Eurovision’s Greatest Hits takes place in London on 31 March. The one-off concert will see a host of past Eurovision stars take to the stage to mark 60 years of the contest. While the show itself will be purely celebratory, we’ve decided to add a little competition to proceedings by ranking and reviewing all 18 Eurovision entries sung by the 14 confirmed acts. Today the Wiwi Jury— our in-house panel of musical unprofessionals — fell into a time warp, and landed back in Tallinn 2002. We were greeted by that year’s seventh place entry Rosa López with “Europe’s Living A Celebration”. Are we still celebrating 13 years later? Read on to find out…

http://youtu.be/JxDTEHEEq38

Robyn: This isn’t a great song on its own – it needs some sort of stadium-sized spectacle to bring it to life. It sounds more like the anthem for some sort of sporting event from the ’80s than a great song from 2002. Yeah, it’s pretty naff, but at Saku Suurhall in Tallinn, it would actually be great to wave flags to and shake your booty to.

Score: 6/10

Anthony: This may have got Spain a respectable seventh place back in 2002, but between the flashing multi-coloured disco lights and the well-timed choreography, the whole performance felt more like a New Year’s Eve house party.

Score: 7/10

James: And the award for having sung the tackiest and most irritating song that year, second to “I Can’t Live Without Music” by Corinna May, goes to Rosa Lopez. An absolute miracle it came seventh, for such a meaningless bunch of random sounds for three minutes for the sake of Spain having taken part. Frankly wouldn’t be an episode of a music career I’d want to mention on *my* CV.

Score: 2/10

Kristín: Aah, Rosa. This brings back memories about odd fashion choices and a lot of Malibu in pineapple juice. Those were the days. This song was suppose to be Spain’s come back anthem, and I always remember the video which showed Rosa’s journey and transformation from being the chubby girl to a song goddess. Very moving, and she even got to meet Lenny Kravitz!  But it didn’t bring home victory for Spain, although Rosa is one of their best results this century. A decent pop song with a hook, and should have won instead of Latvia. No doubt. Spain and Rosa were robbed y’all!

Score: 8/10

Denise: Awh this song is such a guilty pleasure. Everyone keeps saying that 2002 was a really bad Eurovision, but I think it was one of the strongest years, and Rosa is one of my favourites. The song is really fun and I can’t hear it without smiling and trying to sing along. Too bad I don’t speak Spanish, it’s always like “Europe’s living a celebration, Tosnos stundos almost Jakata”  which makes no sense at all . The backing vocals were also amazing, you can see that they were having the time of their lives.

Score: 9/10

Mikhail: It’s a nice, fun song, which makes you want to stand up and wave your hands to the disco rhythm. It can really boost your mood, but after a couple times of listens it gets boring and it’s never as good as the first time.

Score: 6.5/10

rosa_lopez

Chris: I don’t think I can hate this song, really. It’s a perfect slice of what was right and wrong with early 00’s music. Rosa went on to bigger and better things, but she really delivers everything she can in this performance. This is the perfect celebration song for Eurovision too. All in all, it’s a good fit, but only when taken as something a bit light-hearted.

Score: 7/10

Inaki: Every Spaniard is able to sing the chorus of “Europe is living a celebration”, probably because Rosa’s performance was the most-watched final in the history of Eurovision in Spain, not only because of an expected victory but because of the charismatic voice of Rosa who made Spain fell in love with her during the Talent Show “OT”. A festive and cheerful song that despite the choir and the outfits, Rosa performed wonderfully.

Score: 8/10

Sopon: Rosa’s a prime example of the disco craze that swept Eurovision in the early 00’s. But she’s also one of the better ones. It’s so cheesy and so catchy, it’s a perfect Euroclub song.

Score: 8.5/10

William: This is heinous. Rosa’s backing dancers appear to have drunk a bit too much sangria before the show, and Rosa is wearing black because she has just murdered her stylist. Although the song has a definite party vibe, I am not having fun. What a waste of Rosa’s amazing voice.

Score: 2/10

All 18 members of our jury rate each song. However, we only have room to share 10 written reviews. Here are the remaining eight scores.

Angus: 6.5/10

Josh: 6/10

Judit: 5/10

Liam: 7/10

Patrick: 8/10

Padraig: 4/10

Ramadan: 8/10

Sami: 3/10

The highest and lowest scores are removed before calculating the final score. We have dropped a low of 2 and a high of 9.

THE WIWI JURY VERDICT: 6.28/10

SEE THE LATEST EUROVISION’S GREATEST HITS REVIEWS AND RANKINGS

YOU CAN READ ALL OF OUR 60TH ANNIVERSARY NEWS HERE.

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Chris
Chris
9 years ago

At that time, the song really reflected the Eurovision’s trend. Look at all entries! Eurovision’s editions between 1999 and 2002 were just the worst in the history. I’m not sure, if 2002 was the most horrible among them. I would point to 1999. 2002 is a mythical failure of the Eurovision due to an unexpected and for many fans – undeserved – victory for Latvia. Rosa was really great, she had changed a lot before the contest. For me, her outcome was disappointing. There were no semi-finals then, so the 7th place was not very high. Moreover, she was a… Read more »

Eloi
Eloi
9 years ago

Rosa López is the best voice of Spain!!! I love Rosa, I’m your fan mumber 1 😛

Pastora Soler haha!
Pastora Soler haha!
9 years ago

The song in 2002 was good, now puff…

But, yep, it was/is a myth.

A lot of people think that se has achieved the best result. In her year Eurovision was an “amanecer” in Spain with 80% of audience.

HiAll
HiAll
9 years ago

Well, maybe isn’t a special song for someone who’s not from spain, but for the Spanish people, it suppose a myth. Rosa Lopez, from Granada, an ugly ,fat and rustic person who becomes a new person thanks to a TV music show, Spainish loved her, and supposed a change in the musical plan. We always will remember her like “Rosa de España” (Rosa of Spain).

marklebron
marklebron
9 years ago

Unfair reviews. This was an entertaining act in one of the worst Eurovision shows ever. Definitely in my Top 5 that year.