’, performed by maNga, was the runner-up, and is possibly my favourite Turkish Eurovision song to date.

Ukraine

Ukraine has been taking part in Eurovision since 2003. They have won twice, in 2004 and again in 2016. The 2016 entry, ‘1944′, performed by Jamala, stands out. It is not only my favourite Ukrainian entry, but also one of my favourite Eurovision songs. A well-deserved victory.

United Kingdom

The UK has won 5 times, the last one being in 1997. The country also holds the record for the highest number of runner-up placings (15 in total); the last time they finished in 2nd place was in 1998, with one of my favourite songs, ‘Where Are You?’, performed by Imaani. Since then, they have had mixed results, which is not surprising, considering the discordance between the British music in general (i.e. Adele, Coldplay etc) and the UK Eurovision songs, which recently tend to be of a much lower standard. Despite that, some of the UK entries of the last 20 years are among my all-time favourites. These include ‘Hold On To Our Love’ (performed by James Fox in 2004, 16th place), ‘Touch My Fire’ (performed by Javine in 2005, 22nd place) and ‘I Can’ (performed by Blue in 2011, 11th place).

Former Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia debuted in 1961, won in 1989, and hosted the contest in 1990. Soon afterwards, in 1991, the break-up of this European country started. 1992 was the last year that Yugoslavia took part in Eurovision. In 1993, however, the newly-independent countries of Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina joined the contest. In 1998, the then-called Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia also joined in; the country was re-named North Macedonia in 2019. In 2004, Serbia and Montenegro joined, but following the Montenegrin independence referendum in 2006, Serbia and Montenegro have been participating in the contest as separate countries since 2007. In 2008, Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia, but the country is yet to be recognised by the United Nations (and to participate in Eurovision).

I may not be politically correct here, but considering the fact that the Eurovision songs from these countries sound more or less the same and are probably amongst my least favourite (well, to be brutally honest, some of them are just horrible), I am grouping them all together. Since the 1989 victory, the only winning song from any of these countries was ‘Molitva’ in 2007. It was performed by Marija Šerifović who represented Serbia. My favourite, however, was ‘Sebi’ performed by the Slovenian duo Zala Kralj & Gašper Šantl in 2019 (15th place).

I have to admit here that one of my favourite Eurovision songs of the 1990s was the Croatian ‘Marija Magdalena’ performed by Doris Dragović in 1999 (4th place, the country’s highest position to date).

Netherlands

Last but not least, I’ve left the Netherlands, the last Eurovision winner and this year’s competition’s host. The Netherlands is one of the 7 countries participating in the contest since its inauguration in 1956. They have won 5 times: in 1957, 1959, 1967, 1975 and 2019. After the introduction of the semifinals in 2004, they failed to reach the final for 8 consecutive years, the record of the contest. However, they have done reasonably well since 2013. In 2014, they were the runner-ups, and finally won in 2019 with ‘Arcade’, a beautiful ballad performed by Duncan Lawrence. In my opinion, both the song and the staging were among the best that year, and possibly the best I’ve heard/seen from the Netherlands so far.

Last Dance

Also from the Netherlands is Stefania, the 18-year-old Utrecht-born singer who’s representing Greece this year. Born to Greek parents, Stefania will be singing her ‘Last Dance‘ tonight at the Rotterdam Ahoy Arena. Will she win?