Posted May 9, 201411 yr With the 59th annual Eurovision Song Contest set to take place in Copenhagen this Saturday, OfficialCharts.com reveals the nation’s most downloaded Eurovision tracks of all time, and it appears Britain’s love for a Eurovision banger knows no borders! In the new list, unveiled as part of the UK music industry’s Decade Of Digital initiative to mark 10 years of legitimate downloading in the UK, an impressive 4 out of 5 of the all-time most downloaded Eurovision songs here in the UK come from beyond our shores. Sweden got the Eurovision formula nailed? The Swedes certainly seem to know how to rock a Eurovision voter, having taken home the Eurovision Song Contest gong five times, and that winning formula has translated into selling power, claiming the Swedes the top TWO most downloaded Eurovision tracks ever here in the UK. Loreen’s 2012 winning single Euphoria takes pole position on the countdown. The track has sold a cool 211,000 copies in the UK to date, that’s more than three times the amount of its closest UK rival – Blue’s 2011 entry I Can (3). Euphoria also went on to become a Top 5 chart smash, peaking at Number 3 on the Official Singles Chart – the highest chart placing for a non-UK Eurovision single since Johnny Logan's Hold Me Now in 1987 – while Blue only reached Number 16. ABBA, who are arguably the most successful act to ever emerge from the Eurovision Song Contest, are at Number 2 in the all-time chart with Waterloo – the track that gave Sweden its first Eurovision gold in Brighton in 1974. But just like Eurostar, ABBA’s UK chart domination does not stop at Waterloo; during last year’s Eurovision ABBA’s Greatest Hits album, Gold, overtook The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band to become the UK’s second biggest selling album of all time too. Have our recent UK Eurovision entries been out of tune with the British public? Us Brits may not be able to vote for our own hopefuls on the night, but we CAN vote with our wallets when we purchase music - the Official Singles Chart is ‘the people’s vote’, chronicling the nation’s tastes for more than 60 years. However, even in the digital era with all our UK entries downloadable at the click of a button, we have mostly favoured the songs of our international rivals with 6 out of our Top 10 choices being from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Germany. With 7 out of the 10 most-downloaded tracks also being winning Eurovision entries, does this mean we are we a nation of glory supporters? Or does Britain just know a decent pop tune when we hear one? With the UK’s two most recent entries Eurovision Engelbert Humperdinck and Bonnie Tyler failing to crack the Official Chart Top 40, it looks like 2014 hopeful Molly could finally turn it around; Children Of The Universe is ascending daily, sitting at Number 32 midweek – a Eurovision win on Saturday night could catapult it all the way into the Top 10. The Eurovision ‘digital classics’ As you might expect, the vast majority of tracks in the digital countdown are from the last few years, as digital downloading has surged in the UK. However, over a third of the UK’s Official Top 20 Most Downloaded Eurovision Songs Of All Time actually pre-date the digital age. Pre-digital classics to make the longer Top 20 list include: Bucks Fizz’s 1981 winning song, Making Your Mind Up (Number 6), Sir Cliff Richard’s Congratulations from 1968 (10), Gina G’s Ooh Aah... Just a Little Bit from 1996 (14), Johnny Logan’s Hold Me Now (15), Sandie Shaw’s Puppet On A String from 1967 (16), and Brotherhood Of Man’s Save Your Kisses For Me from 1976 (18). Official Charts Company's Managing Director Martin Talbot says: "Looking at this new analysis, it does seem that we could learn a thing or two from the Swedes! But just goes to show that in today's digital era with a wealth of music readily available at our fingertips, a strong Eurovision entry from any of our rival countries can certainly translate into decent UK sales. That said, good luck for Saturday night, Molly, you show 'em! The Official Top 20 Most Downloaded Eurovision Songs Of All Time: TRACK ARTIST COUNTRY YEAR FINAL EUROVISION PLACING PEAK UK CHART POSITION 1 EUPHORIA LOREEN SWEDEN 2012 1 3 211,000 2 WATERLOO ABBA SWEDEN 1974 1 1 3 I CAN BLUE UK 2011 11 16 4 FAIRYTALE ALEXANDER RYBAK NORWAY 2009 1 10 5 SATELLITE LENA GERMANY 2010 1 30 6 MAKING YOUR MIND UP BUCKS FIZZ UK 1981 1 1 7 ONLY TEARDROPS EMMELIE DE FOREST DENMARK 2013 1 15 8 HARD ROCK HALLELUJAH LORDI FINLAND 2006 1 15 9 FLYING THE FLAG (FOR YOU) SCOOCH UK 2007 22 5 10 CONGRATULATIONS CLIFF RICHARD UK 1968 2 1 11 LIPSTICK JEDWARD IRELAND 2011 8 40 12 TEENAGE LIFE DAZ SAMPSON UK 2006 19 8 13 IT'S MY TIME JADE EWEN UK 2009 5 27 14 OOH AH… JUST A LITTLE BIT GINA G UK 1996 8 1 15 HOLD ME NOW JOHNNY LOGAN IRELAND 1987 1 2 16 PUPPET ON A STRING SANDIE SHAW UK 1967 1 1 17 DANCING LASHA TUMBAI VERKA SERDUCHKA UKRAINE 2007 2 28 18 SAVE YOUR KISSES FOR ME BROTHERHOOD OF MAN UK 1976 1 1 19 LOVE WILL SET YOU FREE ENGELBERT HUMPERDINCK UK 2012 25 60 20 BELIEVE IN ME BONNIE TYLER UK 2013 19 93 Annoying that they've only given sales for "Euphoria" but that's a great total for it! Does anyone have any idea what "Fairytale"'s sales are?
May 9, 201411 yr 'Fairytale' will surely overtake 'I Can' eventually, unless it's massively behind at the moment. Not a surprising top 2, thought 'Only Teardrops' may have been a bit higher though I suppose it had a pretty terrible chart run aside from that one week in the top 15.
May 9, 201411 yr I would have thought 'Euphoria' would have sold a bit more than that to be honest. :mellow: It seemed like a bigger hit than it was? Still remains one of the best winning songs though. It's a shame that the Eurovision doesn't make more of an impact on the charts, as some of the songs featured are better than what's already in the charts. I could name quite a few this year that wouldn't sound out of place on the current chart.
May 9, 201411 yr I always Waterloo thought was a huge hit here. I definitely thought it outsold Euphoria at least, very good total for that. Edited May 9, 201411 yr by Chez Wombat
May 9, 201411 yr Clearly I was wrong in thinking Waterloo was a huge hit here? :o I definitely thought it outsold Euphoria at least, very good total for that. "Downloaded"
May 9, 201411 yr It's been a long day :( Am still surprised it hasn't sold more, but I guess it's not Abba's best known hit here. Edited May 9, 201411 yr by Chez Wombat
May 9, 201411 yr It's been a long day :( Am still surprised it hasn't sold more, but I guess it's not Abba's best known hit here. Didn't it seem odd to you that Gina G was below Jedward and Scooch? :D
May 9, 201411 yr The Official Top 20 Most Downloaded Eurovision Songs Of All Time: TRACK ARTIST COUNTRY YEAR FINAL EUROVISION PLACING PEAK UK CHART POSITION 1 EUPHORIA LOREEN SWEDEN 2012 1 3 211,000 2 WATERLOO ABBA SWEDEN 1974 1 1 3 I CAN BLUE UK 2011 11 16 4 FAIRYTALE ALEXANDER RYBAK NORWAY 2009 1 10 5 SATELLITE LENA GERMANY 2010 1 30 6 MAKING YOUR MIND UP BUCKS FIZZ UK 1981 1 1 7 ONLY TEARDROPS EMMELIE DE FOREST DENMARK 2013 1 15 8 HARD ROCK HALLELUJAH LORDI FINLAND 2006 1 15 9 FLYING THE FLAG (FOR YOU) SCOOCH UK 2007 43,000 10 CONGRATULATIONS CLIFF RICHARD UK 1968 2 1 11 LIPSTICK JEDWARD IRELAND 2011 8 40 12 TEENAGE LIFE DAZ SAMPSON UK 2006 50,750 13 IT'S MY TIME JADE EWEN UK 2009 5 27 14 OOH AH… JUST A LITTLE BIT GINA G UK 1996 8 1 15 HOLD ME NOW JOHNNY LOGAN IRELAND 1987 1 2 16 PUPPET ON A STRING SANDIE SHAW UK 1967 1 1 17 DANCING LASHA TUMBAI VERKA SERDUCHKA UKRAINE 2007 2 28 18 SAVE YOUR KISSES FOR ME BROTHERHOOD OF MAN UK 1976 1 1 19 LOVE WILL SET YOU FREE ENGELBERT HUMPERDINCK UK 2012 25 60 20 BELIEVE IN ME BONNIE TYLER UK 2013 19 93 I've put the totals sold in year of release for Scooch and Daz Sampson. I suspect that the only ABBA top the 100,000 mark in this list so sales drop off quite dramatically outside the top 2
May 9, 201411 yr Englebert and Bonnie reflecting their Eurovision success at the bottom of the leaderboard!
May 9, 201411 yr Englebert and Bonnie reflecting their Eurovision success at the bottom of the leaderboard! Although both of them still outsold 'Running Scared'! :P That's the only winner since 2009 that isn't in the top 7 and it isn't even top 20. Rightfully so as it was absolutely dreadful, actually the WORST song in the final for me and there were plenty of terrible songs that year. Chart peaks of the winners since 2009: 10-30-61-3-15.
May 10, 201411 yr Although both of them still outsold 'Running Scared'! :P That's the only winner since 2009 that isn't in the top 7 and it isn't even top 20. Rightfully so as it was absolutely dreadful, actually the WORST song in the final for me and there were plenty of terrible songs that year. Chart peaks of the winners since 2009: 10-30-61-3-15. I think it's one of the best :unsure: 'Satellite' however, is awful.
May 10, 201411 yr 'Running Scared' gets way too much stick. It's so good! I've expressed my love for 'Euphoria' once or twice on here. So im obviously happy to see it storming ahead! *.*
May 10, 201411 yr 'Running Scared' is amazing, in fact all of the recent winners have been fantastic!
May 10, 201411 yr Running Scared is an abomination. Literally the most boring non-entity of a song in 2011. Fab to see Lena in 5th as well as Rybak, Waterloo and Loreen top5!
May 10, 201411 yr No Gemini lol apart from Loreen the only non uk entries I've downloaded are Take me to your heaven & Ukraine's 2008 banger "Shady Lady"
May 10, 201411 yr I didn't realise Daz and Scooch sold enough downloads to make it here, their sales were still largely physical. Thought Gina G would be a bigger catalogue seller than it is!
May 10, 201411 yr Thought Gina G would be a bigger catalogue seller than it is! Me too. Impressed Euphoria passed 200,000 with very little airplay.
May 10, 201411 yr What I find interesting, is that for a huge international event, all the song titles are in English. Were all these releases sung in English?
May 10, 201411 yr What I find interesting, is that for a huge international event, all the song titles are in English. Were all these releases sung in English? Nearly all entries to the contest are in English now (I think there were only 4 entries this year that weren't at least partly English and the majority were fully English). I think there used to be a rule that entries had to be in the country's native language but it was scrapped a while back, so now most countries send English songs simply because they're more likely to have wide appeal than non-English songs.
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