The national final season for Eurovision 2021 has come to an end. Each country across Europe has now selected their entry for this year’s contest, and that means we have to say goodbye to all the songs that didn’t quite manage to win over the public. But before we do so, it’s time to celebrate them one last time with our annual countdown of Team Wiwi’s top national final songs.
As usual, the team from wiwibloggs have voted for their favourite songs that competed in the national finals for Eurovision 2021. Note these are our favourite songs, not songs we think should have gone to Eurovision.
After reviewing the well over 100 songs that were entered into this year’s national finals, we finally settled on our top 50. And now we’re ready to share it with y’all. We’ll publish ten tracks each day over the coming week.
A few notes before we begin:
- We did not consider the other songs in contention to be VICTORIA’s entry for Eurovision 2021. There was no public vote involved with this selection and the final decision was still made internally within the Bulgarian delegation.
- We only considered the songs that Eden Alene recorded and released herself as part of the main stage of HaShir Shelanu L’Eurovizion. The song demos that were eliminated in pre-qualifying were not included in the voting.
With that all settled, it’s time to find out which song will enter our Hall of Fame.
Let the countdown commence!
Team Wiwi’s top national final songs of Eurovision 2021: 50 to 41
50. Xhesika Polo – “Më mbron” (Festivali i Këngës)
Xhesika Polo flew under the radar a bit ahead of Festivali i Këngës 59, only making it into one of the Wiwi Jury’s pre-contest list of favourites. However, as soon as she performed on the first night of the contest Xhesika captured the hearts of many viewers. “Më mbron” was dedicated to Xhesika’s mother, who sadly passed away in 2020. This emotion translated through the TV screen and connected with fans.
49. Oskr – “Lie” (Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu)
What the Wiwi Jury said: The irony here is that “Lie” is one of the most sincere tracks of the national final season yet. It’s nothing ground-breaking, but it’s very radio-friendly. And despite the song’s simplicity, Oskr’s lyrics make it stand out amongst the crowd. His words are honest and relatable, displaying vulnerability without being overly melodramatic. (Oliver A)
48. Sissi – “Time” (Eesti Laul)
What the Wiwi Jury said: Sissi’s “Time” has this je ne sais quoi that makes me leap out of my seat every time it starts. I didn’t love this from the get-go but this was elevated live and generally has a long-lasting power to it. Lyrically it’s also stronger than some of Estonia’s recent attempts and has a total package that could get Estonia that top ten result they achieve once every three years. And all that aside, can we finally see a descendant of a Eurovision winner take the stage? I don’t wanna waste more time! (Lauren)
47. Karetus & Romeu Bairos – “Saudade” (Festival da Canção)
What the Wiwi Jury said: This national final season there are plenty of songs that allude to different aspects of the pandemic, but “Saudade” is one that gets to the intense longing for the before time. Times when we could be with our loved ones, when we could venture out without a care and not have to think about health and safety precautions. “Saudade” captures the emotional side of it but also offers a bit of relief. And by creating a song about the experience, “Saudade” lets us know we’re not alone in these emotions. (Robyn)
46. Cosmic Bride – “Solitary Star” (Pabandom iš Naujo!)
Cosmic Bride failed to make it through the heats of Pabandom iš Naujo! 2021, but the artist’s enchanting performance of “Solitary Star” still left a lasting impression. Wearing white tulle fabric and surrounded by white orbs, Cosmic Bride took viewers inside her mystical world for three minutes and delivered an almost ethereal performance.
45. Terence James – “Je t’emmenerai danser” (Eurovision France, c’est vous qui décidez)
What the Wiwi Jury said: “Je t’emmènerai danser” is the song closest to what I would listen to normally. Every second is used to its maximum extent, and I’m left wanting more. The chorus may be one line, but the strong, distinct instrumentals keep it from plateauing. Winner or not, Terence has one of the strongest national final entries of the year. (Pablo)
44. Lillasyster – “Pretender” (Melodifestivalen)
What the Wiwi Jury said: There’s little I love more than a good rock song with an anthemic feel. “Pretender” does just that with a very catchy hook and cleverly crafted lyrics. I love the way this song straddles the pop-rock divide, with Martin Westerstrand’s harsh vocals hitting you when you least expect it. The song evolves over the three minutes, starting relatively tame before exploding to life. (Antranig)
43. Paul Rey – “The Missing Piece” (Melodifestivalen)
What the Wiwi Jury said: There’s not even one missing piece in this performance, it’s just perfect. This sweet little song which Paul Rey delivers so well is so touching in its message and its intimate performance that you just fall for it. Paul’s voice is so soothing and he is such a charismatic performer that easily manages to captivate you all by himself. (Ron)
42. HELEZA – “6” (Eesti Laul)
What the Wiwi Jury said: This girl has a beautiful silky voice. Mixed together with her playing with languages over that soft, sensual production, it is so compelling. I’ll be watching you Heleza. You have some real potential with this little song. (Natalie)
41. Hans Nayna – “One By One” (Eesti Laul)
What the Wiwi Jury said: An emotional pop offering sung with pitch-perfect clarity. Hans Nayna is an emerging singer-songwriter that stands taller amongst his peers. His emotive undertones cut through the noise of Eesti Laul. Also, “One By One” stays with you long after three minutes. Great debut effort! (Deban)
Our top national final songs of Eurovision 2021 ranking is determined by independent votes from a panel of wiwibloggers. They are Oliver R, Tom, Oliver A, Antony, Natalie, Pablo, Cinan, Diego, Deban, Jordi, Antranig, Luis, Padraig, Josh, Sebastian, Robyn, Mario, Renske, William, Ron, Lauren and Jonathan.
Which songs do you think should feature on the list? Are you surprised by our choices so far? Let us know in the comments.
Review our previous top national final songs countdowns here
Follow our top national final songs 2021 playlist on Spotify
If I take out the NF winners, I don’t even have 50 songs I like.
lie by oskr is actually so underrated i-
Hope Kelle ma soitan is on their list even thought Deban hated it lol
It remains the only reaction video I ever gave a dislike, for stopping the song in the middle xD Ilta really touched my heart, singing and staging were on point ^^ She better be in this list haha!
Valeria, Sara Afonso and Neev were my favourite entries this year in Festival da Cancao so I hope that you are going to have them on this list 🙂 I won’t forget what RTP judges did to Neev.
it is a shame that almost none of my winners won their nf.
none of my winners won 🙁 Xhesika, Nina, Emma Nicoline, Supernova, Pandora, Andriamade, MADAME, Gebrasy, Imerika, Pedro Goncalves, Kadiatou…
yeah same, looking at you norway and denmark
The only NF songs that were my winners were Voilà, Russian Woman, and Voy a quedarme. My other winners were:
Nice list Tibor! We agree on two in the 41-50 bracket which is not a bad result! One of yours above makes my top 10 but I won’t spoil the surprise!!
Yes, I made a mistake – really impressive that you spotted it! I counted my 40th place without realizing that 40th is not in this list, lol!
Absolutely, 100% no ill intentions, I was genuinely impressed that you’d spotted I counted two as the same on our lists when in fact there is only one. Caution: Spoiler Alert: My mistake was that I counted my 40th (Girassol) when we are not yet at 40 to 31! So we are very close on that one and I’m sure on lots more to follow!!
Even if limited, this was a great NF season, with not many of my favorites winning. Meaning, there is plenty to choose from and even going as high as 50 doesn’t do it justice. I also never ranked or rated Victoria’s semi-internal songs nor Israeli demos. Also, I didn’t include any song sent for an internal selection that leaked meanwhile. Remember, this is a highly personal list. I am sorry if your favorite isn’t as high as you hoped. All of these songs have rating of at least a 7/10, so I did like all of them in a way.… Read more »
Some brutal omissions from the top 50 there Colin! Two songs which feature very highly on my list don’t make your top 50 – who knows there might also be some that don’t even get an honorable mention! Like you say, this was an enjoyable year and really difficult to come up with a final list. I enjoyed many songs outside my top 50 but I had to be brutal also and focus on those songs which had a deeper, personal impact. I am sure some people will hate me for leaving some of their favourites out of the top… Read more »
Perhaps some of these songs will be featured in my top 40? There’s a hope in that! 🙂 I also just counted that 89 out of 205 NF songs I rated (that is with omission of winners as well) are rated with a 7 or higher. That is still quite a good result for a NF season. If we added 6s and 6.5s, I am sure that I could say that I at least somewhat enjoyed three quarters of songs displayed. Of course, the last quarter is still average to weak. I think that I rated less than 10 songs… Read more »
Good: Seeing Xhesika Polo in the top 50.
Bad: Seeing her at the actual 50th position.
Ridiculous: Seeing her below Paul Rey, Cosmic Bride, Terence James And Lillasyster.
agreed! she deserves better!
Good: Xhesika will be much higher than that on my list.
Ridiculous: Two of those mentioned will also be high on my list, although still under Xhesika. 😉
Good: The other two mentioned are not well rated to me either. 😉
Heehee. I like you Colin. You’re allowed to be as ridiculous as you like. 😉
Paul should be the one placed higher, not Xhesika. It was a beautiful song, written for his daughter. One of the best in Melfest this year.
There were many good songs this year! Umk, fik, fdc, mgp and Sanremo are my top 5.
And we all know keiino will be top 1 in this ranking:)
Heleza’s song “6” is played quite a lot on Estonian radio stations. Too bad her live was relatively poor. 🙁 This week the singer will also release EP called “6”.
Oskr’s Lie is 1 of my faves this year, no lie 😉
So excited to see this poll back! I really enjoyed national final season this year even if it was a little reduced on prior years. There were lots of good songs to get our teeth into and it will be interesting to see how my list compares to everyone else’s. Here is my 41 to 50: 41. Emil Assergard – Om Allting Skitter Sig – sing-a-long for days 42. Imerika – I can’t escape – fragility and vulnerability personified. Perhaps the best 10 seconds of a song this national final season where it runs away towards the enda 43. Joana… Read more »
Great picks, Kosey! Joana, Therr and Willie are already mentioned in my honorable mentions and Imerika is my 42nd as well. Four more will be mentioned further up the list. 🙂
Xhesika Polo deserves even better I’m sorry
I hope we see lots more FiK on this list, I’m happy Xhesika made it at all given that most ‘top 50 NF’ things I see contain at most Zjarri Im and Pendesë. Then again I may be biased since it’s by far my favourite selection 🙂