We are crossing the halfway point of our top 30 countdown of the best national final songs of Eurovision 2015. As we hone in on the top ten, we review another four countries. You can view all the previous entries in the rankings here, and don’t forget to let us know what you think in the comments, or on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

15. “Insomnia” – Ellen Benediktson (Sweden)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZ68tfkPnb4

When Ellen Benediktson came out for the press call for Melodifestivalen 2015, everyone was shocked to see the sweet girl who performed “Songbird” in 2014 arrive as a pop diva with serious attitude. That revelation might have shocked Sweden too, as they failed to even put Ellen through to Andra Chansen with “Insomnia”, a real pop banger that Ellen herself described as having shades of Depeche Mode.

14. “Superman” – Lara Lee (Romania)

Lara Lee might not have been one of the red hot favourites going in to Selectia Nationala, but her live performance of “Superman” certainly caught some attention from Team Wiwi. She was also a complete sweetheart when we interviewed her on Skype, too!

Wiwi Jury: Amazing! This sounds like something that Sia would release, and with the Australian blonde’s rising popularity this could pay off for Lara. The fantastic buildup and the coordinated mixture of electronic synths in this song give it texture, making it a strong entry for Vienna. (Sopon)

13. “Fjaðrir” – Sunday (Iceland)

You can always trust Iceland to produce some interesting songs for Songvakeppni and “Fjaðrir” was no exception to that. Like a more stripped-back version of Margaret Berger’s “I Feed You My Love”, the song probably lost some of its mysticism and appeal when it was translated to English for the final. The original remains a great slice of cold electronic musical delight, though.

Wiwi Jury: “This song is so psychadelic. When I saw it for the first time, I was sitting like a zombie staring at the screen. And I liked it. This song is original and their performance was very interesting.” (Mikhail)

12. “Make Me (La La La)” – Dinah Nah (Sweden)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hY7Vl6B-kTg

If ever a song could grow on you, “Make Me (La La La)” certainly seemed to do that for Team Wiwi. After a fairly average performance in her heat, Dinah Nah stepped it up a gear to crush Dolly Style in Andra Chansen, then owned the stage in the final. It wasn’t enough to stop the Swedish public placing her last in the final, but we certainly turned it around. And her hair is REAL, y’all, don’t forget it!

Wiwi Jury: “Dinah may be twice as old as Isa, but she is working the live performance and the song a million times better than Isa. Dinah sounds amazing and the live show is just incredible. Of course her dancers are the main thing in it, but the song is also great and so catchy! She also was much better in the Andra Chansen than in her heat, so I’m expecting even better performance in the final.” (Sami)

11. “Ne engedj el!” – Kati Wolf (Hungary)

We were all thrilled to hear that Kati Wolf would be attempting to represent Hungary at Eurovision once again, with this being her first time at having to qualify through the A Dal national final process. Whilst “Ne engedj el!” didn’t send fans across the world crazy like “What About My Dreams” did, it steadily grew in popularity through Kati’s participation and she did not disappoint herself with the song – and Team Wiwi certainly liked it enough to put it just outside our top ten.

Wiwi Jury: “QUEEN! Kati brings the drama, the suspense, the heartbreak, and stunning vocals together to create a performance that this both enchanting and empowering. The song does not rely on overdone shticks and methods, but rather quality and the emotion to float through. To quote Auntie Mame: it’s devastating, just simply devastating, dahling!” (Francheska)

26 Comments
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oooops
oooops
8 years ago

What about the final top 10? And what about the wiwi jr awards 2 and 6

Guido
Guido
8 years ago

Este orden es cualquier cosa… mira que van a poner a la muerta esa que ni paso al andra chansen con su intento de copia barata de Euphoria nº 15 y a Magnus Carlsson nº30… sin criterio….

Tom
Tom
8 years ago

@WTF Choosing Voltaj wasn’t a mistake, it’s a good song, yeah. Not choosing Lara Lee was. I don’t know if it makes sense XD. And I agree on the others. @mawnck It sounded flat to me too, but there’s another funny thing. I heard her singing this one a capella and she killed it. I don’t think she as an experienced vocalist (yes, she is) would sing that bad just on Eurovision and then do it perfectly. It’s just odd. I guess the low instrumental and the bad sound balancing made it sound flat, I’m not a master of sound… Read more »

Max Kawesa Thor
8 years ago

Måns Zelmerlöw with Heroes was the Winner in Sweden.

Vicente Chen
Vicente Chen
8 years ago

Dinah Nah!!!!! :DDDD Glad to see her appeared here 🙂

Huh
Huh
8 years ago

@mawnck: Maybe they are called as opinions for a reason and not facts? To each his/her own.

Julian
Julian
8 years ago

Lara Lee’s live singing was awful. Far beyond what some evil people could screw her sound or other excuse.
The problem with all these reviews is that they were made based on studio made videos and not on their live performance and therefore are quite a lot irrelevant.

Otna
Otna
8 years ago

These are ALL incredible songs <3

mawnck
mawnck
8 years ago

“some people decided it’s a great idea to screw up her sound”

Cool! What technology did they use to get her to sing a half step flat through the entire song then?

WTF
WTF
8 years ago

@Tom: No mate, we actually chose a pretty decent song. Yeah, Lara would have been good as well but choosing Voltaj was far from a mistake. Our biggest mistake was not sending Biondo in 2008 or Laurentiu Cazan’s Say Something in ’93. Damn, those would have been surefire top 5 placings.

adriana_gabrielauk
adriana_gabrielauk
8 years ago

Lara Lee live performance left me speechless.

TaTaPu
TaTaPu
8 years ago
Tom
Tom
8 years ago

Yes. Not choosing Lara Lee is the ESC-related mistake Romania has ever made. She CAN sing live, she always kills it, but some people decided it’s a great idea to screw up her sound. Anyways. Ellen Benediktsson’s “Insomnia” is a nice track, but it feels 100% Swedish and formulaic, yet it deserved to reach the final. Seeing her and none other fail out of the last five from that semifinal was a bit shocking. But hey, she can try again. She can become Sanna is she wants.

Giorgos
Giorgos
8 years ago

Lara Lee should have won!!! Superman<3
And Ellen should have qualified!!
I think Dina is overrated!

Britney
Britney
8 years ago

Hope there will be I’ll Be Fine by Molly Hammer in TOP 10.

Britney
Britney
8 years ago

@mawnck I don’t want to say it, but… Sexual orientation takes a huge part in judging performances.

Britney
Britney
8 years ago

@Zack they make a really good articles, but most people don’t like how they are judging the songs.

Zack
Zack
8 years ago

I love how all these people love to criticize the Wiwi crew, yet keep coming back to read and comment. Wiwi crew, keep up the great work!

Mar
Mar
8 years ago

Sunday was my favourite to win in Iceland, and Kati was horrible live, but her song was good.
Dinah Nah and her song rock my world, that is all.

Daniel
Daniel
8 years ago

I liked Dinah so much!! Disappointed with Lara tho. Can’t sing live, shame. And poor Kati, always being snubbed.

Yeah
Yeah
8 years ago

DINAH NAH IS THE QUEEN! SHE DESERVES 1ST PLACE IN THIS TOP OF NATIONAL FINAL SONGS!!! WRITING THIS IN CAPITAL LETTERS MAKES IT TRUE!!

WTF
WTF
8 years ago

Fjaðrir and Ne engedj el! would have been so much better than their actual entries. I hope Iceland’s crappy song doesn’t qualify.

Huh
Huh
8 years ago

If only Dinah Nah danced throughout her song, she might even earn a higher place. Still, she did well. Her beautiful, killer smile never fails to impress me and like her more.

And I still hated the fact that Ellen didn’t make it to the MF Grand Finals, or even the Andra Chansen.

mawnck
mawnck
8 years ago

What is it about Eurovision fans that if the performance has a heavy dance beat and beefy guys in tight shirts, suddenly cat-on-a-backyard-fence vocals become “owning the stage”?

Dinah Nah couldn’t carry a tune if you put it in a rucksack for her. She wouldn’t have been in the final at all if they hadn’t put her up against the most insipid song in the entire NF season.

This is why I just can’t take Team Wiwi’s opinions seriously. In a field of TWELVE, she came in dead last, guys. Opinions only stretch so far before they become objectively invalid.

mark lebron
mark lebron
8 years ago

ISA performed much better than Dina, and it showed in the final results.