Team Wiwi’s Top NF Songs of ESC 2020 (50-41)

National final season is over. 

From Sweden to Serbia to Norway to Israel, Europe has spoken.

And now the time has come for Team Wiwi to look back and pick our favourites. This year we’ve gone bigger than ever and over the next week, we’ll reveal our top 50 songs of the season, as voted for by our wiwibloggers. That’s double the number of past years. Note these are our favourite songs, not songs we think should have gone to Eurovision.

The winner receives a coveted spot in the NF Hall of Fame alongside “Sting“, “Cool Me Down“, “Spirit Animal”, “OK ou KO” and “2000 and Whatever“.

50. Bárbara Tinoco – “Passe-Partout” (Festival da Canção)

We kick off with “Passe-Partout”: A perky Portuguese ditty that many thought had the potential to charm Europe. The song evoked a timeless sound of Eurovision entries from years gone by.

The sweet La La Land-lite staging at the semi-final was appealing too and Bárbara gave it similar gusto at the final. Portugal’s public lapped it up and gave it the maximum 12 points. While regional juries were less impressed, and Bárbara didn’t win the ticket to Eurovision, she at least has the first spot in our countdown as a consolation.

49. Marko Markovic – Kolaci (Beovizija)

“Kolaci” is a fun, folksy, brassy number that stood out for all the right reasons in this year’s Beovizija.

A frenetic performance brought the studio cut to life. A troupe of trumpeters made this a real highlight of Serbia’s national final.

48. Andrija Jo – “Oci Meduze” (Beovizija)

Back-to-back Beovizija entries now.

Andrija Jo was one of the big names when the national final was announced. The Youtuber had a pretty out there performance, but Andrija made up for it with on stage enthusiasm. As with Portugal’s Bárbara, televoters and wiwibloggers lapped him up, but juries were less impressed.

“Oci Meduze” offers a different twist on Balkan entries we’ve heard before.

47. Roxen – “Beautiful Disaster” (Selecția Națională 2020)

It placed last in Romania’s national final.

But “Beautiful Disaster” won enough support from our bloggers to make it into the Top 50. “Beautiful Disaster” has a hypnotic feel and the dizzying stageshow delivered on that motif.

46. Francesco Gabbani – “Vice Versa” (Sanremo)

Francesco Gabbani won a place in many Eurofan hearts in 2017 and his return to Sanremo caused flutters of excitement across the fandom. And “Vice Versa” delivered on the expectation, delighting old fans and winning news ones to Gabbani’s cause. In the competition, “Vice Versa” achieved a very respectable result, advancing as far as the final round, and winning over 33% of the vote.

45. Olga Lounova – “Dark Water” (Eurovision Song CZ)

She’s a lady of many talents and many international singing competitions.

This year Olga Lounova set her sights on Eurovision, with her classy ballad “Dark Water”. With sonic similarities to Dido, stirring percussion and Olga’s powerhouse vocal, it is easy to see how it made the Czech national final shortlist.

44. Blasted Mechanism – “Rebellion” (Festival da Canção)

If you hear the phrase “theatrical live shows”, your Eurovision-senses start tingling. And Blasted Mechanism’s “Rebellion” drew praise across the Eurofandom. The electro-gothic soundscape in “Rebellion” was appealing and the drop felt tailor-made for a major staging moment at Eurovision. A chaotic performance may have cost the band a spot at the FdC final, but if nothing else the “Rebellion” remains in the minds of fans.

43. Tone Damli – “Hurts Sometimes” (Melodi Grand Prix)

She was one of the big names in the lineup for Norway’s resurgent Melodi Grand Prix this year.

But all the hype may have set expectations too high for Tone Damli.

“Hurts Sometimes” is a pretty midtempo number, which had a few nice staging moments at the MGP final, but feels like a song that doesn’t really end up going anywhere. Still, she’s managed over 400k streams of the song on Spotify and there’s always next year, right?

42. Lisa Børud – “Talking About Us” (Melodi Grand Prix

From one Norwegian lady to another.

Melodi Grand Prix’s duels-based semi-final system was a cruel mistress. And Lisa Børud was its first casualty. In a bizarre twist of fate prolific Euro-songwriter Laurell Barker found her two entries “Talking About Us” and “Wild” up against one another.

Raylee went through, but Lisa’s earworm entry would have made a respectable addition to the final.

41. Roxen – “Colours” (Selecția Națională 2020)

Roxen put forward a great set of songs for Romania this year and “Colours” is her second appearance in our Top 50.

The kaleidoscopic screens brought the song’s theme to life, but it found itself passed over in favour of other songs at the close of voting.

These are the first ten songs in our countdown. Are any of these your favourites? Who do you think is in the Top 40? Let us know in the comments below!