While sometimes Eurovision can feel dominated by English-language songs, this year there was something of a renaissance for songs in other languages. Following Jamala’s 2016 win with the bilingual “1944”, seven songs ended up in the 2017 grand final with lyrics other than English. But how did they do? Let’s take a look!

Note: For this list, we’re including bilingual songs that include some English, as well as those sung entirely in a non-English language.

7. Spain: Manel Navarro – “Do It for Your Lover”

Languages: Spanish and English
Grand final: 26th (5 points)

“Do It For Your Lover” originally had all-English lyrics, but before the national final, Manel changed the verses to Spanish. But this meant that most Eurovision listeners couldn’t understand the heartfelt lyrics of the verses and just heard the basic, repetitive chorus that urged the audience to “clap your hands and do it for your lover”. It wasn’t successful for Spain. The bilingual “Do It For Your Lover” placed last in the grand final with only five points, all from televoters in neighbouring Portugal.

6. Belarus: Naviband – “Story of My Life”

Language: Belarusian
Grand final: 17th (83 points)

Belarus has been competing in Eurovision since 2004, but this year marked the first time they’d entered a song in Belarusian. The infectiously positive “Story of my Life” smashed through any potential language barriers and had audiences merrily bopping along. Naviband managed to do what Belarus’ previous two English-language entries couldn’t — it qualified for the grand final, where it placed 17th with a decent 83 points.

5. Croatia: Jacques Houdek – “My Friend”

Languages: Italian and English
Grand final: 13th (128 points)

Croatia was the only Balkan country to make it to the grand final but “My Friend” didn’t have any lyrics in Croatian. Instead, flamboyant performer Jacques Houdek used a combination of English and Italian, to represent a pop singer and an opera singer. And it worked — the two Jacques brought Croatia its best result since 2006, 13th place in the grand final with 128 points.

4. France: Alma – “Requiem”

Languages: French and English
Grand final: 12th (135 points)

When Alma and “Requiem” were first confirmed as France’s entry for Kyiv, the song was entirely sung in French. But after a revamp, the version for Eurovision was revealed with an English chorus. Fans were initially apprehensive about the new lyrics, but at the grand final Alma delivered the bilingual song with elegance and mystique. It placed 12th with 135 points, which gave France its third-best result in the past decade.

3. Hungary: Joci Pápai – “Origo”

Languages: Hungarian
Grand final: 8th (200 points)

Since the launch of national selection A Dal in 2012, Hungary has never been afraid of selecting songs with melodious Hungarian lyrics. Joci Papai delivered the powerful “Origo”, a song of societal prejudices, God and music which combined traditional Romani style with modern rap. Televoters were especially taken with the performance. “Origo” gave Hungary its third-best ever result, in eighth place with 200 points.

2. Italy: Francesco Gabbani – “Occidentali’s Karma”

Language: Italian
Grand final: 6th (334 points)

While “Occidentali’s Karma” had a few words and phrases from other languages, it was by and large an Italian song. The lyrics might have had more meaning to the Sanremo audience, but Francesco Gabbani’s energetic performance (helped out by his ape friend) made the performance popular with viewers. While it didn’t win, as many had expected it to, the song still placed well. It finished sixth, with 334 points.

1. Portugal: Salvador Sobral “Amar pelos dois”

Language: Portuguese
Place: 1st (758 points)

Portugal first competed in Eurovision in 1964, and since then they have always entered with a song in Portuguese. Sometimes there has been another language in the mix, but Portugal has never caved in and gone with a 100% English entry. And for all those decades they’ve been the odd country out, often sending forgettable songs in a language few others in Europe can understand. (Where’s Brazil when you need it?)

But this year, everything went right. “Amar Pelos Dois” was yet another song  proudly sung in Portuguese. But this time the song had a strong and sentimental melody. Along with Salvador’s quirky jazz vocal style, the lyrics cut right through the language barrier and touched the hearts of listeners all over Europe. After 53 years, Portugal finally had its first win, with a massive 758 points.

Poll results: What is the best non-English entry at Eurovision 2017?

Earlier we asked wiwbloggs readers to pick their favourite non-English song from 2017 (we didn’t include Croatia’s entry in this poll).

Readers picked Italy’s entry, with 29.07% of the vote going to Francesco Gabbani with “Occidentali’s Karma”. Second place went to France’s Alma with 21.88% of the vote, and third place went to Portugal, where 20.01% of the vote went to Salvador Sobral

  1. Italy: Francesco Gabbani with “Occidentalli’s Karma” 29.07% (2,164 votes)
  2. France: Alma with “Requiem” 21.88% (1,629 votes)
  3. Portugal: Salvador Sobral with “Amar pelos dois” 20.01% (1,490 votes)
  4. Hungary: Joci Pápai with “Origo” 13.58% (1,011 votes)
  5. Belarus: Naviband with “Historija mayho zyccia” 11.73% (873 votes)
  6. Spain: Manel Navarro with “Do it for your lover” 3.73% (278 votes)

What do you think? What was your favourite non-English song? Should more countries send songs in other languages? Share your thoughts below!

READ MORE OF OUR LISTS HERE

Photos: Andres Putting (EBU)

83 Comments
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SpirK
SpirK
6 years ago

I hope that the bilingual “1944” and the non english “Amar Pelos Dois” (as well as the fact that 3/4 non english songs were in the top 10 and France, Croatia and Belarus did really well) encourages other countries to go back singing in their own language. I would be delighted to hear Serbian, Croatian, Albanian (just don’t revamp!) and Greek again. Would love to hear Russian and Armenian as well. I don’t think that the Scandinavians will go back to singing on their own languages though and that pains me cause we haven’t heard Swedish since 1998, Danish since… Read more »

C
C
6 years ago
Reply to  SpirK

It could one day happen. We last heard Swedish in 2012 when Finland sent Pernilla with När Jag Blundar. There is still hope

Helene
Helene
6 years ago
Reply to  C

I don’t understand this question. Why would it be better in Swedish? The music scene in Sweden is both local and international. Many Swedish artists the best ones that delivers the most interesting texts and feelings sing and write in English. Some that sing in Swedish are actually the typical fast food music. I dare say that this is very common in Melodifestivalen. The joke entries for kids are sungvin Swedish. Language has nothing to do with the quality of the song and performance.

L'oiseau
L'oiseau
6 years ago
Reply to  Helene

Because Swedish is such a melodic and nice language to listen to and it’s plain said that it is never represented. I am sure that there are artists that do ‘real’ music is Swedish

Wellington Coelho
Wellington Coelho
6 years ago

Brazil is right here and we understood every single word Salvador sang! Even if it was not my country, I was so proud of Portugal! Really! See you guys in Lisbon next year!

The Orinoco Child
The Orinoco Child
6 years ago

Save for Spain they all did remarkably well. All the non english songs qualified for the final.

Justin K.
Justin K.
6 years ago

It all boils down to just having a good song; good staging also helps, but I’ve always thought a Eurovision winner can stand alone as a great song on its own. A couple examples: even without the staging, Mans’ “Heroes” is still a solid pop song with a good message; Conchita’s image of fiery wings sprouting from her person at the final chorus is iconic, but you can still enjoy the studio version of the song without the visuals; and Lena’s “Satellite” was a fun, catchy pop song with lyrics that were pretty universal (that honeymoon stage of a budding… Read more »

Amor A.
Amor A.
6 years ago

I don’t mind the songs being in English as it it’s my main and only language and I appreciate being able to understand the songs without having to look it up. But at the same time I think we need songs in other languages. What they can do is song a bilingual song or have the music made with traditional instruments to give it some national flavor.

Justin K.
Justin K.
6 years ago
Reply to  Amor A.

I think your last suggestion (bilingual song or traditional instruments) is where Bulgaria have vastly improved, essentially leading the pack on that movement. Even though countries like Serbia, Greece, and Azerbaijan are shying away from their “cultural sound” (for lack of a better term, I apologise), Bulgaria took it on board and achieved their best-ever results two years in a row.

It’ll be interesting to see how these entries will shape up next season, and what kind of stuff we’ll see at the National Finals!

Colin
Colin
6 years ago

My potential solution for the language diversity issue would be bringing the rule which would demand the same country cannot enter with a same language more than a 3 years in a row. That way, we would likely hear a lot more non-English songs, without necessarily specifying the language. That way, we would likely hear Sweden in Swedish, Azerbaijan in Azeri, Norway in Norwegian, but also Ireland in Gaelic, UK in Welsh, also Portugal or Italy in English. It would perhaps open a lot more room for diversity. It would not specify the language though, so acts like Loin D’ici… Read more »

Laura
Laura
6 years ago
Reply to  Colin

Well, Italy than should change how to pick our entry, as you can’t sing in another language in Sanremo

C
C
6 years ago
Reply to  Colin

But that just won’t work. For countries that speak English as their predominant Language – like England or Australia – it just restricts the potential of finding a good act of that origin by quite a lot. And besides, Eurovision used to have rules where participants all had to sing in their national language. They were abolished eventually, and I think that’s for the best. Putting a cap on what language people sing in impacts the freedom of artists, and thereby shifts the amount of candidates each nation has. At the end of the day, if countries want to send… Read more »

Mar
Mar
6 years ago

Hopefully Salvador?’s win will show artists and HoDs that singing in English is not a prerequisite for success, or even a risk at all. Albania’s obsession with translating their songs is really bothersome to me, as well as what France did this year and Italy the previous one. Bilingual songs that weren’t written as such turn out to be hot messes most often than not, and the “message” (let me guess, love and peace?) gets lost anyways.

Justin K.
Justin K.
6 years ago
Reply to  Mar

It’s even funnier considering Albania’s best ever result was in Albanian (“Suus”, Rona Nishliu, 2012), and both of Ukraine’s wins had Ukrainian (whether it be Ukrainian or Crimean Tatar).

Jo
Jo
6 years ago
Reply to  Mar

I think they did quite a nice work with “No Degree of Separation”, but I agree about Requiem, the studio version was butchered.
Albania lost a opportunity (again) of qualifying by translating the song (even though Lindita said that the original one was in English). Portugal was the only non-English song in the first semi-final, standing out easily.
But they never learn…

Pablo
Pablo
6 years ago

Hopefully a second non-English (albeit this one a complete non-English one) would inspire some countries to give a shot in their own languages *coughAlbaniacoughIcelandcoughBalticsandBalkanscough*

Countries tend to take more on STYLES than languages when you look at the winners. I mean, how many big ballad ladies we had after Jamala’s win?

Hopefully, this win signifies more openness to send epic songs on national languages

Jo
Jo
6 years ago

I just noticed that Belgium was the only country in the Top 10 with an only-female-act performing.

Jo
Jo
6 years ago
Reply to  Jo

The male dominance this year is something very unusual, I think.

Justin K.
Justin K.
6 years ago
Reply to  Jo

It is quite unusual! I remember in the beginning of the season we were concerned since there were a lot of “shouty lady ballads”, but it seems a lot of them fell out in the semifinals and what was left was a pretty even mix of male to female vocalists (I counted 14 male acts, not including Romania & Belarus), while 11/18 female vocalists fell out of the Semifinals. Curiously, since 1987 (30 years ago), only 5 male ballads have won (’87 with “Hold Me Now”, ’94 with “Rock ‘n’ Roll Kids”, ’00 with “Fly on the Wings of Love”,… Read more »

Jo
Jo
6 years ago
Reply to  Justin K.

Like Il Volo… haha

Alexander
Alexander
6 years ago

The article needs a correction: Croatia was not the only Balkan country to make it the final. It was the only “Ex-Yugoslav” country to make it. There is more to the Balkans than Yugoslavia! The Balkans takes its name from Bulgaria’s Balkan Mountain range (which extends partly into Serbia). So Bulgaria, another Balkan country, also made it to the final. Romania and Greece are usually considered Balkan too.

RK
RK
6 years ago
Reply to  Alexander

While your point does have validity, The Balkans as most understand it are those countries that are primarily out of the Ex-Yugoslavia region. Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Macedonia. Albania is spoken of as Balkan but like Greece & Bulgaria and Romania, due to their historical past is treated separately, though cannot be denied as part of that “identity”. The article is “correct” as most would understand it.

Leaf
Leaf
6 years ago

It was surprising to actually see how well some of them did with the televote.
In all honesty I never really liked the Belorussian song but France and Portugal were my favorites this year.
Also started to appreciate Hungary a lot more after the contest BUT Croatia is still a no-no.
Italy didn’t do as well as everyone expected though ….. Which I saw coming ever since the song was released.

Darias28
Darias28
6 years ago

We all forget that the winning entries from last 2 years are not 100% in english. Jamala sang half Turkic half english. This year portugese entry was also not in english.

velin
velin
6 years ago

Where England is situated? If no in Europe , why songs to sing in english?

joh
joh
6 years ago
Reply to  velin

because English sounds better, it’s international and most people understand at least some of it… of course the melody has to also be good… and why do we post here in English?

Jo
Jo
6 years ago

How could the juries hurt Hungary so much? Or France. Or even Italy?
We will see more non-English songs next year but this trend won’t last for too long. The next winners will probably be in English again.

PP
PP
6 years ago
Reply to  Jo

We all know why juries in many countries hurt Hungary and only neighoburs countries juries like Serbia, Croatia gave 12 points.

Stephanie
6 years ago
Reply to  Jo

For Italy, the hype pretty much boiled over and later started to die I think, combined with the rise in momentum for Portugal and even Bulgaria. It also didn’t help that Moldova performed 2 places ahead of them in the final and their performance was much stronger. France was one of my absolute favorite songs this year, the producers did them no favors slotting them last behind a consecutive string of three favorites (Belgium-Sweden-Bulgaria) despite Alma giving a confident performance. The last slot in the running order can either be a blessing or a curse, still by then voters will… Read more »

Lili
Lili
6 years ago
Reply to  Jo

With Italy it was so hyped up that people got tired of it. I was ready for Italy to win, but then the staging was lack luster and lost a lot of it’s magic. So you had a song that was super hyped and then you get a stage performance that doesn’t live up to your expectations.

Jo
Jo
6 years ago
Reply to  Lili

I think the Italian staging would never live up the expectations. A lot of people were hopping for some kind of “Lazarev’s staging”, others for something happy with the gorilla (that would probably be killed by the juries).
I think the delegation did what they could do. Maybe with some few camera shots and lights would make it work better. But there wasn’t much more to do.

joh
joh
6 years ago
Reply to  Jo

Jo, they also “hurt” Romania, too, didn’t they? listen to ilinca’s excellent voice, and mixing rapping and yodelling was so ingenious… let’s face it, with Eurovision, it’s all about the politics. they gave Australia so many points. why? by the way, Romanian myself, I loved Hungary’s entry, too. but we’re kind of second-hand Euro-citizens there.

Azzzul
Azzzul
6 years ago

Kudos to wiwiblogs for a very interesting post. Kudos to the commenters for very interesting ideas thrown to discussion. I still can remember when ESC songs were written in national languages and were also representative of the country’s culture and traditions (and I don’t necessarily mean folklore). We were able identify the song from Israel from the song from Spain, for instance, even without noticing the lyrics were in their two different languages. Someone wrote down here (I think?) that everyone singing in one language would unite Europe. I think that, on the contrary, we feel prouder and more European… Read more »

Grete Paia
Grete Paia
6 years ago

Really enjoyed the Azerbaijan song but would have preferred if she sang in english

RK
RK
6 years ago
Reply to  Grete Paia

Grete, she did.

L'oiseau
L'oiseau
6 years ago

First of all thank you sooo much for a much more uplifting topic and discussion. My very acute PED (first ever really…) needed this. 🙂 For me it’s a double sword. When it was reintroduced in 1999 I was all in favor of it. I wanted that ESC songs became European hits and that the entries were more modern and contemporary and being sung in English was part of that. Also I thought that the native language rule gave Ireland, the U.K. and Malta an unfair advantage, as it was the case for French in the fifties, sixties and seventies… Read more »

Darias28
Darias28
6 years ago

Singing in own language is so beautiful such a great diversity. This is what makes Eurovision interesting. I still can’t understand why Azerbaijan or Georgia never sings in their own languages. Especially Azerbaijan has such a beautiful language and it’s spoken by millions of people in balkans, ex soviet countries, in Germany in France everywhere where Turkic people are living. Singin in Azerbaijani (Turkic) would bring so much support for Azerbaijan. Look at Jamala 1944 the chorus was in Turkic “Yasligima toyalmadim, men bu yerde yasalamadim” this is the turkic part ; every Turk can understand this and this for… Read more »

Nickc
Nickc
6 years ago
Reply to  Darias28

It may be because many good turkish songs in 70s, 80s and 90s were killed by eurovision juries. Seninle bir dakika, halley and be?inci mevsim are the first ones coming to mind. Dinle is the only exception that achieved mild success. And when Turkey started singing in english, victory came. But maybe tide is turning…who knows?

Darias28
Darias28
6 years ago
Reply to  Nickc

Yes, turkish songs in 70s,80s,90s mostly were killed by the juries. But today most of the juries also respects singing in own language. Or it could be half english half turkish. Like Jamala did. Overall I always say ; In ESC the most important think is to have a good song. Language doesnt matter.

russland
russland
6 years ago

Origo is beautiful!

Jake
Jake
6 years ago

I believe this year’s theme “Celebrate Diversity” played into Portugal’s (and other non-English songs’) hands because on social media so many people joked that everybody was singing in English — how is that diversity. I still think the national delegations are more to blame for the English songs versus the artists. I believe someone like Artisk would’ve preferred to sing in Armenian compared to English. In interviews she spoke mostly in Armenian and said it was easier for her to express herself that way. I love the Icelandic national final because they present all their songs in Icelandic in semis… Read more »

Jake
Jake
6 years ago
Reply to  Jake

Oh! I also think culturally that Europeans are shifting more to celebrating their own identity. For a long time unifying Europe and being more homogenized was encouraged but now their is this push to hang on to your cultural heritage that plays into music as well. It has clearly manifested itself in more political manifestations like Brexit but it could see itself in Eurovision as well from a cultural standpoint.

L'oiseau
L'oiseau
6 years ago
Reply to  Jake

Indeed. It think this is a big part of it.

Polegend Godgarina
6 years ago

Anyway I hope these televoting results will push many countries to send songs in their language next year. Of course, I wouldn’t expect this from places like Denmark and Sweden (their most recent Danish/Swedish language song dates back to pre-1999, when the language rule was still on). I still don’t understand why people like Artsvik, who don’t speak a word of English, were forced to sing in English…?

Polegend Godgarina
6 years ago

Notice how ALL the non-English songs were higher in televote than in jury vote (except for Portugal, which ended 1st in both). The juries, which are supposed to award quality, seem to tend to prefer basic songs in English for some reason.

Jake
Jake
6 years ago

It’s interesting that in Melodifestivalen the international juries always ignore the Swedish songs in the final. Folks like Jon Henrik and Hasse always do really really well with the public but the juries hurt their scores considerably. Usually the English pop songs are strongest for sure but clearly there’s a strong push from the Swedish people to celebrate strong Swedish-language songs that celebrate their cultural identity.

Jo
Jo
6 years ago
Reply to  Jake

Jon Henrik’s song is very good and I’m still listening to it. I think Sweden lost a great opportunity to bring something different to the contest (and I think that song could finish very well).

Helene
Helene
6 years ago
Reply to  Jo

Speaking about cultural diffrences. Hasse’s type of music is influenced by american folklore and is a kind of easy going music that always sounds the same. For me it is very tedious. Hasse is a kind of charmig though. All music in Sweden is a mixture of influences. A song in English can be more “swedish” than a song in Swedish.

JEFFERSON LAMAS
JEFFERSON LAMAS
6 years ago

I think it was normal that the jury did not like the style of music from Belarus, Italy and Hungary (which had rap), but France impressed me. Maybe it was the live, maybe it was the English-French mix, etc.

Jo
Jo
6 years ago

Yes, but they were supposed to be professionals, judging the song regardless the music style.

AngieP
AngieP
6 years ago

I love this kind of articles where people can debate! First interesting fact is that all non Enlgish songs form the semis qualified! Second, Portugal’s victory proved that English is not a guarantee to have a winning song. Singing in your language can touch people the same way, even if they don’t speak that language. My favourite non – english song was Italy! It was such a great entry! However, I have to say I liked almost all of them (ok, except Croatia and Spain). I believe Portugal shows the way now. Salvador’s win will encourage more artists to use… Read more »

Colin
Colin
6 years ago

This year is a big success for non-English songs as everyone but Spain managed to get a really high score and one of them won. I hope 2018 selection will have more songs like Mustelmat, Kewkba, Shiu, Petale or Contigo.

Étoile
Étoile
6 years ago

We have a word for hello too it’s not Bonjour it’s Salut. You can also use others like Coucou. I don’t know if the victory of Salvador will change things regarding the language. I hope too but I really doubt it.

Ranting Ruby
Ranting Ruby
6 years ago

Would LOVE to see/hear more songs in LOTE (Languages Other Than English, as they’re known in the Australian school syllabus). It’s great to see that this year they ALL qualified! Stand up, Europe! Let’s hear you in your OWN voices – including the UK (Welsh/ ScotsGaelic/ Manx/ Cornish) and Australia, where we have over 20 Aboriginal languages to choose from before you even get to “Strine”. Only when you get away from the “fire/desire”, “friend/to the end”, “fantasy/reality”, “love/from above”, etc etc CRAP English lyrics can you really feel the power of music to speak to everyone.

Mary
Mary
6 years ago

Always Francesco Gabbani the Favorite!!!! Now is so obvious Eurovision contest was arranged !!

Loin de La Bas
Loin de La Bas
6 years ago

It’s not really about singing in the native language. But what’s important is genuine and unique song. I think this year we saw more and more uniqueness and one of the factors was thanks to them singing in their language. Italy was unopologetically Italian. Naviband brought an ethnic fun atmosphere with a language never heard in Eurovision. Portugal, of course, expresses real sensitivity in Portuguese that goes so well with the melody and it won (look at how Alexander Rybak’s cover it in English. It sounds weird, regardless of his nice voice and violin skill). Last year, Jamala’s 1944 magic… Read more »

Gilho Ahn
Gilho Ahn
6 years ago

“Croatia was the only Balkan country to make it to the grand final”

Greece? Bulgaria? Romania?

Colin
Colin
6 years ago
Reply to  Gilho Ahn

They totally mistook Balkan for Ex-Yugoslavian region. Balkan is wider than only Ex-Yu countries.

Polegend Godgarina
6 years ago
Reply to  Colin

Balkan and ex-Yu are used as synonyms. ‘Balkan’ is more of a cultural than a geographical indication.

Möhrant
Möhrant
6 years ago

It’s also worth noting that all 16 songs who failed to advance to the final were exclusively in English as well.

MollieLouise
MollieLouise
6 years ago

I think that it would be cool if for the 70th anniversary of Eurovision, the language rule was brought back. Just for one year. Or better: they simply ban English for a year (would love to see a Welsh, Cornish, Gaelic or Scottish Gaelic song representing the UK!).

Frédéric
Frédéric
6 years ago

Nice to see that there are quite a few “original” versions out there – most of them much better than the one in english. So there’s good hope for more in 2018 (even though i’m not sure, how the plea for “real music” will turn out). Now could somebody make the following happen please?
Blanche – Lumières de la ville
Kasia Mos – Latarka
Norma John – Mustarastas
Martina Bárta – M?j tah
O’G3NE – Lichten en schaduwen

latjee
latjee
6 years ago
Reply to  Frédéric

Working on the lyrics, unfortunately i can not sing.

Maniac
Maniac
6 years ago

I would eat Alma for launch , so delicious 😛

danielvarga
danielvarga
6 years ago

EBU… PLEASE… BRING… BACK… THE… LANGUAGE… RULE!!!

Pavel
Pavel
6 years ago
Reply to  danielvarga

Yassss!

Davve
Davve
6 years ago
Reply to  danielvarga

No! We dont want ESC to take 20 steps back in time……

James
James
6 years ago
Reply to  danielvarga

Robyn: Even without language rule, we still had songs with lots of la’s and yeah’s. Lithuania’s entry this year had like 50 “yeah’s” and that was, of course, painful to hear.

At least no one from the Wiwijury would criticize a song for badly-written English lyrics and mispronounciation or say how awful the switch to English is compared to a song’s original language.

James
James
6 years ago
Reply to  danielvarga

However, I see going bilingual, as was the case with “1944” as the best route to go.

In other news, looks like it won’t be long before Junior Eurovision also mphase out its own language rule.

Poor children. 🙁

Jo
Jo
6 years ago
Reply to  danielvarga

I don’t know, I’ve been thinking…force countries to sing in their own languages will make UK, Malta, Australia and Ireland Top 10 every year, like in the 90’s. Maybe if every 5 years, EBU draws a year when that specific country must send a song in its own language (or in a national dialect). It could be at least 51% of the lyrics in that language, 49% in English. Like Azerbaijan in 2020, Georgia in 2021, Russia in 2021, Romania in 2022, etc… After 5 years, another draw. I don’t know, all this English is really hurting the Eurovision meaning,… Read more »

Helene
Helene
6 years ago
Reply to  danielvarga

I agree such rules are not helping the quality of the songs. Quality has nothing to do with which language that is used. Actually many of the Swedish entries in the eighties were really silly. Especially the “fyra bugg och en coca Cola.” Rubbish text in Swedish.

Helene
Helene
6 years ago
Reply to  danielvarga

If this would happen the Swedish Melodifestivalen would die. For many years Krister Björkman has worked to bring back Interest to the contest. since the 70s it became more and more of a special brand of silly music in Sweden. Christer changed that. That would be a step back for us. Less artist would be interested.

Jo
Jo
6 years ago
Reply to  Helene

I don’t think that a song in Swedish every 5 years would kill Melfest. Also Sweden won in 91 singing in Swedish.

Tusán
6 years ago

Salvador’s win was benefitial for one reason only: maybe more countries will sing in their own languages next year. I mean I don’t have much against singing in English either, but I encourage the future contestants to be as genuine and unique as they can be.

Nicola
Nicola
6 years ago

Wasn’t the Croatian song in French?

Hugin Friis Bentsen
Hugin Friis Bentsen
6 years ago
Reply to  Nicola

No. It was in English and Italian.

Jonny
6 years ago

More songs in native languages please! I’m English and don’t need to hear the songs in English. My fave songs Italy and Hungary and loved Belarus and winner Portugal! Eurovision should show us more about the countries’ culture and how better than in their own language!

James
James
6 years ago

I’m hoping for more national language entering next year. The excuse that “English helps send my song across” is such a misguided thought for many recent acts when asked why they can’t sing in their own mother tongue. I heard Demy’s Greek version of “This is Love” and it sounded much better than it was in English, likewise for Serbia’s and Slovenia’s entry. In the case of Lithuania’s entry, “Rain of Revolution”, Fusedmarc’s singer was having trouble with properly enunciating the lyrics so as a result, we all could barely understand 98 percent of the song apart from the chorus… Read more »

Llobera 4 Ever
Llobera 4 Ever
6 years ago
Reply to  James

I am totally with you on this one! I really like when countries send their songs in their own languages, it’s so much better!

Besides Italy and Portugal, which usually or always send these kind of songs, I loved Belarus and Hungary this year, they got their messages across perfectly on their own languages!! I also love Balkan balladas, please, let it be more of original language songs next year! It makes the contest so much more interesting and Univerisal!

Pavel
Pavel
6 years ago
Reply to  James

I think O.Torvald would have been better with a song in Ukrainian. “Time” was their first song in English and it failed.

Davve
Davve
6 years ago
Reply to  James

That is pure speculation. Linditas song was crap… And singing it in Albanian would have hardly helped it.

AngieP
AngieP
6 years ago
Reply to  James

Absolutely agree! Italy and Portugal stick to their language most of the times if not always!
Italy has proved that the language is not an obstacle and you can have a great result!
Portugal has never been tempted to change the language and sing in English for example, because of the bad results. But guess what, once they’ve sent a good song, they slayed!!

Polegend Godgarina
6 years ago
Reply to  James

When they show the live tweets on the RAI broadcast, there are always many tweets complaining about so many songs being in English. The public isn’t here for a bunch of generic pop songs in English, when will they understand it?