Now that ESC is over for another year, which songs would have done better for countries that didn't do well or not as well this year. Here is my list:

 

Armenia - "Ayo" would have been top 10 in Dusseldorf easily. Very Kesha like and contemporary. Much better than the joke "Boom Boom".

 

Albania - Aurela was a good choice, but Alban and Miriam would have got into the final.

 

Austria - Nadine was the best choice. 18th was too low in ESC :(

 

Belgium - Sarina Cohn the runner-up would have sneaked into the final. It would have been 20-25th in the final, but a magical song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5W_Rl08VEt0

 

Bulgaria - It had to be Poli.....however Milena would have got through a la the freak show factor. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r7e_Rr_dDs

 

Croatia - It should have been Jacques Houdek instead of Daria. Any of his renditions of the three songs would have made it.

 

Estonia - Getter was a good choice, but I think Victoria with "Baby Had You" would have done better.

 

Finland - Stala and So with "Pamela" or Cardinat with "Rapture In Time" - I think these would have done top 10!

 

Greece - I would have loved Nikki Ponte or Valanto, but Stereo Mike and the lovely Loukas were the right choices. Top 10 would have been achieved no matter what.

 

Iceland - Yohanna!!!!! She would have won.

 

Israel - "Ding Dong" was good, but the performance lacked on the night, plus she was very flat on the Hebrew parts. I think Adi Cohen's powerful ballad could have done a Shiri or a Nadine Beiler

 

Lithuania - I think the right choice was made.

 

Malta - Glen was close, but I think "Finally" by Richard Edwards would have done top 10 ditto Kurt Galea with "Over and Over".

 

Moldova - Zdoub zi Zdoub did well, but I think Millenium's "In Memoriuam" would have been a winner! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbVAFX0SoZE

 

Italy - I think Natalie would have won ESC2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFZBHlhyRd8

 

The Netherlands - To me the right choice was made....but it should have stayed in Dutch. "De Stroom" the runner-up was another good song which could have done better

 

Norway - Stella was a good choice....but I think they could have done well with Noora Noor - her song is very Adele/Amy Winehouse esque and it's a sound which people would go for.

- This girl has a beautiful voice :wub: I also think Susperia with "Nothing Remains" would have done really well, especially as this group does have fans across Europe http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FBH31ojb6I

 

Poland - "Jestem" was the best choice, but destroyed on the night :(

 

Portugal - Filipa Ruas by far!!!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJWkqNzI4LE

 

Spain - Great choice, but "Abrazame" would have done better

 

Sweden - Eric was indeed the right choice now, but I think Loreen would have won, possibly Danny.

 

Switzerland - I'd have gone for Aura with "All my love" which was eliminated in the semi stage of their pre-selection. She is known in the former USSR countries and would have done better than last in the final.

 

Serbia - Nina or bust......that ballad would have bombed and "Ring Ring Ring" would have been 20th in the final.

 

Slovenia - Maja easily.

 

Ukraine - Mika was the right choice all along. I think Jamala would have not qualified....sounds like a strangled cat.

 

Ireland - Jedward was the right choice. I think Nikki Kavanagh would have not qualified or got last in the final.

 

 

Yohanna wouldn't have won with Slow Down.

 

Some interesting choices...

 

Denmark: it would be unlikely for anything to do better than A Friend In London but I'd have loved to see how Le Freak - 25 Hours A Day would've done.

 

Estonia: Victoria is a really strange choice here! Ithaka Maria - Hopa'pa-rei! would've been the obvious choice I'd have thought if Getter was overlooked.

 

Italy: Hmm. I doubt Natalie would've won, if only because some jury appeal would've been lost a lot compared to Raphael Gualazzi, but they'd have done better on televotes possibly. I think it might've just been a little too similar to Slovenia.

 

Ireland: I really disagree here with your estimates for Nikki. Jedward were results-wise the best choice, but she'd definitely not have finished last - mid-table to top ten perhaps.

 

Israel: I'd definitely disagree on Adi Cohen doing the best (although you contradict yourself a bit - Nadine Beiler and Shiri had very very different results! :lol:). Chen Aharoni - Or could've probably gone top ten for Israel I think.

 

Moldova: Karizma - When Life Is Grey is the obvious choice, Zdob si Zdub aside, but I doubt it'd have gotten out of the semis.

 

Slovenia: Maja was great but I do wonder how April would've done. Possibly a non-qualifier.

 

Switzerland: I reckon Sarah Burgess - Just Me would've done better than 25th. Not much better, but better nonetheless.

 

Sweden: Neither Loreen nor Danny would've won. I think we just have to look at Russia to see how much the juries would've destroyed Danny. Loreen could've gone top five though.

What I meant with Shiri or a Nadine is, it would have either done great or done poorly like Nadine did.

 

I think Ithaka Maria would have done the same as Getter.

Ithaka would've stood out I think. We really lacked ethnopop this year...

I loved Noora Noor's Gone With The Wind, I think it may actually have qualified (I prefer Haba Haba though). I don't think any of the MF challengers would have done better than Eric, but Sanna, Loreen and Danny would have done well I feel.

I think 'Allergic' could've qualified for Norway.

 

Yohanna would've done better than 'Coming Home'.

 

Sweden made the right choice, I don't reckon anything else would've done quite as well as 3rd.

 

Nikki could've qualified for Ireland, but wouldn't be top 10, so Jedward certainly worked for them.

 

'Just Me'. Would've done a lot better for Switzerland, but at least they qualified this time.

 

Unsure how the Play & Win song would've done for Romania, but it's a lot better than 'Change'.

 

Didn't pay attention to any other selections, but I'm sure Armenia, Greece, Belgium, Portugal & Moldova must've had better songs that they could've picked :puke2:

The entries I would have preferred:

 

Albania - Kejsi Tola - Pranë

Armenia - Emmy - Ayo

Belgium - Steve Linden - C'est La Musique

Denmark - Le Freak - 25 Hours A Day

FYR Macedonia - Angelina Stojanovska - Znaeš li

Greece - Valanto Tryfonos - The Time Is Now

Iceland - Yohanna - Slow Down

Latvia - Lauris Reiniks - Banjo Laura

Lithuania - Mino - Don't Go

Malta - Raquela - If I Could Do It All Again

Moldova - Karizma - When Life Is Grey

Norway - Mimi Blix - Allergic

Portugal - Carla Moreno - Sobrevivo

Romania - Claudia Pavel - I Want U To Want Me

Sweden - Loreen - My Heart Is Refusing Me

Switzerland - Oesch's Die Dritten - Jodel-Time

Ukraine - Jamala - Smile

 

Some of the songs that were sent instead of those were pretty great (Haba, Haba; Popular), but some of those songs would have been WAY better than what ended up winning respective NFs, in particular Karizma which was the biggest injustice of the whole ESC season imo. Others were the least worst - for example, the Macedonian and Albanian selections were shocking from start to finish.

 

Italy's selection was the only show that completely passed me by this year, so I have no idea whether there was anything better than Raphael there - I'm assuming there probably was though :P

The Play And Win song was awful, nothing like their regular style. Personally I think Astin Min Einur would have done better than Sjonni's Friends OR Yohanna. And not sure about Nathalie, but Italy would have surely won with this:

 

The Play And Win song was awful, nothing like their regular style. Personally I think Astin Min Einur would have done better than Sjonni's Friends OR Yohanna. And not sure about Nathalie, but Italy would have surely won with this:

 

This is incredible.

I forgot about "bast*rdo"....yes that would have been a top 3er too :)

 

This is a brilliant one too:

 

Yohanna would have got top 10 at the bare minimum - and I absolutely love Slow Down. Also I would have preferred Natalia Barbu for Moldova, Nikki for Ireland and Raquela for Malta. I think Raquela may have done better than Glen, but Natalia and Nikki wouldn't have done as well as Zdob si Zdub and Jedward :)

I don't know what it is, but Astin Min Einur reminds me of a poor mans version of Niamh's song last year. She is a good vocalist no doubt, but it leaves me cold.

Yohanna wouldn't have won with Slow Down.

 

Some interesting choices...

 

Denmark: it would be unlikely for anything to do better than A Friend In London but I'd have loved to see how Le Freak - 25 Hours A Day would've done.

 

Estonia: Victoria is a really strange choice here! Ithaka Maria - Hopa'pa-rei! would've been the obvious choice I'd have thought if Getter was overlooked.

 

Italy: Hmm. I doubt Natalie would've won, if only because some jury appeal would've been lost a lot compared to Raphael Gualazzi, but they'd have done better on televotes possibly. I think it might've just been a little too similar to Slovenia.

 

Ireland: I really disagree here with your estimates for Nikki. Jedward were results-wise the best choice, but she'd definitely not have finished last - mid-table to top ten perhaps.

 

Israel: I'd definitely disagree on Adi Cohen doing the best (although you contradict yourself a bit - Nadine Beiler and Shiri had very very different results! :lol:). Chen Aharoni - Or could've probably gone top ten for Israel I think.

 

Moldova: Karizma - When Life Is Grey is the obvious choice, Zdob si Zdub aside, but I doubt it'd have gotten out of the semis.

 

Slovenia: Maja was great but I do wonder how April would've done. Possibly a non-qualifier.

 

Switzerland: I reckon Sarah Burgess - Just Me would've done better than 25th. Not much better, but better nonetheless.

 

Sweden: Neither Loreen nor Danny would've won. I think we just have to look at Russia to see how much the juries would've destroyed Danny. Loreen could've gone top five though.

 

I reckon Israel really missed a trick not going with Or, it would have been top ten minimum.

 

MGP was awful this year but I'd have gone with Depend On Me by Babel Fish, there's no way it would have ever been a qualification doubt, and it probably would have gone mid-table at least. Moldova I agree with Karizma but it would have done worse than Zdob si Zdub sadly :( I can't see that Sarah Burgess would have done any better than Anna, I know it had it's loons on BJ (me included for about a week!) but if ever there was something that the juries would have avoided like the plague and that probably wouldn't have appealed to the public enough (it's basically So What-lite after all), then it's that!

 

Sweden picked the right song. Danny/Loreen would have probably gone mid-low top ten, Sanna whilst I love it would have been in the bottom ten in the final after the fanboys got her through the semi, and then Sara Varga would have been an interesting choice too, but probably finished towards the bottom of the final. I can't even begin to imagine where The Moniker would have ended up!

 

Denmark definitely got it right, 25 Hours A Day was too schlager to do well. Sleepless might have scraped the top ten in the final, but I definitely reckon that New Tomorrow was the right choice, and I'm surprised it did so badly in the public vote :o

Ukraine should have sent:

 

 

:wub:

 

Hard to say but I think it would have done very well for Ukraine.

I think Zlata would have got the same score as Mika.....I think if Pridohko monster tried again, she'd have done worse than the god-awful "Mamo".

Surely THIS is what Ukraine should have sent to ESC this year, another potential winner...

 

 

 

Surely THIS is what Ukraine should have sent to ESC this year, another potential winner...

 

Seriously Tom, what are you on with some of these predictions?! :lol: There's no way in HELL Smile would've been a potential winner, it would've done as well as Caroban at best probably. That's easily got to be up there with you saying Feel The Passion sounded like it could be a winner :heehee: And I like Astin Min Eina, but I don't think it'd have done better than Yohanna at all given it basically IS budget Yohanna!

 

I reckon Israel really missed a trick not going with Or, it would have been top ten minimum.

 

MGP was awful this year but I'd have gone with Depend On Me by Babel Fish, there's no way it would have ever been a qualification doubt, and it probably would have gone mid-table at least. Moldova I agree with Karizma but it would have done worse than Zdob si Zdub sadly :( I can't see that Sarah Burgess would have done any better than Anna, I know it had it's loons on BJ (me included for about a week!) but if ever there was something that the juries would have avoided like the plague and that probably wouldn't have appealed to the public enough (it's basically So What-lite after all), then it's that!

 

Sweden picked the right song. Danny/Loreen would have probably gone mid-low top ten, Sanna whilst I love it would have been in the bottom ten in the final after the fanboys got her through the semi, and then Sara Varga would have been an interesting choice too, but probably finished towards the bottom of the final. I can't even begin to imagine where The Moniker would have ended up!

 

Denmark definitely got it right, 25 Hours A Day was too schlager to do well. Sleepless might have scraped the top ten in the final, but I definitely reckon that New Tomorrow was the right choice, and I'm surprised it did so badly in the public vote :o

Depend On Me would've done well but I reckon it would've cancelled out/been cancelled out by New Tomorrow. Sarah Burgess would've appealed far more to the public than Anna Rossinelli at least, even if the juries would've avoided it like the plague - like I say, it would've done better, but not MUCH better. Probably something around 21st rather than last.

 

The Moniker is an interesting proposition actually! I reckon he'd have gone top five - the juries would've probably actually gone for that sort of thing and he did deliver a very memorable performance and cheery upbeat track. Sanna would've been a mid-table proposition I reckon - the juries would've helped her out. Danny I think would've been absolutely slaughtered by the juries and by similarity to Russia, so although the public would've had him top ten at least I reckon he'd have gone mid-table. Sara Varga would've been bottom five with jury votes holding her up I think, and I can't at all call how Loreen would've done but I think top ten could've been on the cards.

 

25 Hours A Day was very schlager - but I'm wary of any proposition that says that something's 'too schlager to do well' - weren't Chanee & Nevergreen and Eric Saade both written off on those same cards repeatedly in their respective seasons? :lol: It's upbeat and with an incredibly memorable chorus, and was performed well considering it's the type of song that normally translates terribly to live performance. Though I don't think it would've done anywhere near as well as New Tomorrow (it wouldn't have gotten the jury votes quite as well) I don't think top ten would've been outside the bounds of possibility.

Seriously Tom, what are you on with some of these predictions?! :lol: There's no way in HELL Smile would've been a potential winner, it would've done as well as Caroban at best probably. That's easily got to be up there with you saying Feel The Passion sounded like it could be a winner :heehee: And I like Astin Min Eina, but I don't think it'd have done better than Yohanna at all given it basically IS budget Yohanna!

Depend On Me would've done well but I reckon it would've cancelled out/been cancelled out by New Tomorrow. Sarah Burgess would've appealed far more to the public than Anna Rossinelli at least, even if the juries would've avoided it like the plague - like I say, it would've done better, but not MUCH better. Probably something around 21st rather than last.

 

The Moniker is an interesting proposition actually! I reckon he'd have gone top five - the juries would've probably actually gone for that sort of thing and he did deliver a very memorable performance and cheery upbeat track. Sanna would've been a mid-table proposition I reckon - the juries would've helped her out. Danny I think would've been absolutely slaughtered by the juries and by similarity to Russia, so although the public would've had him top ten at least I reckon he'd have gone mid-table. Sara Varga would've been bottom five with jury votes holding her up I think, and I can't at all call how Loreen would've done but I think top ten could've been on the cards.

 

25 Hours A Day was very schlager - but I'm wary of any proposition that says that something's 'too schlager to do well' - weren't Chanee & Nevergreen and Eric Saade both written off on those same cards repeatedly in their respective seasons? :lol: It's upbeat and with an incredibly memorable chorus, and was performed well considering it's the type of song that normally translates terribly to live performance. Though I don't think it would've done anywhere near as well as New Tomorrow (it wouldn't have gotten the jury votes quite as well) I don't think top ten would've been outside the bounds of possibility.

 

Just Me really REALLY sounds like a fan favourite/crashing out in the semis type song to me, Switzerland have sent decent contemporary songs before and failed spectacularly, and I really think that Just Me wouldn't have gone anywhere, not that we'll ever know! But last three in the semi wouldn't have surprised me at all...

 

In The Club doesn't have much of a tune, which was always its problem, so I definitely agree that juries would have slaughtered it for that reason alone, it's all about the production and beat.

 

Not at all, 25 Hours A Day is much more classic schlager than either of those. People were doubting Chanee & N'evergreen for being dated in an American 1980s Starship-cum-power ballad sort of way, not dated in a schlager sort of way. It didn't help that they had zero chemistry, yet they still managed to go top five! Popular was tricky because it's got schlager roots but it's massively updated the sound and brought it kicking and screaming into the 21st century, wheras 25 Hours A Day (as much as I love it) could have quite easily appeared in any contest in the last 20+ years :lol: I don't reckon it would have done an awful lot sadly...

 

 

Jamala sounds like a strangled cat. I don't think she'd have qualified or if she did make it, I could see her getting the same fate as Greenjolly and finishing bottom 5.

Just Me really REALLY sounds like a fan favourite/crashing out in the semis type song to me, Switzerland have sent decent contemporary songs before and failed spectacularly, and I really think that Just Me wouldn't have gone anywhere, not that we'll ever know! But last three in the semi wouldn't have surprised me at all...

 

In The Club doesn't have much of a tune, which was always its problem, so I definitely agree that juries would have slaughtered it for that reason alone, it's all about the production and beat.

 

Not at all, 25 Hours A Day is much more classic schlager than either of those. People were doubting Chanee & N'evergreen for being dated in an American 1980s Starship-cum-power ballad sort of way, not dated in a schlager sort of way. It didn't help that they had zero chemistry, yet they still managed to go top five! Popular was tricky because it's got schlager roots but it's massively updated the sound and brought it kicking and screaming into the 21st century, wheras 25 Hours A Day (as much as I love it) could have quite easily appeared in any contest in the last 20+ years :lol: I don't reckon it would have done an awful lot sadly...

Switzerland haven't ever sent anything nearly as contemporary as Just Me in years! Not since...Vanilla Ninja perhaps? The juries would've hated it but I think, if it did manage to qualify, it certainly would've done better than Anna.

 

25 Hours A Day seems a little more disco-schlager than pure classic schlager to me, and the main obstacle to judging it really is that we've had nothing of that sort of genre in there for a while :lol: I suppose the closest we get is Hero, but the performance would've been far better (and hopefully without bizarre black and white effects for a woman who didn't really have looks in her favour to begin with :lol:) and it's far more cheery and memorable than Hero was. It's really hard to call how it would've done, but I reckon top ten could've been a possibility.