You’ve all heard of the diva’s best friend Narcissus, right? If not he’s the dude that fell in love with his own reflection and stared at it until he withered away and died. Dramatic we know. But he just might been the inspiration for a few of the LED screens at Eurovision 2017.

Along with the white wedding dress, the LED-selfie seems to have been one of the most popular trends amongst this year’s stage designers. Therefore it is more than appropriate to ask ourselves (and you) who had the best face job of 2017.

In this poll we ask you to put aside your opinions of the songs and divert your attention to the LED-screens behind the contestants. Who gave us the best on-stage selfie? And who used their own face to enhance their performance the most?

Before you cast your vote here’s a reminder of the stagings that made it to this year’s Face-Off. If you want to watch the entire performance, just click on the song’s title.

You can vote for as many entries as you would like but you can only submit your votes one time, so be absolutely sure when you press vote.

Please note: We have left out three acts who almost qualified for this poll. Norway’s JOWST projected Aleksander Walman’s face onto the screen, but it wasn’t a large part of the LED display. Greece’s Demy included a figure of her body in her waterfall-in-reverse, but it was brief and looked more like a corpse than the actual singer. Finally, Cyprus’ HOVIG featured an image of his body levitating at the end of the performance, but it was very brief and there wasn’t much face detail. These quick flashes just weren’t vain enough!

Australia: Isaiah Firebrace – “Don’t Come Easy”

His team sought to create a fantasy dreamscape — and one centred around Isaiah’s ever-changing expressions and movements. So they filmed him in a suit striking poses and working those emotions. From turquoise hues to bright pink ones, the LED was all about Isaiah.

Croatia: Jacques Houdek – “My Friend” 

He sang a duet for one and he brought it to life with an LED that captured him in his two guises — opera star and pop balladeer. Some thought the larger-than-life images of Jacques were a tad creepy. But he didn’t care. He did him and slayed his way to the final.

Estonia: Koit Toome & Laura – “Verona”

Singing about a troubled relationship, Koit and Laura created distance from one another by standing very far apart. And, as if to show the effects of a relationship in free fall, their own pixelated images fell apart on the LED. The magic wasn’t enough and “Verona” had a tragic ending, with the telegenic pair finishing in 14th place in their semi.

FYR Macedonia: Jana Burceska – “Dance Alone”

She sang about her reckless youth and missed opportunities, and the power to persevere despite it all. And with “Dance Alone” Jana chose to take the stage alone, dancing with an image of herself. Eurofans will recognise the LED from her music video, and all the promise and emotion it carried.

Israel: Imri Ziv – “I Feel Alive”

He’s known for his striking looks and banging body. And Imri Ziv put both to good use in his LED, which saw him showing off those arms and shoulders as he literally broke to pieces on screen. We’re surprised the stage hands didn’t rush to pick them up. That would be a souvenir!

Malta: Claudia Faniello – “Breathlessly”

At one point the Maltese beauty could be seen singing between her own two breasts. This wasn’t erotica. It was a statement on the various parts that make her up. Chest to arms to eyes, eventually the full woman came into focus. And what a woman she is!

Moldova: Sunstroke Project (Epic Sax Guy) – “Hey Mamma” 

SunStroke Project sought to throw a party. And a party requires bodies. So they replicated Epix Sax Guy and Epic Violin Guy in an infinite series on their LED, turning the stage into a proper disco.

Montenegro: Slavko Kalezic – “Space” 

At various points Slavko’s image appeared on the screen, thrusting and dancing. It was hilar. But the standout moment of this came when Slavko, lying on the floor, writhed around on his own mouth, which was displayed below him.

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So who did you vote for? Which LEDs rocked and which ones should have been unplugged? Let us know in the comments box below.

38 Comments
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Polina
Polina
6 years ago

I fell in love with the Australian entry thanks to the staging. With the boring music video, I never even tried to listen more than 20 seconds of the song, but having it seen live at Eurovision, it really changed my opinion. I listened to the whole song for the first time and his charming appereance only supported my fascination. I never got to the second verse before Eurovision, but now that I did, hearing that dramatic sound that kicks off right there, I fell in love. It went up about 27 positions in my personal ranking. 😀

Rafael Pedro da Silva
6 years ago

Well, Isaiah’s performance wasn’t that good BUT I liked the work they’ve done with the background. It looked so modern and “high tech”…
The best “face-off” was Macedonia, of course, it didn’t covered the entire screen and matched with her dancing.

Wellington Coelho
Wellington Coelho
6 years ago

To be honest, the Australia’s backdrop didnt make any sense to me. On the other hand, Croatia was so much fun! Really creative! Moldova also did a pretty good job with the moves back there.

Liam
Liam
6 years ago

I liked Australia, Moldova and Croatia.

Australia’s backdrop looked good if you were viewing it in the arena. Very slick, cool and modern. I thought Sacha Jean-Baptiste did a good job.

Denise
Denise
6 years ago

Estonia’s backdrop wasn’t that bad compared to the closeups of their faces. I knew they were going to flop. The performance was mediocre

Leaf
Leaf
6 years ago

Loading creativity ……… 0%, I would actually rather see a cool interaction with the LED like Mans, Sergey or Greta. I disliked that none of the LED’s actually told any story this year …… It was all very plain and not innovative at all even though the stage looked nice. Isiah literally looked like he was drowning on the LED’s. Greece’s goddess floating moment was cringe since we all saw Demy walking off from behind a plastic window. Also, Macedonia was random …… I would have preferred a more literal interpretation of dancing alone, instead of voguing. Israel’s looked like… Read more »

Americanvision
Americanvision
6 years ago

Thoughts on all of them:
Australia: maybe it’s me but I hated his face all over the screen
Croatia: in a crazy way, it worked
Estonia: was staying true to their national final
Israel: calling this GPOI (gratuitous pictures of Imri) instead of GPOY!
Moldova: didn’t paid attention to the background because I was enjoying them
Malta: she could’ve left it out
Macedonia: it’s okay
Montenegro: lmao

Dew
Dew
6 years ago

Estonia and Croatia sucked big time with that creditworthy performance and cheesy faces! Australia’s faces are quite interesting. Moldova is the best!

Grete Paia
Grete Paia
6 years ago

Verona is of course the best

Polegend Godgarina
6 years ago

Some were REALLY cringeworthy. Australia easily had the worst backdrop and overall performance of the year. Israel, Malta and Montenegro’s face thing also seemed out of place. It looked great for Croatia, Estonia, Macedonia and Moldova.

stojko
stojko
6 years ago

For me breaking into pieces of Imri looked cool and had a connection with the song.

AngieP
AngieP
6 years ago

For me the best “faces” were in Estonia and Moldova.

Moldova’s background filled the stage and it wasn’t too much.
In Estonia’s case, though the whole performance didn’t go great, the faces were on point and they fitted the concept of the song (like in the Estonian NF).

On the other hand, I Australia had too many faces behind. We were watching Isaiah all over the place!

esc24
esc24
6 years ago

I found australia s so classy and chic,which means that probably half of the eurovision fans found it bad!…..different tastes!!

PP
PP
6 years ago

This year for i thinnks first time , we hadnthat many coumtriesnon LED hade part of their videos

brunowskii
brunowskii
6 years ago

Australia’s LED was quite ridiculous….

KuhKatz
KuhKatz
6 years ago

For all the giant faces on screen this year, it only fitted for Israel and Moldova.

For the others it was either unnecessary or destroying (Giant Claudia eats Little Claudia f.e.)

KuhKatz
KuhKatz
6 years ago
Reply to  KuhKatz

forgot Croatia that fitted as well

Ryan
Ryan
6 years ago

As much as I love Slavko (PRAISE SLAVKO!) with all his bare-chested ponytail twirling, and the fact that Moldova had my favorite song and I love the Epic Sax Guy, I have to give it to Croatia for that insanely weird duet. I’ve never seen anything so earnestly mind-boggling.

Richardinho
Richardinho
6 years ago

I thought they were all bad. Please consign the LED projection to the dustbin of Eurovision history where it belongs. Portugal is a classy country. I hope they’ll realise they don’t need stupid gimmicks like this.

Maniac
Maniac
6 years ago

Croatia for sure , only act where LED of themselves make sense , because he singing with himslef xD , Moldova is also good but not great , others are just stupid

CookyMonzta
CookyMonzta
6 years ago

I’d have to give it to Isaiah from Australia. You definitely couldn’t miss his face when it went up on the screen…

…But the best CGI graphics/lights display overall goes to Kristian Kostov and his team.

Jana should have gone with flashing lights and lasers (like a rave) for her performance.

esc1234
esc1234
6 years ago

australias led backdrop is one of the reason that they failed. Cheesy perfomer who cant hit the high note, with cheesy background.

Fatima
Fatima
6 years ago

I voted Moldova, but wasn’t Christer Björkman there to prevent idea overuse such as this?

Darth Thulhu
Darth Thulhu
6 years ago

I have to note that in the Venn Diagram of these two “Odd Eurovision 2017 Trends” (White Dresses Everywhere, & LED-Selfies), three nations find themselves in the overlap.

Of those, one synergized the two things into a seamless whole and shot to the top (Moldova), one was borderline (Estonia), and one crashed out completely (Malta).

Darth Thulhu
Darth Thulhu
6 years ago

My rankings … Top Tier – Had a Useful Purpose (& got my actual votes on this Poll) 1. Moldova (create a wedding/dance party) 2. Croatia (self-duet is totes a gimmick, but it’s more than mere self-promotion) Middle Tier – Neither Useful Nor Revolting 3. Israel (self-absorbed, but reflect the lyrics) 4. Macedonia (self-absorbed, but reflect these final lyrics a bit) 5. Australia (self-absorbed for no discernible reason) Bottom Tier – Ew 6. Estonia (serious uncanny valley issues) 7. Malta (ick, hard to look at you when you are surrounded by your own breasts) 8. Montenegro (double ick, incredibly hard… Read more »

Tiggeh
Tiggeh
6 years ago

I just felt this year was a very vain contest with all the self projected images behind them.

We should get back to one backdrop does all. Level playing field. Back to being a song contest, not an over glorified, let’s see who has the most money to spend on a production contest.

Fatima
Fatima
6 years ago
Reply to  Tiggeh

It is a Eurovision Song Contest, Tiggeh. The vision part is there for a reason. Even Sobral has his own background.

Alex
Alex
6 years ago

I think those faces on LED behind the singer are so strange and awkward. Anastasia Prihodko did a great job and it fit the story back in 2009. But there was no need for any of them this year.

JEBO
JEBO
6 years ago

Lisa Ajax tbh

Kirby
Kirby
6 years ago

Certainly Australia. Croatia was a bit cheesy.

quince
quince
6 years ago
Reply to  Kirby

a bit???

Ern
Ern
6 years ago

What? Doesn’t Demy’s “dead body” in the waterfall count?? LOL

Personally, I think some of these were in really bad taste. Australia? Israel? Can you please show some modesty?

esc1234
esc1234
6 years ago
Reply to  Ern

you IDIOT thats not funny, its the ancient god aphrodite. stupid.

Jo
Jo
6 years ago

I wish more contestants were there to represent their countries rather than themselves.

Erasmus
Erasmus
6 years ago

1. Australia
2. Malta
3. Estonia
4. F.Y.R Macedonia
5. Israel
6. Moldova
7. Montenegro
8. Croatia

Sergey
Sergey
6 years ago
Reply to  Erasmus

My top looks like this:
1. Australia
2. Moldova
3. Croatia
4. Estonia
5. Israel
6. Montenegro
7. F.Y.R. Macedonia
8. Malta

James
James
6 years ago

Claudia’s Fenale Titan LED face FTW!

James
James
6 years ago
Reply to  James

*Female Titan