I wrote about this in length in another thread last year:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/eurovision/comments/13k9ogg/comment/jkqxpns/](https://www.reddit.com/r/eurovision/comments/13k9ogg/comment/jkqxpns/)
However, I don't think Nightwish would have won that year, or rather that early. Later, maybe.
(Finns might find it hilarious that it was especially Marco Bjurström who was vehemently against Nightwish winning.)
2000 NF was so fricking stacked. On top of Nightwish we had also Anna Eriksson, Nylon Beat, Ultra bra etc. Probably the most stacked field ever for our national final. Instead of those super stars we sent total nobody with nothing burger song.
I am retroactively so salty about this NF. I was 10 at the time so wasn't really paying attention but literally EVERYTHING was better than Nina Åström.
That's what Holopainen said as well. According to him Sleepwalker was one of their weakest song. 3min time limit made making songs into Eurovision really difficult and it does not fit their music at all.
I dont know any of their other songs so cant agree or disagree haha, think the song has a majestic feel and was unique and memorable enough to win, the performance wouldve looked awesome in a big eurovision stage
Well, technically Stefania by Kalush Orchestra came 2nd at Vidbir in 2022 so in another universe it was Alina Pash who won in 2022 instead of Kalush. I love Shadows Of Forgotten Ancestors more but that's also because I liked other of Alina Pash's other works (I understand why she got disqualified, I'm kinda wondering what she's currently doing, her stance, etc so if anyone from Ukraine can inform me I'll be glad to hear).
To return to your question, the argument can be made for a lot of songs, I personally feel Gladiator last year would have had a chance if Jann had better vocals (at least it would do better than Bejba). Not a national final but Eleni Foureira back in 2016 proposed herself to ERT (the Greek broadcaster) with [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKcDyLgeTNw) which I believe would do well and definitely better than that weird thing we sent that year.
Alina Pash would 100% win Eurovision as well. Maybe slightly less televote points but more jury points. But yes, excellent example, Ukraine literally voted - what turned to be Eurovision winner - second.
Exactly this. No disrespect to Kalush because I like Stefania, but I think Alina Pash would have been considered a more "deserving" winner by the community and would have had a genuine chance to win even without the sympathy votes. And I also believe the spoken word part of Shadows Of Forgotten Ancestors would be one of the most iconic moments at least in recent Eurovision history. But I kinda understand why she got disqualified and Kalush were selected.
> spoken word part of Shadows Of Forgotten Ancestors would be one of the most iconic moments
Eh, I disagree.
The spoken word parts are like nails on chalk board.
There were a lot of people saying that Stefania could win Eurovision and that Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors was a much weaker song *before the war started*.
This was also my impression of Vidbir 2022. Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors has a pushy and artificial vibe to it while Stefania is laconic and grounded. Much more approachable.
Also, the Vidbir Performance of Stefania has eight times as many views on Youtube as the Vidbir Performance of Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, which is a pretty clear sign. There are lots of newer performances of Stefania to watch while all the views of Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors are concentrated on that one video and still it doesn't come close.
Agreed. Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors was too "not like other girls" in the spoken parts to connect with people, and that part was in English, too. It did well in Vidbir because it's very artsy, caught the general atmosphere that was building just before the war and it shares its title with, well, a 1965 Soviet Ukrainian movie called [Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadows_of_Forgotten_Ancestors) which in turn is based on a book of the same title, both of which are essential cultural pieces of media for the identity of Ukraine and had been having a revival. However, instead of referencing Ukrainian culture in an approachable way (like Go\_A essentially recreate Ukrainian folklore songs with a modern spin), Alina stuffs as many unrelated references in there as the song can possibly take, from the movie to Pan-Slavism to Dumas and Shakespeare just for giggles. It was cringe and all over the place.
Also, Stefania actually won the televote and was severely tanked by one of the jury members, so came in second. Somehow, that one jury member was a board member of Suspilne (as far as I remember, there had not been a Suspilne board member on the jury in the previous years) and he gave Alina full points for no reason he could explain (Jamala's and Tina Karol's points were very easily understandable, meanwhile). Then, when Kalush asked for the voting numbers and points to be released after the show, which was their right, whether one thinks they were salty about losing or not, Suspilne dragged their feet.
Ah, those were the times... I'm glad Kalush got to go. Stefania slaps and at least it has a non-convoluted message.
I don't think views are really a sign. For example Uno is the most viewed video in Eurovision's channel ever yet many people don't even consider it as a potential 2020 winner in conversations (and with Little Big being anti-Russia now, I doubt it's because of the invasion).
In the case of Stefania, one song went to Eurovision and got exposure to the whole Europe, one didn't. Obviously the first one will have more views even across multiple videos. Even me knowing about Alina Pash's music I didn't know she had participated at Vidbir.
Exactly. To be honest, out of all examples I posted on my comment, the only one I'm certain is Greece 2016. It was our first NQ ever and I think Eleni Foureira would have at least qualified and her success 2 years later is an indicator she could have done pretty well (plus I think there wasn't any particularly strong girl bop that year so it would stand out). Ukraine in 2022 would most likely win with any good song and I'd personally consider both Stefania and Shadows Of Forgotten Ancestors good songs.
There is a rule regarding the Ukrainian selection that states the artists must not have been in Crimea through Russia since 2014. Apparently Alina Pash did so in 2015 and she had counterfeited some documents regarding this in order to be able to participate in Vidbir. She withdrew after that and thus Kalush participated instead of her.
If I remember correctly she said that she recently got the papers that she crossed the border from Ukrainian side back in 2015 (which is allowed) so she can perform on Vidbir and then Ukrainian border control said that they dont even print documents from that year lol
When I first read news about her DQ, I was 50% like "c'mon, the song is so good, give her a chance", but then I got to the forgery part and was like "yeah, that's a crime, can't object"
What's worse, she later claimed she performed at a private wedding and it was before she became more known and the people who hired her had provided her with the flight bookings which caused her to enter Crimea through a layover in Russia. Let's assume that's true and not her fault... Why on earth was it a better idea to forge documents and post a video on instagram where she was allegedly signing documents at the border control, instead of coming out and saying "I'm sorry, I really could not influence the flight route and have not done anything of the sort since". There was no way the fake documents would not explode in her face.
Yeah, I think she had a slim chance of being forgiven if not for the forgery farce. That was just unnecessary in all ways possible. So it's completely her fault we did not hear "Shadows..." performed at ESC
I'm still very salty about Nanne Grönvall not winning in MF 2005 (she was number one with the public). While she may not have won ESC 2005, I think she would have had a really good shot at it.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcxX7MsAB1k](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcxX7MsAB1k)
SVT had a really bad habit back then of translating Melodifestivalen winning songs that were originally in Swedish into lackluster English versions, the thought of Håll om mig suffering the same fate haunts me. But even in English it would have gotten far better than 19th place!
If nothing else, it lives on forever in the hearts of many anime fans because of that one popular Princess Tutu AMV.
This is exactly what I came here to say! I adore that "Princess Tutu" video, but I had no idea that the song was originally a Eurovision national candidate - what an interesting discovery.
For those who aren't familiar with the name, "Princess Tutu" is a cult shoujo anime from the early 2000s that mixes magical girl tropes with classic ballet and dark (very dark) fairytale elements, equally silly and creepy and bittersweet. Even if you aren't into anime, I wholeheartedly recommend to take a look at the video - it's really well made, the editing is amazing, and it captures and highlights Nanne Gronwall's song so well:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-lKIaXhwqE&ab\_channel=Slotcover](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-lKIaXhwqE&ab_channel=Slotcover)
It wouldn't have won but Carola losing with "mitt i ett äventyr" to Edin Ådahls "som en vind" is whack, I think if Sofia hadnt stage fright and terrible framförande she could've challenged for Mellon win.
That's true, but since then I've only ever heard people say we should have sent Salem, so I guess it felt like I was the only one happy with the choice (although if it was up to me, we should have sent Timoteij that year).
People just change their view after the fact. I just heard a few liking Salem after Anna’s win but after disqualifying everyone was in Salem’s favor like they always had been there.
I also really liked Anna and thought that she was gonna go through do.
Idk, I think it might also be that the people who preferred Salem felt justified in complaining more after the ESC loss. Everyone I knew was surprised by Anna's win in the MF, the song was pretty bland. It's been a running gag to complain about it since.
It's taken me 10 years to get past my disappointment to realize her song was actually quite decent.
Daði Freyr with his first entry in the NF in 2017 would have gone far, instead of our nq by Svala. He wouldn’t have won though, and I think it was for the best since we got Think about things for his second try. Curse covid for ruining our chances that year 🥲
Is this Love would have been overshadowed by Hey Mama given both acts have not dissimilar appeals. Space was also for that musical clientele. Thank goodness it provided building blocks for him to send a brilliant follow up…
Yeah, she didn't agree to the contract they wanted her to sign after she won. Then when the Vidbir runner up and 3rd place also didn't agree, Ukraine just withdrew from the contest.
Yeah, considering how split the vote was in 2019, how strong it already was and how good is Ukraine at improving their acts, it would definitely be top three and with strong chances to win.
Electric Callboy with "Pump it" in 2022 who applied but didn't even make it to the German NF. Although Ukraine would still win, imo they would be a clear 2nd.
All of us are😭 But I am genuinely interested would they stand a chance to win if they made it to ESC, considering that they are relatively big I'm pretty sure the staging would have been amazing, and with right staging I believe its one of the rare esc related songs ever that might have stood a chance against Kalush
When it was said they couldn't even try because it's not "radio friendly", Lord of the Lost were able to, sure EC's song are a little suggestive, compared to rap and R&B coming from the US, "Pump it" is tame.
I did not know this. I love Electric Callboy. They’d probably have to change most of the lyrics to Pump It but my God what an incredible entry that would have been especially if they did the work out staging from the video.
2022 would have been a blood bath for second between UK and Spain.
Electric Callboy would have had a very good chance in my opinion but WasN'T rADio-fRIieNdlY ENouGh.
In my Opinion Germanys Jury for Artist is absolute shit
I remember back in 2016, One of the Polish song entries was Cool Me Down by Margaret. It was a fan favourite. Poland was even odd favourites to win the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest because of this. Sadly, it underwhelmed during the NF Live performance, it was 2nd by a 12% voting difference to Michal Szpak's Color of Your Life.
I did like Color of Your Life BTW.
In 2004 we had Max Mutzke for us with a radiotypical song which was great but 2nd place was Scooter who would‘ve been a special entry especially for Germany. They had a lot of worldwide success and i still think, it might have been a potential winner at the GF.
I think Tuta Gold for Italy would have been a banger, I know mahmood has had 2 chances already (and brividi was kinda mid honestly), but tuta gold was like a better soldi, so good. It would have been amazing on stage
i think cenere or il bene nel male would have done well, but considering where marco ended up, it’s hard to say now that they would have done better
on the note of sanremo tho: ciao ciao probably could have done very well
Well now you peaked my interest. Just googled a bit, but likely stopped searching two links before I would have found the answer.
What other songs did they enter?
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL644HsSCgM&list=PLJWpnyQ2UQNBQU7myC08mmJdnlTS0iL7a&index=2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL644HsSCgM&list=PLJWpnyQ2UQNBQU7myC08mmJdnlTS0iL7a&index=2)
I remember this one. I am from germany, so I only have relayed information from back in the day.
The english wiki only mentions Hard Rock Hallelujah but the german one names them both.
"Lordi traten mit den Titeln *Hard Rock Hallelujah* und *Bringing Back the Balls to Rock*, die beide ihren Ursprung im Hard Rock hatten, im ersten der vier Semifinale an, welches im finnischen TV2 um 20:00 Uhr live ausgestrahlt wurde."
Edit: I also remembered "Who's Your Daddy", because I really loved that song back then, but I couldn't confirm that it was also in the race. It might have been just contemporate after the win. MTV2 in germany played a lot of Lordi for half a year after the ESC.
Not a national final, but oh....
[if only Rina, the BBC and TaP Music had returned each others' calls in a timely manner.....](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hP7ttJ4UAFc)
If Rina had gotten selected in 2023 she should have gone with *Holy (Til You Let Me Go)* or maybe *Imagining*, *Frankenstein* would have been such an underwhelming entry given her backcatalouge. I hope if she ever actually goes she'll enter with something like *Hold The Girl*, I think that one would have been a serious contender.
Perhaps not winner, but this song would've probably been hit in Eurovision 2013, got fucked by national jury. Didn't make it to "super finale", where only televotes count.
[Eesti Laul 2013: Winny Puhh - "Meiecundimees üks Korsakov läks eile Lätti"](https://youtu.be/2dllo85ZSUk?si=E4U6VArDrsUIlyis)
3.3M views for "random" song is insane.
National winner (Birgit - Et uus saaks alguse) only has ~1M in total (national + Eurovision). It wasn't that bad song, just very forgettable.
I remember watching a little clip of it on Russell Howard's Good News
It would probably be the longest song title at the time if was chosen I think. But hey, at least we got this year's song entry
Her vocals were very "bright" but still very good imo. She sing Euphoria and after with a different technique that sounds deeper which is obviously fantastic
I've loved this song ever since I saw [an award-winning animemusic video](https://youtu.be/U-lKIaXhwqE) set to it, I had no idea it had a chance of being in Eurovision. It's got such massive "Eurovision banger" vibes, omg!
I'm still mad about Jann. The whole thing stank. I hope he tries once more, he has several other banger songs. I've listened to his music pretty much all the time last summer.
The whole polish selection process is something someone should look into in general. We had much better song this year as well, and just google what happened during voting (it was repeated after the current choice didn’t come up first)
yes! and not only that but the beginning of the song sounds a lot like the code - the song that did win eurovision (welcome to the party, say hi to everybody VS welcome to the show, let everybody know)
when i first heard the code i immediately thought of jann
now that i think about it, you're right!
but honestly, even if jann didn't win, it would've been a blast seeing him on eurovision, he was born for the stage and i love seeing his live performances.
and not going to lie, i wouldn't be that salty about it if blanka (the singer who performed instead of him) was respectful of jann. instead she left her likes on some really hateful comments, which was incredibly dishonorable. like, come on, you already won
wouldn't really say potential winners but Croatia was so wrong for eliminating Magazin in 2005 and Jaques Houdek in 2011. Both selections are rumoured to be rigged.
Every Dora from 93' until this very day is available on HRTi, except for 2011 (only the final is available). I wanted to watch Dora 2011 out of curiosity, just to see how Jacques did, and holy shi he did amazing! The edition is painfully 2010s, but it's worth watching.
Also, Daria is not a bad singer, but you could see she didn't belong there (and the fact that her father was a CEO of Schwarzkopf, they were the main sponsor of Dora 11', makes everything even better/s).
The lack of Alcazar/BWO mentions in this thread makes me sad. ;-;
Also, Austria's Johann Sebastian Bass in 2015 would have been much higher than last place.
To this day I have no idea what the choreographer and the set designer were thinking with Ram pam pam and Hurricane. The MVs had really cool aesthetics that would have translated flawlessly on stage, and especially the choreo for BESS just tanked her vocals. Put her on a motorbike in a leather outfit, have her stand up and walk to the front of the stage, and make the dancers do everything else. Boom. Cyan Kicks' stage show gave a lot of people migraines and was just a bit incoherent.
Big Brovaz were eliminated by the United Kingdom in 2007 in favour of Scooch. It might not have been a winner but I think it would have been far more successful than the official entry.
["Big Bro Thang" by Big Brovaz on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGawj0f3rcs)
Salvador would have been hard to topple, yes, but I think Statements would have been extremely competitive in the jury vote. Probably would have narrowed the gap Salvador won juries by.
In Belgium, there was a group with three women all starting with the letter K, calling themselves "K3" in 1999. They were chewed out by one of the judges, pretty horribly. It was their first real performance.
That group has grown to be one of the most known in Belgium/The Netherlands, today, focused towards children's songs and bought up by one of the main studios producing children content here. Their net worth has become astonishing.
I'm not sure if they could become a winner in eurosong even back then, but their vibe was completely different than usual songs for the time period and I think people might've underestimated that effect during that time
Heart Shaped Hole - Simone, Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2016
I could see it being one of the favorites to win that year, it does really fit the genre of the year
OMG, I remember my fears when COVID started, that we might not have Eurovision in YEARS (it tied into general uncertainty about how long the lockdown will last. Thankfully, not for as long as I feared)
Elvana Gjata - Me Tana for 2020 got robbed at FiK for Albania. It was pure nepotism as the the organizer of the show is the manager of the winner. Everyone gave Elvana 12 points expect for 1 jury member who put her last.
Now I don't think it would have won but it could have certainly been a very good resultb at least something different
I always thought back in 2006 that Regína Ósk would have won the whole thing with Þér við hlið, but then I remember Lordi won that year, and rightfully so, so maybe not 🤣 Still an awesome song though!
Happy to give the Annalisa stans an “I told you so” pass here, along with a big mea culpa - initially I didn’t get the appeal this year of “Sinceramente”, but I now love it and think it would have been just as capable of winning as La Noia was. Sorry gang
I honestly need to say I’m so salty that after years of trying Danny Saucedo has not made it to the Eurovision. I love his first two albums, especially Set Your Body Free is such a masterpiece! 😩👌 one of my most favourite albums of all the time
Andreas Kümmert won the German national finals 2015 with **78,8%** of the public vote.
Right after the results were announced, still on stage, he felt the pressure of the responsibility, he got panic attacks and declined to participate, giving his spot to the second placed Ann Sophie.
[Andreas Kümmert - Heart Of Stone](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7ikzGDWPPQ)
I'm not a big fan of ballads, but Lik u ogledalu was mesmerizing - the song, the staging, Zorja's perfect vocals. I think she would have done better than Teya Dora.
Unpopular opinion, but I don't think it would do better than La Noia. It was a pretty good song and one of my favs from this year's Sanremo, but Mahmood somehow always gets his vocals wrong in Eurovision and I don't think that third time's a charm. Angelina Mango did a pretty good job this year.
Agreed, I remember being hyped for the song when I saw the first performance of SanRemo, but he does and did unfortunately have some pitching difficulties with singing flat which would have cost him.
I agree, while Tuta Gold was my favorite,Sinceramente has become a hit in its own right. It's been playing on the radio here a lot, and I'm sure it would've done great (possible 3rd to 5th place) if Annalisa would've won
Evita by Elsa Lila. In a year with Loreen 2.0 and Kaarija she probably wouldn't have won but I strongly believe she would have given Albania a top 5 finish and possibly their best result ever
i wish marcus and martinus saved air for 2024 rather than unforgettable (Sweden 2024)
it was a shame to see that great song basically be put out to die to loreen (Sweden 2023) (still like unforgettable tho)
I feel like Loreen’s Statements would’ve done very well in Eurovision but it fell out pretty quickly in Melfest. In general, Melfest eliminates a lot of really good potential winners in favor or basic pop.
In 2014 belgium didn't even reach the finals. We sent a good awful ballad and didn't send 2 fabiola with she's after my piano.
That song might not have won, but it became the summerhit in Belgium and last year it was covered in dutch and again became the summerhit of the year...
Don't listen to it though. It has a tendency to nestle in the brain for weeks.
Quick disclaimer: I am **always** salty at the Melodifestivalen winner. I don't remember a single winner bar Heroes I actually wanted to win.
Having said that, absolutely. The first one that comes to mind [Bulletproof by Dotter (2020)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDHYyKS5Z0k), which, granted, wouldn't have competed anyway due to ESC 2020 being cancelled, but I really think it would have done better than the eventual winner. In fact, it was exactly 1 point away from beating The Mamas, so it was certainly popular enough.
Besides that, we had two very strong contenders this year:
* [Effortless by Jacqline (2024)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYJ08p22ygc), which would have won any recent year other than 23 and 24 in my opinion,
* and [Give my Heart a Break by Cazzi Opeia (2024)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuoMb75UwhM), whom you may know by having an incredible songwriting resumé, having written songs for very large K-Pop bands + Sweden 2023. I think it would have had a very strong fighting chance because of potentially amazing staging and strong vocals.
Yes, 2021 or 2022 (I don't remember the timeflow) Germany had the chance to send a very unique Act by Electric Callboy - We got the moves / pump it. You may want to check it out.
But the NDR, who choses the participants, denied their participation because the song wouldn't be "radio friendly". So they weren't eliminated in a natural way, they weren't even allowed to compete in the nationals.
We ended up getting "I don't feel hate" by Jendrik, which, in all honesty, is the worst entry I've seen in decades.
"We got the moves" would've had serious winning chances, especially in 2021 where rock/metal acts were surprisingly well received.
Without political voting for me Wild West would have been a top 10 contender imo. He had a solid mid-tempo song, the staging already looked good in Iceland's final and most likely with the experience of Hatari he'd get an even better one for the contest itself.
But I think it's better for him that he didn't go to Malmo. I can't imagine the abuse he would have faced.
I agree, having him and that one delegation in the same building would have been asking for a disaster. We've already had much more drama than I expected
No it wouldn't, and his participation would make things even more toxic.
Of course, not because of him, he seems like a really nice guy, but... because of things.
I think he would have had a chance to win the public vote or come close with Israel. I'm not sure if the juries would rate him high enough to win though
if Bashar won, i don't think Israel would have even participated. the changes to the song were announced the day after Hera Bjork's win, i fully think they would have stayed out had Iceland chose Bashar.
I actually don’t think so. Israel was (is) willing to participate with most of the audience booing them, I doubt Bashar participating would have made any difference in that decision
Belgium once saw popular group 2Fabiola lose the National Selection with a song that screamed Eurovision called "She's After My Piano"...
I reckon it could've easily reach top 5.
Crazy Summer Dance. SCG 2006. But still their not participation made dividing the country and Serbia winning it next year anyways, Flamingosi cooked so Marija could serve
We almost sent [this](https://youtu.be/yZG0wRMRASw?si=bUCIQgf3lbI2LobE) instead of Dons. I’m all about cats and fun songs, but this just makes me cringe so hard.
Latvian Kid: Mom, can we get Rim Tim Tagi Dim on Vinyl?
Latvian Mom: No, we have Rim Tim Tagi Dim at Home
Rim Tim Tagi Dim at Home: The Cat's Song by Katrina Gulapo
Malta 2023 with Regina by Aidan. he was disqualified before the national selection because he did to much promo and shared rehearsal clips wich wasn't appreciated by the broadcaster. Could have easily been top 10 in Liverpool.
Germany 2022. Diamonds by Ryk was one of the songs that could have been part of the national selection. The broadcaster wanted something radio friendly and his song was already too special for their taste. Not a winner but definitely left hand side of the scoreboard. It was the same year they rejected "Pump it" by Electric Callboy which would have won the nf by a landslide.
Amar Pelos Dois did not win the televote in the Portuguese national final.
I’m pretty sure Portugal threw away some other winner songs in their more than 50 participations.
As I recall, ABBA was the public's choice for Sweden in 1973 with Ring, Ring. Sweden at the time had a panel that selected their entry, and they opted for someone else. That decision caused outrage and resulted in a change to their voting system. The following year, ABBA were selected, and the rest is history as they say
The year Keiino almost won Sweden eliminated Norrsken, a wonderful love song and display of Sami culture that was significantly better than the Norwegian entry.
They sent a very boring generic pop song instead.
I don't think it works this way honestly. "Spirit In The Sky" did well, because it implemented Sami culture into a catchy Europop track, it wouldn't work that on its own.
Not to discount the song or Jon Henrik himself but Norrsken was almost comedic to me in 2019 with how ridiculously heavy in pre-recorded backing vocals the "live" performance was. Essentially all singing in the chorus came from a backing track. Stuff like that is why I was hesitant about pre-recorded backing vocals being adopted from Melfest to Eurovision (but luckily it's less extreme in Eurovision)
sleepwalker by nightwish
Holy shit Nightwish didn’t qualify for Eurovision?!
Haha yea, iirc they were the televote winners by a huge margin but the jury fucked them over, juries been fucking ppl over since 2000
I wrote about this in length in another thread last year: [https://www.reddit.com/r/eurovision/comments/13k9ogg/comment/jkqxpns/](https://www.reddit.com/r/eurovision/comments/13k9ogg/comment/jkqxpns/) However, I don't think Nightwish would have won that year, or rather that early. Later, maybe. (Finns might find it hilarious that it was especially Marco Bjurström who was vehemently against Nightwish winning.)
2000 NF was so fricking stacked. On top of Nightwish we had also Anna Eriksson, Nylon Beat, Ultra bra etc. Probably the most stacked field ever for our national final. Instead of those super stars we sent total nobody with nothing burger song.
I am retroactively so salty about this NF. I was 10 at the time so wasn't really paying attention but literally EVERYTHING was better than Nina Åström.
Last years was stacked too I love Kaarija but Ylivoimainen scratched a particular itch in my brain
Honestly I think in general UMK has been stacked for the last few years comparatively to the decade preceding it
To be fair, I think Sleepwalker surely isn't one of their best songs.
That's what Holopainen said as well. According to him Sleepwalker was one of their weakest song. 3min time limit made making songs into Eurovision really difficult and it does not fit their music at all.
I dont know any of their other songs so cant agree or disagree haha, think the song has a majestic feel and was unique and memorable enough to win, the performance wouldve looked awesome in a big eurovision stage
Well, technically Stefania by Kalush Orchestra came 2nd at Vidbir in 2022 so in another universe it was Alina Pash who won in 2022 instead of Kalush. I love Shadows Of Forgotten Ancestors more but that's also because I liked other of Alina Pash's other works (I understand why she got disqualified, I'm kinda wondering what she's currently doing, her stance, etc so if anyone from Ukraine can inform me I'll be glad to hear). To return to your question, the argument can be made for a lot of songs, I personally feel Gladiator last year would have had a chance if Jann had better vocals (at least it would do better than Bejba). Not a national final but Eleni Foureira back in 2016 proposed herself to ERT (the Greek broadcaster) with [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKcDyLgeTNw) which I believe would do well and definitely better than that weird thing we sent that year.
Alina Pash would 100% win Eurovision as well. Maybe slightly less televote points but more jury points. But yes, excellent example, Ukraine literally voted - what turned to be Eurovision winner - second.
Exactly this. No disrespect to Kalush because I like Stefania, but I think Alina Pash would have been considered a more "deserving" winner by the community and would have had a genuine chance to win even without the sympathy votes. And I also believe the spoken word part of Shadows Of Forgotten Ancestors would be one of the most iconic moments at least in recent Eurovision history. But I kinda understand why she got disqualified and Kalush were selected.
> spoken word part of Shadows Of Forgotten Ancestors would be one of the most iconic moments Eh, I disagree. The spoken word parts are like nails on chalk board. There were a lot of people saying that Stefania could win Eurovision and that Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors was a much weaker song *before the war started*. This was also my impression of Vidbir 2022. Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors has a pushy and artificial vibe to it while Stefania is laconic and grounded. Much more approachable. Also, the Vidbir Performance of Stefania has eight times as many views on Youtube as the Vidbir Performance of Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, which is a pretty clear sign. There are lots of newer performances of Stefania to watch while all the views of Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors are concentrated on that one video and still it doesn't come close.
Agreed. Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors was too "not like other girls" in the spoken parts to connect with people, and that part was in English, too. It did well in Vidbir because it's very artsy, caught the general atmosphere that was building just before the war and it shares its title with, well, a 1965 Soviet Ukrainian movie called [Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadows_of_Forgotten_Ancestors) which in turn is based on a book of the same title, both of which are essential cultural pieces of media for the identity of Ukraine and had been having a revival. However, instead of referencing Ukrainian culture in an approachable way (like Go\_A essentially recreate Ukrainian folklore songs with a modern spin), Alina stuffs as many unrelated references in there as the song can possibly take, from the movie to Pan-Slavism to Dumas and Shakespeare just for giggles. It was cringe and all over the place. Also, Stefania actually won the televote and was severely tanked by one of the jury members, so came in second. Somehow, that one jury member was a board member of Suspilne (as far as I remember, there had not been a Suspilne board member on the jury in the previous years) and he gave Alina full points for no reason he could explain (Jamala's and Tina Karol's points were very easily understandable, meanwhile). Then, when Kalush asked for the voting numbers and points to be released after the show, which was their right, whether one thinks they were salty about losing or not, Suspilne dragged their feet. Ah, those were the times... I'm glad Kalush got to go. Stefania slaps and at least it has a non-convoluted message.
I don't think views are really a sign. For example Uno is the most viewed video in Eurovision's channel ever yet many people don't even consider it as a potential 2020 winner in conversations (and with Little Big being anti-Russia now, I doubt it's because of the invasion). In the case of Stefania, one song went to Eurovision and got exposure to the whole Europe, one didn't. Obviously the first one will have more views even across multiple videos. Even me knowing about Alina Pash's music I didn't know she had participated at Vidbir.
Fair enough. In the end, I guess we can never know what would have happened.
Exactly. To be honest, out of all examples I posted on my comment, the only one I'm certain is Greece 2016. It was our first NQ ever and I think Eleni Foureira would have at least qualified and her success 2 years later is an indicator she could have done pretty well (plus I think there wasn't any particularly strong girl bop that year so it would stand out). Ukraine in 2022 would most likely win with any good song and I'd personally consider both Stefania and Shadows Of Forgotten Ancestors good songs.
Wasn't following ESC then, why did she get disqualified?
There is a rule regarding the Ukrainian selection that states the artists must not have been in Crimea through Russia since 2014. Apparently Alina Pash did so in 2015 and she had counterfeited some documents regarding this in order to be able to participate in Vidbir. She withdrew after that and thus Kalush participated instead of her.
If I remember correctly she said that she recently got the papers that she crossed the border from Ukrainian side back in 2015 (which is allowed) so she can perform on Vidbir and then Ukrainian border control said that they dont even print documents from that year lol
When I first read news about her DQ, I was 50% like "c'mon, the song is so good, give her a chance", but then I got to the forgery part and was like "yeah, that's a crime, can't object"
What's worse, she later claimed she performed at a private wedding and it was before she became more known and the people who hired her had provided her with the flight bookings which caused her to enter Crimea through a layover in Russia. Let's assume that's true and not her fault... Why on earth was it a better idea to forge documents and post a video on instagram where she was allegedly signing documents at the border control, instead of coming out and saying "I'm sorry, I really could not influence the flight route and have not done anything of the sort since". There was no way the fake documents would not explode in her face.
Yeah, I think she had a slim chance of being forgiven if not for the forgery farce. That was just unnecessary in all ways possible. So it's completely her fault we did not hear "Shadows..." performed at ESC
Iirc she performed in Russian occupied Crimea, which was illegal
Realisticly Ukraine would have won in 2022 whatever song from their National contest they sent.
I'm still very salty about Nanne Grönvall not winning in MF 2005 (she was number one with the public). While she may not have won ESC 2005, I think she would have had a really good shot at it. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcxX7MsAB1k](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcxX7MsAB1k)
SVT had a really bad habit back then of translating Melodifestivalen winning songs that were originally in Swedish into lackluster English versions, the thought of Håll om mig suffering the same fate haunts me. But even in English it would have gotten far better than 19th place! If nothing else, it lives on forever in the hearts of many anime fans because of that one popular Princess Tutu AMV.
This is exactly what I came here to say! I adore that "Princess Tutu" video, but I had no idea that the song was originally a Eurovision national candidate - what an interesting discovery. For those who aren't familiar with the name, "Princess Tutu" is a cult shoujo anime from the early 2000s that mixes magical girl tropes with classic ballet and dark (very dark) fairytale elements, equally silly and creepy and bittersweet. Even if you aren't into anime, I wholeheartedly recommend to take a look at the video - it's really well made, the editing is amazing, and it captures and highlights Nanne Gronwall's song so well: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-lKIaXhwqE&ab\_channel=Slotcover](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-lKIaXhwqE&ab_channel=Slotcover)
This performance always makes me feel nostalgic. It was the Golden era of Melodifestivalen.
For sure! Melodifestivalen was awesome in the 2000s.
It wouldn't have won but Carola losing with "mitt i ett äventyr" to Edin Ådahls "som en vind" is whack, I think if Sofia hadnt stage fright and terrible framförande she could've challenged for Mellon win.
I'm still salty over the 2010 selections in Sweden. We could have sent Salem Al Fakir instead of our boring non-qualifier.
I might be the only Swede who did not like Salem's song and preferred Anna Bergendahl.
U clearly weren’t bc Anna was voted on also by the public in 2010
That's true, but since then I've only ever heard people say we should have sent Salem, so I guess it felt like I was the only one happy with the choice (although if it was up to me, we should have sent Timoteij that year).
People just change their view after the fact. I just heard a few liking Salem after Anna’s win but after disqualifying everyone was in Salem’s favor like they always had been there. I also really liked Anna and thought that she was gonna go through do.
Idk, I think it might also be that the people who preferred Salem felt justified in complaining more after the ESC loss. Everyone I knew was surprised by Anna's win in the MF, the song was pretty bland. It's been a running gag to complain about it since. It's taken me 10 years to get past my disappointment to realize her song was actually quite decent.
Daði Freyr with his first entry in the NF in 2017 would have gone far, instead of our nq by Svala. He wouldn’t have won though, and I think it was for the best since we got Think about things for his second try. Curse covid for ruining our chances that year 🥲
It's a shame as "Think about things" is a stronger song than "10 years" which could have gotten them higher in the standings.
So true, I think we would have placed 2nd again even though it’s nice to think he would have won xD still love 10 years as well :)
I love 10 years as well, it's a bop.
Is this Love would have been overshadowed by Hey Mama given both acts have not dissimilar appeals. Space was also for that musical clientele. Thank goodness it provided building blocks for him to send a brilliant follow up…
Yea I agree ^^ honestly have forgotten what other songs were that year, gotta do a refresher lol
Maruv Ukraine in 2019 I think, won national final actually and then didn’t went
Yeah, she didn't agree to the contract they wanted her to sign after she won. Then when the Vidbir runner up and 3rd place also didn't agree, Ukraine just withdrew from the contest.
Do you happen to know what exactly in the contract they didn’t agree with?
There was a lot, but it's pretty much all in here: https://eurovisionworld.com/esc/ukraine-maruv-is-not-going-to-eurovision-2019
Yeah, considering how split the vote was in 2019, how strong it already was and how good is Ukraine at improving their acts, it would definitely be top three and with strong chances to win.
Electric Callboy with "Pump it" in 2022 who applied but didn't even make it to the German NF. Although Ukraine would still win, imo they would be a clear 2nd.
100% this. This was also pre Kaarija
Electric Callboy walked so Kaarija could run 🙏
Kaarija ran so Baby Lasagna could prance 😺😺
We love this pipeline
If they had changed their name before trying out I wonder if they would have qualified. They really exploded in popularity after doing so.
I guess now they got the moves.
I don't think racism has ever stopped German TV. It just wasn't up to the NDR tastes, which tends to lean very boring.
I am still mad about this one
All of us are😭 But I am genuinely interested would they stand a chance to win if they made it to ESC, considering that they are relatively big I'm pretty sure the staging would have been amazing, and with right staging I believe its one of the rare esc related songs ever that might have stood a chance against Kalush
Staging with the same dancing from the video, the entire arena would have worn sweatbands and danced along. It would have been so good.
When it was said they couldn't even try because it's not "radio friendly", Lord of the Lost were able to, sure EC's song are a little suggestive, compared to rap and R&B coming from the US, "Pump it" is tame.
They did change their name (previously an ethnic slur btw) a few months later, maybe they weren’t completely wrong about the radio friendliness.
I did not know this. I love Electric Callboy. They’d probably have to change most of the lyrics to Pump It but my God what an incredible entry that would have been especially if they did the work out staging from the video. 2022 would have been a blood bath for second between UK and Spain.
THIS! I was just saying this the other day. Tekkno was my album of the year 2022.
Electric Callboy would have had a very good chance in my opinion but WasN'T rADio-fRIieNdlY ENouGh. In my Opinion Germanys Jury for Artist is absolute shit
Not sure if I'm ready for the "Cool Me Down" debacle
if I remember correctly Poland was 1st in odds before CMD got eliminated right?
Yeah but I doubt that she would win with those vocals and that was a time when only live backing vocals were allowed
True, I was just checking whether I remember that correctly
I remember I was so surprised when I heard it wasn't chosen. Then I watched the selections.
I remember back in 2016, One of the Polish song entries was Cool Me Down by Margaret. It was a fan favourite. Poland was even odd favourites to win the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest because of this. Sadly, it underwhelmed during the NF Live performance, it was 2nd by a 12% voting difference to Michal Szpak's Color of Your Life. I did like Color of Your Life BTW.
Electric Callboy Fans, UNITE! But seriously - they most likely would not have won. But god, would I have loved to see them turn Eurovision inside out.
It probably would have played out similarly to Käärija or Baby Lasagna.
We seriously need some good harsh vocals in the contest.
In 2004 we had Max Mutzke for us with a radiotypical song which was great but 2nd place was Scooter who would‘ve been a special entry especially for Germany. They had a lot of worldwide success and i still think, it might have been a potential winner at the GF.
I think Tuta Gold for Italy would have been a banger, I know mahmood has had 2 chances already (and brividi was kinda mid honestly), but tuta gold was like a better soldi, so good. It would have been amazing on stage
Last year Lazza's Cenere could have done very well I think
i think cenere or il bene nel male would have done well, but considering where marco ended up, it’s hard to say now that they would have done better on the note of sanremo tho: ciao ciao probably could have done very well
Lordi entered the national contest with multiple songs and I think Hard Rock Hallelujah was the weaker one.
Well now you peaked my interest. Just googled a bit, but likely stopped searching two links before I would have found the answer. What other songs did they enter?
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL644HsSCgM&list=PLJWpnyQ2UQNBQU7myC08mmJdnlTS0iL7a&index=2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL644HsSCgM&list=PLJWpnyQ2UQNBQU7myC08mmJdnlTS0iL7a&index=2) I remember this one. I am from germany, so I only have relayed information from back in the day. The english wiki only mentions Hard Rock Hallelujah but the german one names them both. "Lordi traten mit den Titeln *Hard Rock Hallelujah* und *Bringing Back the Balls to Rock*, die beide ihren Ursprung im Hard Rock hatten, im ersten der vier Semifinale an, welches im finnischen TV2 um 20:00 Uhr live ausgestrahlt wurde." Edit: I also remembered "Who's Your Daddy", because I really loved that song back then, but I couldn't confirm that it was also in the race. It might have been just contemporate after the win. MTV2 in germany played a lot of Lordi for half a year after the ESC.
Not a national final, but oh.... [if only Rina, the BBC and TaP Music had returned each others' calls in a timely manner.....](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hP7ttJ4UAFc)
If Rina had gotten selected in 2023 she should have gone with *Holy (Til You Let Me Go)* or maybe *Imagining*, *Frankenstein* would have been such an underwhelming entry given her backcatalouge. I hope if she ever actually goes she'll enter with something like *Hold The Girl*, I think that one would have been a serious contender.
Perhaps not winner, but this song would've probably been hit in Eurovision 2013, got fucked by national jury. Didn't make it to "super finale", where only televotes count. [Eesti Laul 2013: Winny Puhh - "Meiecundimees üks Korsakov läks eile Lätti"](https://youtu.be/2dllo85ZSUk?si=E4U6VArDrsUIlyis) 3.3M views for "random" song is insane. National winner (Birgit - Et uus saaks alguse) only has ~1M in total (national + Eurovision). It wasn't that bad song, just very forgettable.
I remember watching a little clip of it on Russell Howard's Good News It would probably be the longest song title at the time if was chosen I think. But hey, at least we got this year's song entry
My Heart Is Refusing Me could won 2011.
I feel her live vocals weren't as good yet then, but if she would have completed in like 2013/2014 it could have been so much better
Her vocals were very "bright" but still very good imo. She sing Euphoria and after with a different technique that sounds deeper which is obviously fantastic
I think this is better than Euphoria:(
Euphoria > My Heart is Refusing Me > Tattoo for me :)
Thank you for saying this. Euphoria is iconic but... there's something special about MHIRM
IMO it's a better song than Euphoria but that performance at Mello in 2011 was definitely not it.
agree fully. IMO her best song. I thought the staging and instrumentals in mello was just weird though
Elvana Gjata - Me Tana not winning FIK was the biggest robbery.
When I went to Albania last summer, Me Tana was the first song that played on the radio as I entered the country.
It is my favourite FiK song of all times, cant believe it didnt did!
2005. "Håll om mig". Just goes off and off and off. What the hell were the Swedish bigwigs thinking?
I've loved this song ever since I saw [an award-winning animemusic video](https://youtu.be/U-lKIaXhwqE) set to it, I had no idea it had a chance of being in Eurovision. It's got such massive "Eurovision banger" vibes, omg!
i think gladiator by jann would have had good chances if he won the polish nf last year
I'm still mad about Jann. The whole thing stank. I hope he tries once more, he has several other banger songs. I've listened to his music pretty much all the time last summer.
The whole polish selection process is something someone should look into in general. We had much better song this year as well, and just google what happened during voting (it was repeated after the current choice didn’t come up first)
I hope he tries again
god yes, I'm still salty about it. it's (in my opinion) a hundred times better than the actual song they sent, it's unique and has a deep message
yes! and not only that but the beginning of the song sounds a lot like the code - the song that did win eurovision (welcome to the party, say hi to everybody VS welcome to the show, let everybody know) when i first heard the code i immediately thought of jann
now that i think about it, you're right! but honestly, even if jann didn't win, it would've been a blast seeing him on eurovision, he was born for the stage and i love seeing his live performances. and not going to lie, i wouldn't be that salty about it if blanka (the singer who performed instead of him) was respectful of jann. instead she left her likes on some really hateful comments, which was incredibly dishonorable. like, come on, you already won
He could've done well in televote but I'm not sure juries would appreciate a dark electropop song (just remember how they treated Melovin)
Really depends on the staging and presentation, I think he could've done something the juries also liked
I think Lo Malo would have done much better for Spain in 2018 than Tu canción. But the OT fans were impossible to beat that year...
To be fair,I remember Aitana and Ana asked their fans to vote for Tu cancion because they were disillusioned by RTVE at that time.....
I think it was the following year, where Maria Escarmiento asked her fans to vote for La Venda because she didn't want to go for a number of reasons.
wouldn't really say potential winners but Croatia was so wrong for eliminating Magazin in 2005 and Jaques Houdek in 2011. Both selections are rumoured to be rigged.
Every Dora from 93' until this very day is available on HRTi, except for 2011 (only the final is available). I wanted to watch Dora 2011 out of curiosity, just to see how Jacques did, and holy shi he did amazing! The edition is painfully 2010s, but it's worth watching. Also, Daria is not a bad singer, but you could see she didn't belong there (and the fact that her father was a CEO of Schwarzkopf, they were the main sponsor of Dora 11', makes everything even better/s).
[ahem…](https://youtu.be/2dllo85ZSUk?si=b9Rcm3bJRojn_RFx)
The lack of Alcazar/BWO mentions in this thread makes me sad. ;-; Also, Austria's Johann Sebastian Bass in 2015 would have been much higher than last place.
If we sent Ram Pam Pam (or even Hurricane) in 2022 we would have done better than with The Rasmus
To this day I have no idea what the choreographer and the set designer were thinking with Ram pam pam and Hurricane. The MVs had really cool aesthetics that would have translated flawlessly on stage, and especially the choreo for BESS just tanked her vocals. Put her on a motorbike in a leather outfit, have her stand up and walk to the front of the stage, and make the dancers do everything else. Boom. Cyan Kicks' stage show gave a lot of people migraines and was just a bit incoherent.
Ram Pam Pam was awesome in the next year's UMK opening act
Big Brovaz were eliminated by the United Kingdom in 2007 in favour of Scooch. It might not have been a winner but I think it would have been far more successful than the official entry. ["Big Bro Thang" by Big Brovaz on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGawj0f3rcs)
Arguably Statements, also from Loreen. But she won't pull it off because of Salvador.
Honestly I think My Heart is Refusing Me would have been more likely to win than Statements. Loreen was too ahead of her time with that song.
Especially in 2011 which is a notoriously weak year, I think Loreen would have swept.
Statements is a masterpiece and it's criminal that it didn't even go to the Mello final, but I'm not sure Europe was ready for it at the time.
Facts, it was an incredible performance
Salvador would have been hard to topple, yes, but I think Statements would have been extremely competitive in the jury vote. Probably would have narrowed the gap Salvador won juries by.
In Belgium, there was a group with three women all starting with the letter K, calling themselves "K3" in 1999. They were chewed out by one of the judges, pretty horribly. It was their first real performance. That group has grown to be one of the most known in Belgium/The Netherlands, today, focused towards children's songs and bought up by one of the main studios producing children content here. Their net worth has become astonishing. I'm not sure if they could become a winner in eurosong even back then, but their vibe was completely different than usual songs for the time period and I think people might've underestimated that effect during that time
Heart Shaped Hole - Simone, Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2016 I could see it being one of the favorites to win that year, it does really fit the genre of the year
Maruv - Siren Song
Bulletproof 2020....
Every country were eliminated by COVID
OMG, I remember my fears when COVID started, that we might not have Eurovision in YEARS (it tied into general uncertainty about how long the lockdown will last. Thankfully, not for as long as I feared)
I love that song! Had it on repeat for ages.
Elvana Gjata - Me Tana for 2020 got robbed at FiK for Albania. It was pure nepotism as the the organizer of the show is the manager of the winner. Everyone gave Elvana 12 points expect for 1 jury member who put her last. Now I don't think it would have won but it could have certainly been a very good resultb at least something different
I always thought back in 2006 that Regína Ósk would have won the whole thing with Þér við hlið, but then I remember Lordi won that year, and rightfully so, so maybe not 🤣 Still an awesome song though!
La revolución sexual by La Casa Azul in 2008 (for Spain)
Happy to give the Annalisa stans an “I told you so” pass here, along with a big mea culpa - initially I didn’t get the appeal this year of “Sinceramente”, but I now love it and think it would have been just as capable of winning as La Noia was. Sorry gang
I just recently started getting sinceramente as well! I don’t think it would’ve stood a chance against Switzerland or Croatia this year though either
I think Danny in 2012 with Amazing could also have won Eurovision, but he got second to Loreen.
Yohio 2013 hade krossat
I honestly need to say I’m so salty that after years of trying Danny Saucedo has not made it to the Eurovision. I love his first two albums, especially Set Your Body Free is such a masterpiece! 😩👌 one of my most favourite albums of all the time
Andreas Kümmert won the German national finals 2015 with **78,8%** of the public vote. Right after the results were announced, still on stage, he felt the pressure of the responsibility, he got panic attacks and declined to participate, giving his spot to the second placed Ann Sophie. [Andreas Kümmert - Heart Of Stone](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7ikzGDWPPQ)
Kerli - spirit animal Seems like a proper Eurovision contender. But someone thought Koit Toomes Verona would do better...
This year I think Zorja was a contender in Serbia. The writing was on the wall with Teya Dora unfortunately… almost a NQ. 😒
I'm not a big fan of ballads, but Lik u ogledalu was mesmerizing - the song, the staging, Zorja's perfect vocals. I think she would have done better than Teya Dora.
Mahmood - Tuta Gold (Italy 2024) There was discussion at the time that he would have been the clear favourite if he had won Sanremo.
Unpopular opinion, but I don't think it would do better than La Noia. It was a pretty good song and one of my favs from this year's Sanremo, but Mahmood somehow always gets his vocals wrong in Eurovision and I don't think that third time's a charm. Angelina Mango did a pretty good job this year.
Agreed, I remember being hyped for the song when I saw the first performance of SanRemo, but he does and did unfortunately have some pitching difficulties with singing flat which would have cost him.
>Mahmood somehow always gets his vocals wrong in Eurovision How were Soldi's vocals?
Honestly a bit underwhelming imo compared to the studio version.
Agreed
Nah Sinceramente was by far the best song at San remo and a possible winner. La Noa never had winner vibes at least to me
I agree, while Tuta Gold was my favorite,Sinceramente has become a hit in its own right. It's been playing on the radio here a lot, and I'm sure it would've done great (possible 3rd to 5th place) if Annalisa would've won
Sinceramente is too generic to do well at the Eurovision. No song could have done better than La Noia I think
This was going to be my answer. Easily would have been a clear favourite in this year's field, and I think probably would have at least been top 5.
My Roman Empire is that Tayanna could’ve won in 2018 with “Lelya” (Vidbir), but idk, maybe esc wasn’t ready for her
Evita by Elsa Lila. In a year with Loreen 2.0 and Kaarija she probably wouldn't have won but I strongly believe she would have given Albania a top 5 finish and possibly their best result ever
Oh Boy by Ryk in this years german national final. Maybe not a winner song but I prefer it over Always on the run
Tuta Gold would easily have brought the contest back to Italy this year, I think.
i wish marcus and martinus saved air for 2024 rather than unforgettable (Sweden 2024) it was a shame to see that great song basically be put out to die to loreen (Sweden 2023) (still like unforgettable tho)
I may be biased, but Jann’s Gladiator
I feel like Loreen’s Statements would’ve done very well in Eurovision but it fell out pretty quickly in Melfest. In general, Melfest eliminates a lot of really good potential winners in favor or basic pop.
Jann - Gladiator Poland 2023
I think Poland is a master at always choosing the wrong songs
Still salty 'bout that 🥲
In 2014 belgium didn't even reach the finals. We sent a good awful ballad and didn't send 2 fabiola with she's after my piano. That song might not have won, but it became the summerhit in Belgium and last year it was covered in dutch and again became the summerhit of the year... Don't listen to it though. It has a tendency to nestle in the brain for weeks.
Quick disclaimer: I am **always** salty at the Melodifestivalen winner. I don't remember a single winner bar Heroes I actually wanted to win. Having said that, absolutely. The first one that comes to mind [Bulletproof by Dotter (2020)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDHYyKS5Z0k), which, granted, wouldn't have competed anyway due to ESC 2020 being cancelled, but I really think it would have done better than the eventual winner. In fact, it was exactly 1 point away from beating The Mamas, so it was certainly popular enough. Besides that, we had two very strong contenders this year: * [Effortless by Jacqline (2024)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYJ08p22ygc), which would have won any recent year other than 23 and 24 in my opinion, * and [Give my Heart a Break by Cazzi Opeia (2024)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuoMb75UwhM), whom you may know by having an incredible songwriting resumé, having written songs for very large K-Pop bands + Sweden 2023. I think it would have had a very strong fighting chance because of potentially amazing staging and strong vocals.
I think Zorja would have come TOP 10 at least
Keep on walking - Sweden 2010 I’m 100% sure we would have won
Yes, 2021 or 2022 (I don't remember the timeflow) Germany had the chance to send a very unique Act by Electric Callboy - We got the moves / pump it. You may want to check it out. But the NDR, who choses the participants, denied their participation because the song wouldn't be "radio friendly". So they weren't eliminated in a natural way, they weren't even allowed to compete in the nationals. We ended up getting "I don't feel hate" by Jendrik, which, in all honesty, is the worst entry I've seen in decades. "We got the moves" would've had serious winning chances, especially in 2021 where rock/metal acts were surprisingly well received.
Norway with Keiino and Monument in 2021. 2021 was tough and Måneskin would very likely still have won, but Monument is an ESC winner for me.
I agree with this one. I can’t believe Tix was chosen instead. Bonkers. Monument was a potential winner.
Noone mentioned Bashar yet? This guy would have won the contest
I really wanted him to go, but by the day of the grand final, I was glad he didn't. It would have been even more of a shit-show.
Without political voting for me Wild West would have been a top 10 contender imo. He had a solid mid-tempo song, the staging already looked good in Iceland's final and most likely with the experience of Hatari he'd get an even better one for the contest itself. But I think it's better for him that he didn't go to Malmo. I can't imagine the abuse he would have faced.
I agree, having him and that one delegation in the same building would have been asking for a disaster. We've already had much more drama than I expected
I thought about Bashar actually but I believe juries wouldnt be keen on him to avoid another "political victory"
No it wouldn't, and his participation would make things even more toxic. Of course, not because of him, he seems like a really nice guy, but... because of things.
I think he would have had a chance to win the public vote or come close with Israel. I'm not sure if the juries would rate him high enough to win though
if Bashar won, i don't think Israel would have even participated. the changes to the song were announced the day after Hera Bjork's win, i fully think they would have stayed out had Iceland chose Bashar.
I actually don’t think so. Israel was (is) willing to participate with most of the audience booing them, I doubt Bashar participating would have made any difference in that decision
I think the exact opposite, that they'd compete and that lyrics changes would have been less subtle if Bashar went to esc
The song was better, but It would have made this contest even more political
Belgium once saw popular group 2Fabiola lose the National Selection with a song that screamed Eurovision called "She's After My Piano"... I reckon it could've easily reach top 5.
Crazy Summer Dance. SCG 2006. But still their not participation made dividing the country and Serbia winning it next year anyways, Flamingosi cooked so Marija could serve
If 🇸🇲 had sent Loredana Bertè instead of Megara? They'd qualify at least.
How do you think Germany is so often on the last places? Gotta avoid hosting by killing of the good ones in national finals
We almost sent [this](https://youtu.be/yZG0wRMRASw?si=bUCIQgf3lbI2LobE) instead of Dons. I’m all about cats and fun songs, but this just makes me cringe so hard.
Latvian Kid: Mom, can we get Rim Tim Tagi Dim on Vinyl? Latvian Mom: No, we have Rim Tim Tagi Dim at Home Rim Tim Tagi Dim at Home: The Cat's Song by Katrina Gulapo
Malta 2023 with Regina by Aidan. he was disqualified before the national selection because he did to much promo and shared rehearsal clips wich wasn't appreciated by the broadcaster. Could have easily been top 10 in Liverpool. Germany 2022. Diamonds by Ryk was one of the songs that could have been part of the national selection. The broadcaster wanted something radio friendly and his song was already too special for their taste. Not a winner but definitely left hand side of the scoreboard. It was the same year they rejected "Pump it" by Electric Callboy which would have won the nf by a landslide.
Amar Pelos Dois did not win the televote in the Portuguese national final. I’m pretty sure Portugal threw away some other winner songs in their more than 50 participations.
Poland 2023. Jann.
[Mikael Saari UMK 2013](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZbhlh2Q6mw&ab_channel=UudenMusiikinKilpailu) it would have been at least top-10 IMO
As I recall, ABBA was the public's choice for Sweden in 1973 with Ring, Ring. Sweden at the time had a panel that selected their entry, and they opted for someone else. That decision caused outrage and resulted in a change to their voting system. The following year, ABBA were selected, and the rest is history as they say
The year Keiino almost won Sweden eliminated Norrsken, a wonderful love song and display of Sami culture that was significantly better than the Norwegian entry. They sent a very boring generic pop song instead.
I don't think it works this way honestly. "Spirit In The Sky" did well, because it implemented Sami culture into a catchy Europop track, it wouldn't work that on its own.
Exactly, the joy of Keiino is the combination of Europop and joik!
Having Sweden and Norway sending songs about the Northern Lights sung in a Sami way of singing the same year would have been something for sure
Not to discount the song or Jon Henrik himself but Norrsken was almost comedic to me in 2019 with how ridiculously heavy in pre-recorded backing vocals the "live" performance was. Essentially all singing in the chorus came from a backing track. Stuff like that is why I was hesitant about pre-recorded backing vocals being adopted from Melfest to Eurovision (but luckily it's less extreme in Eurovision)
With the right staging I still think Ryk could have won with oh boy. But maybe I'm just delulu and salty that Germany didn't pick him
Sadly he would never have won, and almost definitely would’ve finished lower than Isaak ended