For Eurovision semi-finalists, eleven is the ugliest number. Near qualifiers miss the final, and most of the public never learn how close these contestants came to getting through.
Three weeks ago we asked y’all to review the 15 near qualifiers who have missed out on the final since the introduction of semi-finals in 2008. After counting 1,417 votes, we can now reveal that your favourite near qualifier is San Marino’s Valentina Monetta!
Valentina beep-bopped her way into your hearts in 2012 with “The Social Network Song“. She came 14th in her semi-final that year. Not so close. But when she returned a year later with the song “Crisalide (Vola)”, she came 11th. Very close. The Wiwi Jury praised the latter song for touching on “birth and death, and the importance of filling the space between the two with love and self-belief.”
Recent acts had an edge in our poll. They’re still on your mind, as is the tragedy of them not advancing to the final! Serbia’s Moje 3 (2013) came second, followed by Sweden’s Anna Bergendahl (2010), Bulgaria’s Sofi Marinova (2012) and Switzerland’s Sinplus (2012). You can view the complete results below.
Complete Results
1. San Marino 2013: Valentina Monetta with “Crisalide (Vola)”: 296 votes, 20.89%
2. Serbia 2013: Moje 3 with “Ljubav je svuda”: 164 votes, 11.57%
3. Sweden 2010: Anna Bergendahl with “This Is My Life”: 134 votes, 9.46%
4. Bulgaria 2012: Sofi Marinova with “Love Unlimited”: 127 votes, 8.96%
5. Switzerland 2012: Sinplus with “Unbreakable”: 107 votes, 7.55%
6. Montenegro 2009: Andrea Demirovic with “Just Get Out of My Life”: 106 votes, 7.48%
7. Slovenia 2008: Rebeka Dremelj with “Vrag naj vzame”: 83 votes, 5.86%
8. Ireland 2009: Sinead Mulvey and Black Daisy with “Et Cetera”: 80 votes, 5.65%
9. Finland 2010: Kuunkuiskaajat with “Työlki ellää”: 74 votes, 5.22%
10. Bulgaria 2008: Deep Zone and Balthazar with “DJ, Take Me Away”: 72 votes, 5.08%
11. Macedonia 2008: Tamara Todevska, Vrcak & Adrian with “Let Me Love You”: 47 votes, 3.32%
12. Belgium 2011: Witloof Bay with “With Love Baby”: 46 votes, 3.25%
13. Malta 2011: Glen Vella with “One Life”: 36 votes, 2.54%
14. Serbia 2009: Marko Kon and Milaan with “Cipela”: 31 votes, 2.19%
15. Macedonia 2009: Next Time with “Something That Will Remain”: 14 votes, 0.99%
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Photo: Valentina Monetta
Why is still everybody hooked up on this girl is beyond me … she offered a boring ballad mingled with a minute of “gay disco-I will survive-esque” … which is nothing new to this plate. And the antecipation for her upcoming new song is gonna drive you all mad to the point of dissapointment: what if the new song is complete rubbish? No matter how popular one may be … it’s still the song that is under the microscope.
I was very disappointed not to have seen her in final !!!
Sinplus were the best! They should have won in 2012!
Valentina was great too, as were Moje 3, Sofi Marinova and Andrea Bozmirovic or whatever she’s called.