Ranking the Eurovision Song Contest Finalists
For the second year in a row, I ranked the Eurovision Song Content finalists. I used a simple rubric, which is described at the end of this post. Instead of force ranking, as I did in the semifinals, I wanted to take a (slightly?) more objective approach. Each song’s actual ranking, according to the official results, is also shown. Ties are listed alphabetically by Country.
| Rank | Act. | Country | Artist | Song | Score | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 🇸🇪 | Sweden | KAJ | Bara Bada Batsu | 8 | (4,2,2) |
| 1 | 19 | 🇬🇧 | UK | Remember Mondy | What the Hell Just Happened? | 8 | (4,2,2) |
| 3 | 23 | 🇩🇰 | Denmark | Sissal | Halucination | 7 | (4,2,1) |
| 4 | 22 | 🇱🇺 | Luxembourg | Laura Thorn | La Poupée Monte Le Son | 7 | (3,2,2) |
| 4 | 18 | 🇳🇴 | Norway | Kyle Alessandro | Lighter | 7 | (3,2,2) |
| 6 | 15 | 🇩🇪 | Germany | Abor & Tynna | Baller | 6 | (4,2,0) |
| 6 | 13 | 🇱🇻 | Latvia | Tautumeitas | Bur Man Laimi | 6 | (4,2,0) |
| 6 | 9 | 🇺🇦 | Ukraine | Ziferblat | Bird of Prey | 6 | (4,2,0) |
| 9 | 5 | 🇮🇹 | Italy | Lucio Corsi | Volevo Essere Un Duro | 6 | (4,1,1) |
| 10 | 7 | 🇫🇷 | France | Louane | Maman | 6 | (3,1,2) |
| 11 | 1 | 🇦🇹 | Austria | JJ | Wasted Love | 6 | (2,2,2) |
| 11 | 3 | 🇪🇪 | Estonia | Tommy Cash | Espresso Macchiato | 6 | (2,2,2) |
| 13 | 8 | 🇦🇱 | Albania | Shkodra Elektronike | Zjerm | 5 | (3,0,2) |
| 13 | 6 | 🇬🇷 | Greece | Klavdia | Asteromáta | 5 | (3,0,2) |
| 13 | 2 | 🇮🇱 | Israel | Yuval Raphael | New Day Will Rise | 5 | (3,0,2) |
| 16 | 17 | 🇲🇹 | Malta | Miriana Conte | Serving | 5 | (1,2,2) |
| 16 | 14 | 🇵🇱 | Poland | Justyna Steczkowska | Gaja | 5 | (1,2,2) |
| 18 | 24 | 🇪🇸 | Spain | Melody | Esa Diva | 4 | (3,1,0) |
| 19 | 26 | 🇸🇲 | San Marino | Gabry Ponte | Tutta L’Italia | 4 | (2,1,1) |
| 20 | 12 | 🇳🇱 | Netherlands | Claude | C’est La Vie | 3 | (3,0,0) |
| 20 | 21 | 🇵🇹 | Portugal | Napa | Deslocado | 3 | (3,0,0) |
| 20 | 10 | 🇨🇭 | Switzerland | Zoë Më | Voyage | 3 | (3,0,0) |
| 23 | 20 | 🇦🇲 | Armenia | Parg | Survivor | 3 | (2,1,0) |
| 24 | 16 | 🇱🇹 | Lithuania | Katarsis | Tavo Akys | 3 | (2,0,1) |
| 25 | 11 | 🇫🇮 | Finland | Erika Vikman | Ich Komme | 2 | (1,0,1) |
| 26 | 25 | 🇮🇸 | Iceland | Væb | Róa | 1 | (1,0,0) |
I scored the contestants on three dimensions, as follows:
| Dimension | Point Range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Song | 1–5 | Is this a song I’d want to listen to? (1=Hate, 2=Dislike, 3=Meh, 4=Like, 5=Love) |
| Staging | 0–2 | Presence, costumes, choreography (0=Meh, 1=Good, 2=Great) |
| Visuals | 0–2 | Props, visual effects, and lighting (0=Meh, 1=Good, 2=Great) |
Entries with a higher song score take priority, followed by staging, and finally visuals.
Keep in mind these scores are based on my preferences, not necessarily on “quality.” Overall I felt this year’s entries were a bit weak across the board—notice that none earned a perfect score in the above scoring system. Still, I had fun watching the event and I’m already looking forward to next year. Cheers!
Update: I found and corrected a couple of scoring mistakes, which altered the final ranking somewhat. Poland and Finland both moved up a bit. I also fixed the final rankings to skip place numbers in the case of ties.