May 31May 31 Author 12 - Ireland 2018Ryan O’Shaughnessy - TogetherThis is Ireland doing what Ireland did best back in the 90s. A quality ballad. Not the tedious, dated and inadequate stuff that had been sent in most cases since the turn of the century and in most cases since. It was a strong semi and Ryan didn't just scrape through either.Best bit: 2:40 the backing vocals.
May 31May 31 Author 11 - Austria 2018Cesár Sampson - Nobody But YouThis was far from my favourite back when I watched the 2018 contest. And even before I started compiling and ranking this list I didn't pick this is a highlight either. Some of it does come across as a bit affected but OMG that chorus. The clunky staging does it no favourite. Best bit: 2:40 the best rendition of that chorus.
May 31May 31 Together is a lovely song and performance and it deserved to be in the top ten for Ireland, it actually sounds like it could easily fit into the charts too at any point in the last 30 years, quite timeless.Unfortunately Firefighter is not a favourite of mine, I get nothing from that, but at least Firefighter we got a new meme out of it this year. Edited May 31May 31 by gooddelta
May 31May 31 Author 10 songs leftOne country appears twice. One year has 4 appearances still to go. 😱
May 31May 31 Author 10 - Latvia 2023Sudden Lights - AijāThere's something very early 00s about this. I don't know if it's because it has the emotional tug of a Jimmy Eat World ballad or because of the System of a Down coda. But it definitely my favourite entry that didn't qualify. It's speckled with gorgeous musical touches. Best bit: 2:13 the understated, almost inaudible climax of guitar leading into the Latvian closing piece.
May 31May 31 On 08/05/2025 at 09:28, Colm said:20 - Lithuania 2018Ieva Zasimauskaitė - When We’re OldI'm quite sure some people find this sickly sweet and twee. For me it's fragile, delicate and gorgeous. It reminded me of Stina Nordenstam at the time and I like her a lot. I sometimes feel manipulated by the ending of the performance. Damn feelings!I also feel that much of the appeal is the delay and reverb on Ieva's voice during the chorus. It's effective. As usual, the addition of native language brings an extra layer of poignancy to it. They know how to press my buttons.Best Bit: 2.05 The Lithuanian lyrics.Looooove this song. Introduced my other half to it and it became one of our songs
May 31May 31 On 20/05/2025 at 21:15, Colm said:17 - Armenia 2022Rosa Linn - SnapYeah - so I jumped on the bandwagon. Or maybe not. Other songs in the past have grown on me hugely long after contests. Her harmonies are magnificent.I do wonder how the televote didn't appreciate this, instinctively.Best bit: 2.32 the start of extended harmonies.I remember thinking on the night this was criminally underrated. Love when it got a second life outside of the contest
May 31May 31 On 20/05/2025 at 21:33, Colm said:15 - Malta 2020Destiny - All of My LoveIt's odd that 2020 threw up more than a few entries that were the best chance that those countries ever had at a victory. All of My Love is one of those songs.From the pen of, amongst others, Borislav Milanov who was a regular songwriter in the 10s, but oddly hasn't written any entries since 2020 when he was involved in three.It would quite likely not have set the televote alight because Malta never does - it is however, my favourite Malta entry.Best bit: 2.47 which might just be the best gospel inspired part of any Eurovision entry.Sadly I think she’d have been let down by the public vote but this was one of my faves from the cancelled contest. Epic pop tune
May 31May 31 Author 9 - Ukraine 2016Jamala - 1944I can't really say much that hasn't already been said about this song. Quite rightly regarded as one of the most arresting performances ever seen on the Eurovision stage. Who knows how much of that is because of the subject matter but it's certainly part of the impact.Best bit: A tough choice between the "tree moment" and the high pitched note at 3:02
May 31May 31 Aija deserved top 10 in the real contest, so good to see it in achieve equivalence in this countdown.When the Baltic indie hits, it hits good.
May 31May 31 Author 8 - Netherlands 2019Duncan Laurence - ArcadeWhat starts off as mildly pedestrian piano ballad quickly develops into a towering crowd-pleaser of an anthem. Goosebumps all round. Best bit : 2:43 his high note harmony .
May 31May 31 Author 7 - Armenia 2023Brunette - Future LoverI totally dismissed this until the semi-final. I had travelled over to Liverpool to be in the city for at least some of the contest. The crowd in bar that we were in had just witnessed the shockingly flimsy performance of Denmark's Riley when on comes Brunette with her striking, multi-faceted performance of Future Lover. What's also impressive about this song is that, even thought it twists and turns in different directions, it wasn't written by committee but by Brunette herself.Yeah - the dance break is unnecessary but it wasn't totally inappropriate either. Best bit: 2:53 the Armenian part
May 31May 31 Author 6 - Switzerland 2021Gjon's Tears - Tout l'Univers Gjon had raised expectations to an almost impossibly matchable level in 2020 but with Tout l'Univers he didn't disappoint. An absolutely sumptuous vocal tone and the bombast turned up to 11 made this utterly compelling. A winning performance in most other years.Best Bit: 1:29 the piano phrase that reminds me of Radiohead's Pyramid Song.
May 31May 31 Author Top 5 tomorrowStill 2 more from 2023 and one each from 2024, 2020 and 2014.Guesses welcome Edited May 31May 31 by Colm
June 1Jun 1 Author 5 - Portugal 2024Iolanda - GritoI'm not sure if there's another victory on the horizon for Portugal because the televote isn't often their friend but it's not because they don't enter quality. It doesn't need emphasising but this just exudes a rare purity found on the Eurovision stage - an almost magical melancholy.Best bit: 2:36 the white-out climax.
June 1Jun 1 Author 4 - SwitzerlandGjon's Tears - Répondez-MoiWhat places this 2 spots above Tout L'Univers is the shock factor. His almost supernaturally gorgeous voice was known to us by 2021 but here is where we were first introduced to the marvel of it and that still stuns me to this day. Best bit: 0:53 the first time we hear Gjon's characteristic vocal flutter.
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