Ghoulian

Shame Lykke Li doesn’t actually get a chart hit out of this.

10 weeks at #16 or #35 for “Choosin’ Texas”

OMG at “Dreams” - well it’s a new peak so I’ll allow it.

Gawd almighty hearing “Unwritten” first just makes me want to turn the whole thing off.

Still just over half the votes to come. I realise there’s also a BJSC deadline and I am open to extending this one a little. First reminder going to @Scene @jimwatts @Herbs @Roba. @CowTzy @Lukuzz @nine¾ @danG @awardinary @King Rollo @Viper* @Cody Rozanov @Doug @dandy* @RabbitFurCoat @Jade @Spiceboy @Bror @dhwe

Samantha for me - it’s quite nice but not exactly inspiring

10 Juliana Pasha - It’s All About You (16th, 2010) It’s a fairly standard pop song, but she delivers it so well and I really like her vocal tone. 9 Lindita - World (DNQ, 2017) One of those world peace ballads but it’s beautifully done and has a lovely flow to it. 8 Anxhela Peristeri - Karma (21st, 2021) A very Balkan sound to this, and a lovely song classily performed. 7 Alis - Nân (13th, 2026) I thought this was turgid at first but it’s grown on me a lot: I think the slow march style and the big choir led chorus work very well. 6 Ronela Hajati - Sekret (DNQ, 2022) Apparently the staging was better in the national final: it didn’t quite come together but it’s such a dynamic song and performance nonetheless.

I must admit I wasn’t watching in 2008 - I gave it a few listens for this and it didn’t click but I’m sure I’ll get some things wrong!

I’ve taken the participation overview table from Wikipedia and added my notes for those missing out. Then I’ll do my top 10 as a countdown. Sorry for the 2000s wipeout but I do think they grew into the contest. Year Artist Song Language Final Points Semi Points Notes 2004 Anjeza Shahini "The Image of You" English 7 106 4 167 Their debut and 2nd best result, and the vocals are great but it's quite an ordinary pop dance track 2005 Ledina Çelo "Tomorrow I Go" English 16 53 Top 12 in 2004 final[a] This is more up my street with an Eastern flavour and comes close to my top 10 2006 Luiz Ejlli "Zjarr e ftohtë" Albanian Failed to qualify 14 58 Their 1st DNQ: it's a good song in Albanian nicely done but needed a little more punch 2007 Frederik Ndoci "Hear My Plea" English, Albanian 17 49 I can see why this old fashioned duet didn’t qualify - it isn't for me 2008 Olta Boka "Zemrën e lamë peng" Albanian 17 55 9 67 A very nice guitar ballad with a rockier chorus, but not that memorable 2009 Kejsi Tola "Carry Me in Your Dreams" English 17 48 7 73 She was only 17 and it's a stellar performance of a catchy but standard pop song 2010 Juliana Pasha "It's All About You" English 16 62 6 76 Top 10 2011 Aurela Gaçe "Feel the Passion" English, Albanian Failed to qualify 14 47 Top 10 2012 Rona Nishliu "Suus" Albanian 5 146 2 146 Top 10 2013 Adrian Lulgjurajand Bledar Sejko "Identitet" Albanian Failed to qualify 15 31 Top 10 2014 Hersi "One Night's Anger" English 15 22 A bit like Alanis with Shakira's vocal tone - lovely but lacking oomph 2015 Elhaida Dani "I'm Alive" English 17 34 10 62 Their only ropey vocal performance and I find the song a little limp 2016 Eneda Tarifa "Fairytale" English Failed to qualify 16 45 This has Bond vibes and I like it a lot, but the song needed to be a little stronger 2017 Lindita "World" English 14 76 Top 10 2018 Eugent Bushpepa "Mall" Albanian 11 184 8 162 I feel bad for ditching this as his singing is fantastic but the song itself is uninspiring soft rock 2019 Jonida Maliqi "Ktheju tokës" Albanian 17 90 9 96 Top 10 2020 Arilena Ara "Fall from the Sky" English Contest cancelled This has the disadvantage of no competition performance to elevate it, and it doesn't hit me 2021 Anxhela Peristeri "Karma" Albanian 21 57 10 112 Top 10 2022 Ronela Hajati "Sekret" Albanian, English Failed to qualify 12 58 Top 10 2023 Albina and Familja Kelmendi "Duje" Albanian 22 76 9 83 I feel like this was culturally strong but I've never got into the song 2024 Besa "Titan" English Failed to qualify 15 14 Quite a nice song with an RnB feel to the production, but not distinctive enough 2025 Shkodra Elektronike "Zjerm" Albanian, Latin 8 218 2 122 Top 10 2026 Alis "Nân" Albanian 13 145 7 158 Top 10

A very rare triple 9 in this group. “I’m Still Standing” is a bit like “Flashdance” for me - an incredibly exhilarating pop song. “Everything Counts” is Depeche Mode’s best yet and “Rockit” is a pioneering record. “Big Log” is great too but just below those 3. 9 Elton John I'm Still Standing Such an exciting and intense pop song with a great flow to it, and it's one of his best loved and most streamed 9 Depeche Mode Everything Counts Their darker more mysterious sound is here and this is a wonderful synth heavy track about corporate greed 9 Herbie Hancock Rockit His 1st hit of the decade and a fantastic and hugely influential, mostly instrumental track using scratching 8 Robert Plant Big Log His1st solo hit and highest peak in or out of Led Zeppelin: it's a beautiful, gentle but brooding and artistic track 8 Wham! Club Tropicana Much more polished and mature than their previous singles and an excellent summery track with a Latin feel 7 Gary Byrd And The GB Experience The Crown Only hit for this US radio DJ and producer and his band: it's a very good early rap song with a soulful chorus 7 KC And The Sunshine Band Give It Up 525th #1: amazingly this post disco chart topper is the last of their 10 Top 40s, and a joyous, infectious song 6 The Police Wrapped Around Your Finger Not one of their best but a good and similarly paranoid in subject matter follow up to "Every Breath You Take" 6 The Creatures Right Now Their last Top 40 is a cover of a 1962 jazz song by Herbie Mann: not quite as good as the others but nicely done 5 Thompson Twins Watching This #33 peak is an outlier among a run of huge hits: it's quite a bizarre paranoid feeling track but still interesting 5 Bruce Foxton Freak Only solo Top 40 for this former Jam bassist inspired by "The Elephant Man": it's quite an enjoyable rock track 4 Al Jarreau Trouble In Paradise This has a good chorus to it and is more engaging than his last hit, but is still a fairly pedestrian listen all in all 3 Clubhouse Do It Again/Billie Jean (Medley) The Steely Dan and Jackson originals are of course fantastic and this mash up is intriguing but doesn't add much 3 Tracie Give It Some Emotion Her 2nd and last Top 40: I prefer this to the other one but still feel like it doesn't really go anywhere interesting 2 George Benson Feel Like Makin' Love Many of his hits have "love" in the title and this is quite a raunchy one, but the music is less exciting than the title 2 Shakin' Stevens It's Late A cover of a 1958 song made popular by Ricky Nelson: this version brings nothing and is also a fairly grating listen 1983 Group 14: #1139 30/07/1983 Kim Wilde Love Blonde 23 41-34-24-{23}-23-27-38-56->8 #1140 30/07/1983 Galaxy Featuring Phil Fearon Wait Until Tonight (My Love) 20 47-37-26-{20}-21-29-40-65->8 #1141 30/07/1983 Level 42 The Sun Goes Down (Living It Up) 10 57-38-33-21-14-11-{10}-10-14-25-35-56->12 #1142 16/07/1983 David Grant Watching You Watching Me 10 67-53-48-40-34-17-{10}-10-14-19-27-43-70->13 #1143 13/08/1983 The Style Council Long Hot Summer/Paris Match 3 8-{3}-3-7-13-24-38-57-72->9 #1144 13/08/1983 Spandau Ballet Gold 2 12-{2}-2-3-6-16-24-40-50->9 #1145 06/08/1983 Kraftwerk Tour De France 22 41-31-28-{22}-23-25-36-66->8 #1146 13/08/1983 Whitesnake Guilty Of Love 31 37-{31}-31-42-68->5 #1147 06/08/1983 Modern Romance Walking In The Rain 7 45-39-30-13-9-9-9-{7}-11-22-31-52->12 #1148 20/08/1983 Madness Wings Of A Dove 2 19-6-4-{2}-8-13-26-36-55-72->10 #1149 06/08/1983 The Kinks Come Dancing 12 65-43-29-{12}-13-18-25-32-58->9 #1150 13/08/1983 Shalamar Disappearing Act 18 47-33-28-{18}-19-22-35-59->8 #1151 06/08/1983 Carmel Bad Day 15 48-42-35-26-{15}-16-26-40-64->9 #1152 20/08/1983 UB40 Red, Red Wine 1 36-9-{1}-1-1-2-2-3-8-16-20-29-39-51->14 #1153 13/08/1983 Asia Don't Cry 33 49-37-{33}-46-65->5 #1154 27/08/1983 Rod Stewart What Am I Gonna Do 3 27-8-{3}-7-10-20-34-49->8

Week 21: 1 1 Olivia Dean Man I Need 1,122,000 2,220,000 2 2 Sam Fender and Olivia Dean Rein Me In 995,000 1,680,000 3 3 Dave featuring Tems Raindance 760,000 1,000,000 4 4 Raye Where Is My Husband! 746,000 1,350,000 5 5 Alex Warren Ordinary 703,000 2,880,000 6 6 Olivia Dean So Easy (To Fall In Love) 669,000 1,040,000 7 7 Huntr/x, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami & KPop Demon Hunters Cast Golden 635,000 1,970,000 8 8 Taylor Swift The Fate Of Ophelia 631,000 1,380,000 9 9 Bella Kay Iloveitiloveitiloveit 631,000 10 11 Zara Larsson Lush Life 594,000 3,630,000 11 10 Djo End Of Beginning 587,000 1,770,000 12 12 PinkPantheress Stateside 558,000 690,000 13 13 Olivia Dean Nice To Each Other 522,000 1,300,000 14 14 Bruno Mars I Just Might 499,000 15 15 Sombr 12 To 12 477,000 1,000,000 16 16 Sienna Spiro Die On This Hill 458,000 630,000 17 18 Tame Impala Dracula 443,000 580,000 18 19 Sombr Homewrecker 434,000 19 17 Taylor Swift Opalite 424,000 830,000 20 20 Harry Styles Aperture 418,000 21 21 Sombr Back To Friends 398,000 1,310,000 22 22 Disco Lines and Tinashe No Broke Boys 387,000 1,110,000 23 23 Dominic Fike Babydoll 375,000 1,120,000 24 24 Alex Warren Fever Dream 372,000 25 25 Zara Larsson Midnight Sun 358,000 460,000 26 28 Harry Styles American Girls 345,000 27 26 Sabrina Carpenter Manchild 345,000 1,150,000 28 27 The Killers Mr Brightside 343,000 7,140,000 29 29 Milky Just The Way You Are 339,000 450,000 30 32 Ravyn Lenae Love Me Not 326,000 1,470,000 31 30 Haven featuring Kaitlin Aragon I Run 326,000 430,000 32 31 Olivia Dean The Hardest Part 326,000 1,050,000 33 33 Chappell Roan Pink Pony Club 319,000 2,130,000 34 34 Goo Goo Dolls Iris 317,000 4,880,000 35 36 Dominic Fike White Keys 315,000 320,000 36 35 Olivia Dean A Couple Minutes 312,000 490,000 37 37 Fleetwood Mac Dreams 312,000 4,250,000 38 38 Benson Boone Beautiful Things 310,000 3,240,000 39 39 Sombr Undressed 303,000 1,180,000 40 40 Olivia Dean Dive 301,000 970,000 43 45 Ella Langley Choosin' Texas 277,000 320,000 45 55 Michael Jackson Billie Jean 270,000 3,790,000 53 60 Justin Bieber featuring Nicki Minaj Beauty And A Beat 249,000 1,490,000 70 72 Sean Paul featuring Keyshia Cole (When You Gonna) Give It Up To Me 218,000 510,000 72 74 Vance Joy Riptide 217,000 4,960,000 78 80 Kings Of Leon Sex On Fire 202,000 4,630,000 82 85 Myles Smith Nice To Meet You 196,000 1,110,000 83 84 Teddy Swims The Door 196,000 1,690,000 84 86 Shaboozey A Bar Song (Tipsy) 195,000 2,300,000 85 88 Drake featuring Wizkid & Kyla One Dance 195,000 5,080,000 89 - Olivia Rodrigo Drop Dead 191,000 92 95 The Verve Bitter Sweet Symphony 189,000 3,170,000 93 94 Florence And The Machine Dog Days Are Over 189,000 3,550,000 99 - Michael Jackson Beat It 186,000 2,430,000 - 97 Sabrina Carpenter Tears 186,000 590,000 - 99 Sabrina Carpenter Taste 186,000 1,820,000

Week 21: 1 1 Olivia Dean The Art Of Loving 332,000 610,000 2 2 Harry Styles Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. 292,000 3 3 Michael Jackson The Essential 211,000 2,310,000 4 4 Fleetwood Mac 50 Years: Don't Stop 176,000 2,010,000 5 5 The Weeknd Highlights 145,000 1,730,000 6 7 Ed Sheeran +-=÷x (Tour Collection) 137,000 650,000 7 6 Sabrina Carpenter Man's Best Friend 137,000 440,000 8 8 Alex Warren You'll Be Alright Kid (Chapter 1) 131,000 440,000 9 9 Sabrina Carpenter Short n' Sweet 112,000 1,000,000 10 10 Noah Kahan Stick Season 110,000 830,000 11 11 Oasis Time Flies... 1994-2009 110,000 2,520,000 12 12 Linkin Park Papercuts 108,000 500,000 13 13 Taylor Swift The Life Of A Showgirl 103,000 740,000 14 14 Raye This Music May Contain Hope 103,000 15 15 ABBA Gold 101,000 6,240,000 16 16 Fleetwood Mac Rumours 100,000 3,650,000 17 17 BTS Arirang 99,000 18 20 Noah Kahan The Great Divide 97,000 19 18 Tate McRae So Close To What 96,000 350,000 20 19 Elton John Diamonds 94,000 2,020,000 21 21 Oasis (What's The Story) Morning Glory 89,000 5,700,000 22 22 Arctic Monkeys AM 86,000 2,410,000 23 24 Eminem Curtain Call: The Hits 82,000 3,620,000 24 23 Sombr I Barely Know Her 82,000 170,000 25 25 Olivia Rodrigo Sour 79,000 1,330,000 26 26 Olivia Rodrigo Guts 77,000 770,000 27 27 50 Cent Best Of 50 Cent 75,000 840,000 28 28 Pitbull Greatest Hits 72,000 700,000 29 29 Maroon 5 Singles 71,000 1,060,000 30 30 EsDeeKid Rebel 69,000 140,000 31 40 Michael Jackson Thriller 69,000 4,820,000 32 31 Queen Greatest Hits 67,000 3,270,000 33 32 Billie Eilish Hit Me Hard And Soft 66,000 660,000 34 44 Michael Jackson Bad 65,000 4,520,000 35 33 Red Hot Chili Peppers Greatest Hits 64,000 2,380,000 36 36 Calvin Harris 96 Months 62,000 300,000 37 34 Bruno Mars Doo-Wops & Hooligans 62,000 2,490,000 38 35 Oasis Definitely Maybe 62,000 3,080,000 39 39 Katy Perry Teenage Dream 62,000 2,090,000 40 38 Post Malone The Diamond Collection 62,000 560,000 51 52 Green Day Greatest Hits: God's Favorite Band 56,000 800,000 66 67 Avicii Avicii Forever 51,000 120,000 67 68 Kanye West Graduation 51,000 1,110,000 85 86 Madonna Finally Enough Love - #1s Remixed 45,000 340,000 90 - Drake Iceman 44,000 - 95 Louis Tomlinson How Did I Get Here? 40,000

28/5: 1 1 Rein me in (1) 2 2 Man I need (1) 3 - Janice STFU (3) 4 - National treasures (4) 5 5 Billie Jean (1) 6 4 Dracula (4) 7 - Make them cry (7) 8 11 Go (8) 9 - Whisper my name (9) 10 - Ran to Atlanta (10) 11 3 Iloveitiloveitiloveit (2) 12 6 Ordianry (1) 13 9 Human nature (9) 14 8 Beat it (3) 15 - Shabang (15) 16 - Dust (16) 17 - 2 hard 4 the radio (17) 18 13 Don’t stop ‘til you get enough (3) 19 7 Drop Dead (1) 20 10 So easy (5) 21 12 Fever dream (4) 22 16 Where is my husband! (3) 23 17 Lush life (3) 24 14 Homewrecker (10) 25 20 American girls (1) 26 - Plot twist (26) 27 18 Midnight sun (11) 28 15 Beauty and a beat (1) 29 19 Raindance (2) 30 - Make them pay (30) 31 22 Choosin’ Texas (22) 32 - What did I miss (32) 33 26 Dirty Diana (4) 34 - Hit the wall (34) 35 - B’s on the table (35) 36 28 Golden (1) 37 25 Nice to each other (5) 38 21 Stateside (5) 39 - Burning bridges (39) 40 31 The fate of Ophelia (1) 41 27 Babydoll (12) 42 29 Just the way you are (8) 43 30 12 to 12 (8) 44 24 Daisies (2) 45 34 Mr Brightside (10) 46 32 I just might (7) 47 - Make them know (47) 48 33 Smooth criminal (3) 49 23 White keys (14) 50 36 Earrings (36)

Country 1: Albania Albania joined the contest in 2004 and has competed each year since. Its national final is actually a competition that’s existed since 1962. It has reached 13 of a possible 22 finals, and has had 3 Top 10 finishes where it came 5th, 7th and 8th respectively. I’m reviewing 23 songs including 2020’s entry. My overall impression from listening to all the entries is: Their vocal quality is generally excellent They have strong cultural elements and frequently use traditional instruments The sophistication of their perforamnces has really grown over their time Overall I think they’re an underrated country in the contest. Next I’ll reveal the 13 songs not making my top 10 ranking.

One listener thought it was Infernal, and another that it was Fundamentally Flawed.

I actually like “Just The Way You Are” quite a lot - it isn’t just a copy of other slushy ballads, the lyrics feel genuinely delivered and the production is so warm. I enjoyed it returning to #1 with a six figure sale, more than it had done on release. We’ll see how high that gets in my list. “Dynamite” a trash bop.

Oh phew everyone now has points!

Ah apologies - I don’t think I’d have had an issue with Siobhan really FWIW

Kicking off here at 19:30 https://sync-tube.de/room/_WVKPN6H

Yes - planning to start at 19:30!

It’s been a while since I started an ill-advised, overly ambitious and labour intensive project so here we go. My plan is to to cover all the 50+ Eurovision countries in alphabetical order, listen or re-listen to each entry since 1956 or whenever they joined, and do a ranking. For the 15 or so countries with more than 50 entries I plan to do a top 20 ranking, and for others I plan to do a top 10. For the very few countries who have entered fewer than 10 times I will just rank what there is. I’ll do a very brief comment on each song whether or not it’s made my ranking, and I will include 2020 entries. I’ll mainly focus on the song and audio performance rather than visuals though the latter may come into it. I plan to do the listening on YouTube based on the actual semi or final competition performance, especially as preparing the first country’s list I’ve found that many aren’t on Spotify at all. I understand there are around 1,800 songs in total so it could take a while! Just having listened to Albania’s set of entries so far, it really brings home how many setbacks and underperformances other countries have had that we miss by focusing on the UK.

I gave the Top 2 both 10s behind “Crazy In Love” so can’t really complain, although I do think this format gives outlier bottom ratings a little too much weight. Thanks so much again Jade - beautifully presented!

Went for Supermode as it’s largely a Bronski Beat re-hash.

Geri absolutely - “Don’t Let Go” isn’t bad

Another very strong group here with an average well above 6. “The First Picture Of You” is one of the best discoveries of the year. I had been planning to give “Who’s That Girl” an 8 but actually it’s got it all - the melody, the excitement, the production, the building tension, the synths. In the end I had to give it the second 9. 9 The Lotus Eaters The First Picture Of You Debut single and only Top 40 for this Liverpool band first recorded in a John Peel session: it's a stunning song 9 Eurythmics Who's That Girl? Their 3rd fantastic big hit in quick succession: the way the synths build around Annie's voice here is electrifying 8 Bananarama Cruel Summer Only a #8 hit when they had 7 Top 5s, but their most Spotify streamed and signature song: an excellent pop track 8 The Cure The Walk Only their 3rd Top 40 and 1st Top 20, an excellent piece of synth pop with an Eastern flavour thanks to Steve Nye 8 Echo And The Bunnymen Never Stop An exciting track with an urgent beat and a worthy follow up to "The Cutter", critiquing profiting from religion 7 Malcolm McLaren Double Dutch His highest peaking hit about an American playground skipping game: it's a delightfully unusual feel good track 7 Oliver Cheatham Get Down Saturday Night Incredible that this is sampled in 2 big dance his of the 2000s: a great track in its own right and his only solo hit 7 Midge Ure And Mick Karn After A Fashion Mick Karn had been in Japan and this is his only solo Top 40: it's a quirky and fun forgotten minor hit with Midge 6 A Flock Of Seagulls Transfer Affection A less well known small hit of theirs: this has all the usual ingredients but ends up being good rather than great 6 Mary Jane Girls All Night Long Only Top 40 for this US R&B girl group: a very sensual soul track that works well and has been heavily sampled 5 Men At Work It's A Mistake An anti Cold War song: it's conceptually interesting but musically puts them in the ordinary soft reggae rock lane 5 Elvis Costello Everyday I Write The Book A Top 40 as himself after a number of misses, and it's charming but syrupy and not a patch on "Pills & Soap" 4 Roman Holliday Don't Try To Stop It 1st hit for this UK group: it has quite a nice energy to hit but I don't think has anything to make it really stand out 3 Jimmy The Hoover Tantalise (Wo Wo Ee Yeh Yeh) Only hit for this UK group managed by Malcolm McLaren: it's not great but has his international kind of sound 2 Musical Youth Tell Me Why They're only having smaller hits from now on: this is a rather sickly sweet cover of a reggae song by John Holt 1983 Group 13: #1123 23/07/1983 The Police Wrapped Around Your Finger 7 14-8-{7}-18-26-39-66->7 #1124 23/07/1983 Gary Byrd And The GB Experience The Crown 6 21-{6}-6-6-11-18-26-33-52->9 #1125 23/07/1983 Shakin' Stevens It's Late 11 23-12-{11}-14-22-32-56->7 #1126 23/07/1983 Clubhouse Do It Again/Billie Jean (Medley) 11 29-{11}-13-22-38-55->6 #1127 16/07/1983 KC And The Sunshine Band Give It Up 1 64-30-19-5-{1}-1-1-2-4-13-18-34-45-69->14 #1128 16/07/1983 George Benson Feel Like Makin' Love 28 46-31-{28}-29-32-46-64->7 #1129 16/07/1983 The Creatures Right Now 14 43-32-29-20-17-{14}-19-28-42-73->10 #1130 16/07/1983 Thompson Twins Watching 33 54-35-{33}-35-41-59->6 #1131 16/07/1983 Al Jarreau Trouble In Paradise 36 50-38-{36}-43-59->5 #1132 16/07/1983 Tracie Give It Some Emotion 24 44-40-38-33-28-{24}-25-33-54->9 #1133 23/07/1983 Depeche Mode Everything Counts 6 41-26-16-10-{6}-7-14-22-28-46-71->11 #1134 30/07/1983 Wham! Club Tropicana 4 27-10-5-{4}-5-6-11-18-25-42-59->11 #1135 16/07/1983 Robert Plant Big Log 11 49-47-31-15-{11}-12-17-24-32-55->10 #1136 30/07/1983 Bruce Foxton Freak 23 34-27-{23}-25-40->5 #1137 30/07/1983 Elton John I'm Still Standing 4 42-24-9-5-{4}-5-8-15-23-38-52->11 #1138 30/07/1983 Herbie Hancock Rockit 8 65-25-15-{8}-8-12-17-23-34-46-62-70->12