Måns Zelmerlöw won the 60th Eurovision Song Contest in a landslide on Saturday. From his stellar vocals to the swish in his step to the digital projection screen, this oozed wow at every turn. He and his song “Heroes” ultimately finished 62 points ahead of runner-up Russia. For comparison that’s a wider margin of victory than that posted by previous winners Conchita Wurst, Emmelie de Forest, Ell & Nikki and Dima Bilan.
Unfortunately, that hasn’t been enough to stop outrage among some Eurofans after the split results revealed Måns did not win the televote. While “Heroes” placed a respectable third with televoters on 279, Italy’s Il Volo placed first and won the televoting with a huge margin on 366 points.
Il Volo may have won the televote but they only ranked sixth with the juries on 171 points. They may have expected this – at Sanremo “Grande Amore” won the televoting in a landslide but failed to win over either of the two juries. Given that they didn’t win the juries at home, it’s slightly puzzling why so many fans seem shocked they failed to win over an entire continent of juries.
Måns, however, won support from both elements in his native Sweden during Melodifestivalen 2015 — far and away Europe’s most competitive national selection. And although he may not have won the televoting at Eurovision, it is difficult to call ‘Heroes’ an unworthy winner.
It won the acclaim of music professionals from across the continent, whose criteria it is to pick the best song and one with potential to become a radio hit. “Heroes” proved popular with fans in the arena, who cheered when Sweden overtook Russia during voting, and at home, where viewers dubbed it their third favourite song of the evening.
The song is also charting across the world and won the third highest total score of any song in the history of the contest. The staging was slick and the quality of production was incredibly high — both the result of hard work by SVT. They won for a second time in the decade. This is the fastest turn around in Sweden’s Eurovision history and a testament to their commitment to Eurovision.
Where other nations have given little attention to Eurovision —the United Kingdom springs to mind — Sweden has found in Melodifestivalen a formula for repeat success.
Måns has conducted himself with humility throughout the promotional season and in Vienna, telling us on the red carpet that he didn’t feel like the favourite. He diplomatically dealt with a year-old homophobia scandal that British newspapers revived out of the blue (while ignoring the story had moved on). And he made a huge effort to engage with fans at promotional events across Europe in a way no other act from Sweden ever has. Il Volo, you’ll note, was not at Eurovision in Concert or the London Eurovision Party. Or any of the other pre-Eurovision promotional events. Måns put in the miles.
If “Heroes” was unpopular or mediocre, such an outcry might be understandable. But in the absence of any real quality deficit it feels as though something else is at work.
People may feel their votes were denied by the voting system or that Sweden doesn’t deserve to host again so soon. Perhaps press speculation on similarities to David Guetta and the contrasting authenticity of Il Volo has rankled opinions.
The uncomfortable elephant in the rooms for the haters is that Måns did win under the voting system which all countries signed up to. A “Heroes” win isn’t exactly surprising: the song became the red hot favourite almost as soon as he’d won Melodifestivalen in Sweden.
If you are angry about Il Volo’s result, then call for change in the way the voting system works, don’t hate on Sweden. As it stood during the 2015 Contest, Måns won and arguably he deserved to.
People need to build a bridge and get over it. We’re going north in 2016, whether you voted for Måns or not.
Hey Quinn, I respect your opinion but really it is difficult calling Mans a worthy winner. He is the winner of juries, like 200 individuals with ties to the television channel in their country. He is not the winner of the eurovision fans. He wasn’t even close to top the televotes… sorry for my bad english.
If both the jury vote and the televote were to be taken as 1…12 points separately, this is how the final would’ve ended: Sweden 353 279 632 Italy 171 366 537 Russia 234 286 520 Belgium 186 195 381 Australia 224 132 356 Latvia 249 100 349 Norway 163 43 206 Estonia 53 144 197 Israel 77 104 181 Georgia 62 51 113 Serbia 12 86 98 Albania 4 93 97 Armenia 15 77 92 Romania 21 69 90 Azerbaijan 40 48 88 Montenegro 44 34 78 Lithuania 31 44 75 Cyprus 63 8 71 Slovenia 36 27 63 Greece… Read more »
@ dot yet the press awarded them after that performance, funny isn’t it? They usually do not have bad vocals. But in any case, it wasn’t a unanimous bad marking from the juries, a lot of them ranked them 1st. But some of them ranked them in their 20-26th. Was it that bad? If they had ranked it 5th, or 10th they would have still won. But they needed to rank it 26th so it would finish behind. I don’t even think they cared so much for Mans to win, but they didn’t want a song they didn’t like (because… Read more »
@ dot yet the press awarded them after that performance, funny isn’t it? They usually do not have bad vocals. But in any case, it wasn’t a unanimous bad marking from the juries, a lot of them ranked them 1st. But some of them ranked them in their 20-26th. Was it that bad? If they had ranked it 5th, or 10th they would have still won. But they needed to rank it 26th so it would finish behind. I don’t even think they cared so much for Mans to win, but they didn’t want a song they didn’t like (because… Read more »
The reason you wrote this unsolid article with lots of non-argumentation, is almost proof this victory had a smell. First of all the argument why Italy did not win was because their vocals on Friday were just not good. I’ve seen the performance on screen in the press centre the same way jurors saw it at the same time. And that’s when I ruled them out for victory too. I think most complaints originate in jealousy and the well stolen ideas put together to recreate Heroes. It therefore lacks originality, but so does Italy and Russia. I’m glad Belgium and… Read more »
@Arno It must be hard to be so petty and stuck-up as you are.
The fact that you felt like you HAD to write this article says alot. If he had won ‘fair and square’ there wouldn’t be such an amount of complains, he won by the stated rules yes, but doesn’t mean the rules are that fair to begin with. This article just has “biased” written all over it, your arguments are a mess (what does being in promotional tour have anything to do with this? He did the promotional tour and still came third on the televote below Italy who did not, how is that an argument in favor for his win?)… Read more »
Oh GOD, it’s so disgusting to see gay people in defense of a homophobe just because he is cute our anything else. Homophobes are crap, no matter who they are, what they do or how cute or hot they are.
Excusatio non petita accusatio manifesta
I don’t see any point with the jury placing songs from 1-27. Why not 1-10 only, like they used to do? This is why Italy did not win, because some losers in the jury put Italy in 26th place to make sure they wouldn’t win. Absurd!
@Graph I totally agree that Eurovision 2015 was loaded with good songs and that some of them had to be left behind. My problem is not that they were left behind, but how they were left behind. For the Semifinals, the Jury and the Public have not ranked the same performance for a song. Moreover, Jury got to see the performances for the Public, while the Public didn’t have access to to performances the Jury ranked. It is this lack of transparency that bothers me, as it doesn’t rule out foul play from the jurors. So EBU chose a voting… Read more »
If the number of votes cast will be released will probably be worse than the number of points, a huge difference between Italy and Sweden. All the big countries voted for Italy. So Sweden is a taste acquired mainly by the 200 jurors.
It is obvious that many of the juries placed Italy in the bottom to sabotage for them. No one in their right mind can think that Italy was the worst out of all the contestants. Still many people from the jury placed Italy 26th. That is the last place!!! It is so OBVIOUS that they did this because they realized Italy had a big chance to win over their personal favourite. Some of the juries even placed Russia in the bottom. The tactic works. These members of the jury feared that Italy or Russia would win. That’s why they gave… Read more »
@Deea
Don’t get too upset over the second semi-final. It was loaded with good songs, and regrettably, some of them had to get left behind. Some shocks were to be expected. Same situation with the final. This was the strongest ESC that I know of; I agree the winning song doesn’t indicate the strength of the contest, but when there are so many good songs, strange things can happen.
Nothing more to add…completly agreed, Sweden won it because deserved it. Period. But actually this was a great year, Italy and Russia were also very good but not memorable like Heroes, and the jury finally decided to be modern, congratulations and we have more next year 🙂
Personally, Italy was my favorite. But I always said that if Sweden wins It wouldn’t be unfair. This is just a consequence of a great preparation that sweden does. Melodifestivalen is spectacular, and in my opinion the work with cameras and the overall production sometimes is better than Eurovision. And how many good songs are wasted in that competition? like “Don’t stop believing”,” I see you” … I mean, the other countries should try to do something like that… if so, we would have a great battle of good songs!
Måns may or may not be a worthy winner – that’s not the point, it isn’t really relevant at all… The fact is that he did not win. Il Volo won. You can try to deny it but it is true. That’s why the eurovision aftermath is absurd to say the least. The contest will be held in Sweden next year even though everyone know that it should be held in Italy. You can call it whatever you like: Justice or injustice, the fact is that Italy won this years competition and yet people are trying to defend the so… Read more »
While people argue pathetically on Sweden vs.Italy and the already childish Televoting (aka I want my money back) vs. Juries (People who listen with ears and not with body, genitals or feet) … Here is a video that sums up everything that both angers me and wows me in today’s Eurovision and in the music scene in general.. either remarkable or absolutely rubbish … from a boring ballad to an anthemic uptempo track … from a piece of rubbish uptempo song that makes you all groove and dance for no reason … to a stunning meaningful ballad that requires just… Read more »
@mawn.-
100 mio Televotes cannot be ignored, never ever for ever ! ! ! !
My the latest news are, that EBU members will discuss about new regulations starting at their next conference first week of june 2015. And you *mawnck* will see, like all of us, that the EBU board will the change the percentage from 50 :50 to a better way i.e. maybe like 70% Televotes //& //30 Juryvotes starting from 2016 on.
“We are EUROVISION, WE make the RULES, We decide who is the WINNER,”
At the risk of stating the obvious … “No.”
Eurovision is Eurovision. You are just a fan.
Reminder: The contest has been around for 60 years, and there was NO TELEVOTING AT ALL for the first 41.
Had Russia won the Televote it would have been a different case. Lets not be two-faced about it, either you support the current system all the time, or you always hate it, if so send a complaint to the EBU, complaining on and on about it here will get you nowhere will it now.
We are EUROVISION, WE make the RULES, We decide who is the WINNER, We are looking for a “FAIR & SQUARE” Winner, We have the right to make our choice of judges, We are EUROVISION …… !!! So the EBU has to listen to us !
Without us, the real ESC fans worlwide, EUROVISION would be dead.
Therefore WE have the right to discuss & make arguements when ever and how often we like to do it .
FOR WHAT ? To keep this fascinating Event for many following decades alive. !!
I just have to say something to the people arguing that the juries consistently favour the Swedish entries, I think that is simply false. In 2009, when the current system was introduced, Malena Ernman of Sweden was ranked 22 by the juries, but 15 by the televoters, ending up in 21st place. In 2010 Anna Bergendahl would have qualified to the final if it was solely up to televoting, but the juries gave her a lower score so she failed to qualify. In 2011, Eric Saade ended up in second place in the televoting (just 2 points from the winner,… Read more »
Angus Quinn why don’t you follow your own advice and get over the fact that this victory is fake, and that everyone knows that it’s fake. Your opinion that Måns deserved it is completely irrelevant. Televote placed him third, that’s what he really deserves. Italy is the winner. Case closed.
If you have to make such a post in order to basically “shut up the haters” and somehow justify the winner by merely stating “well, he deserved it!” (on what grounds, really? lol) — that says more than your lengthy rant. If he were the actual, real winner, there wouldn’t be so many complaints. Face the facts – the jury system is a failure, the televote didn’t even place Måns second, he came in THIRD. That’s not a winner, “fair and square”. The juries are just random people from the music business, they are in no way, shape or form… Read more »
What a drama. I’ve followed the Internet about Eurovision since 2003 and… every year is the same:P However this year the fuss is one of the biggest one. I would compare it to the affair after Belgrade in 2008. Im curious what people would think if the televoting chose Russia, not Italy. And im also curious what people would think if in the jury a country which has never won or won a long time ago was first this year but because of the televoting didnt actually win (Sweden won). I have a pressumption that in both cases some people’s… Read more »
Get over it people. Save your hatred for next year. 🙂
At some point or another there was going to be a winner that the Televote didnt decide and people can either go in the corner and sob or they can get up and deal with it. I personally loved Heroes and found it one of the most deserving winners of the 2010s. It had been shown before that Il Volo split the vote massively in San Remo so why people are acting surprised now is a bit strange. Lets not also forget that Italy won the junior contest with a song that didnt win the televote, are Bulgaria the true… Read more »
Dear Francis Shelton, first of all thank you for reading my comment 🙂 Now, putting aside democracy and jurors claimed professionalism (you would be shocked to learn professional background for most of the jurors), the system that you are supporting lead to the following senseless results in the 2015 Grand Final: Azerbaijan was ranked 14th by the professional jury. The voters also ranked it 14th. So, as both jury and voters agree on the fact that Azerbaijan should be placed 14th, the system placed it 12th. Same for Lithuania: both jury and voters agreed on 16th place. But the fair… Read more »
I Think Mans did great, a worthy winner but the true winner is Italy. They are the ones people voted for. Sweden won because a handful of “special people” made Mans a winner overruling the televotes. It was not fair but it was the first time it has ever happened that someone who only ranked third in the televotes was made winner by the jury so probably EBU will change a few thing for next year. Anyhow I think a lot of people won’t bother to vote if their votes don’t matter.
For the very next ESC 2016:
I want to see from the official board members of the EBU
NEW FAIR & SQARE RULES, that’s all …..
otherwise we will never see ever again a mojority winner
out of the Televotes ranking on 1 st place ESC overall in the near future.
let’s be honest, Il Volo gave us an amazing performance, now doubt they gave but ‘Heroes’ is a more modern song and a more has a more meaningful message than ‘Grande Amore’ which no matter how fantasticly performed it was, it’s nothing more than just another love song and those we have like every single day everywhere on TV, Radiostations, etc., beisdes Mans did an amazing performanc elike a true Hero and he was always professional with the dozes of stupid critics about pseudo-plagiarism, which by the way, for your information, the song was written in 2013 while ‘Lovers On… Read more »
What song from ESC 2015 does people want to listen to the most? The global iTunes charts standing right now (26th May) is: Måns’ “Heroes” at number 10. Loic Nottet “Rhythm inside” at number 13 and then comes Il Volo’s “Grande Amore” at number 25. On Spotify “Heroes” has been streamed 16,6 millions times and “Grande amore” 2,7 million times. That says a lot about what song people actually want to listen to.
I support the current system. Juries are indeed very important. They are indeed professional—how many of us are conductors, producers or artists? Do we actually think we are more musically trained or more professional than the juries? Bear in mind that many of the juries are actually producers, and I think they are more focused on finding a hit song. You know, that’s what producers’ job is. For example, Norway would be placed seventeenth if not for the jury. Same case applies for France, which was killed by the televote. Would it be more “democratic” or “fair” if Norway was… Read more »
Only Italy is the real Winner of our hearts – For – ultimately foreseeable – victory of Sweden should be noted: Everybodies Darling Måns Zelmerlöw sang Scandinavian regular massware song and nothing else let’ say it in other words, it’sSweden -pop in rubber pants. Only through the interaction with the child’s stick figure worked the appearance. Half the battle for the win! A perfect TV production that a video recalled more than at a live performance. The scoring came to Thriller in a class Alfred Hitchcock in a movie could have done it any better. But far from bland costs… Read more »
I would have preferred Italy to win, but I’m absolutely not worried for these guys from Il Volo. They are massively talented, they are already huge stars in Latin America, and given the huge support they got from the televoters on Saturday I’m sure they will be big in Europe too. I don’t understand how in the world could the juries place them 6th, but I still don’t think the juries should be removed EVER! They are the only barrier against diaspora voting; without them you give an unfair advantage to countries with a huge diaspora across Europe like Turkey,… Read more »
Fans of Italy have no problems because they have to vote only in the final. That’s why Italy won televoting (in addition to huge popularity in odds, rankings and youtube).
Let’s face it: this article is unnecessary. At the end of every single contest it’s obvious there will always be gripes for this, gripes for that. It’s normal, we’re human being. Anyway I must speak my mind. Swedish guy didn’t deserve the victory. He absolutely didn’t. C’mon; let’s be honest. There were a lot of songs better than Manz one. No nice vocal, banal song. Just a radio friendly song with a good looking guy at the vocal, a simple copy of any dance pop hit of David Guetta or Eric Saade ( for the records, he wins three years… Read more »
You set a show were you ask Europeans to make a choice just for making fun of them: “Oh, so this is your favorite. OK, this won’t win. Thank you for being part in our charade. It was fun making you believe that we actually care about your opinion” NOTE: I have nothing against Mans’ voters. They’ve just expressed their opinion. But I’m pretty sure that in the years to come they too will become victims of this dubious voting system. And than, they will actually understand what it feels like when in a democratic Europe, majority is ignored in… Read more »
This post is ridiculous, to be honest. So much biased in order to “protect” the Swedish winner. “Propaganda”, if I may. 🙂
Congragulations to Mans, he is gorgeous and good guy but i dont like the song at all. I would prefer Italy to win but the winner for me is Russia. Amazing performance. Anyway the voice of the people around europe should have been heard and their choice was not Sweden…….
I hate the song from Sweden, is a rip of current songs that you hear on radio. They stole the power point presentation to such extent that they needed to change it. Hope nobody will repeat that awful dance, like he was guiding with flags the planes to land. Also I agree that musically Il Volo song was superior. Truth is that what EBU wants and how the judges are guided to vote is for more promotion. That means participating to the existing events especially to the Eurovision related ones, creating other, spending more money to be included in charts,… Read more »
Seriously folks…. Was this article necessary? You claim to be an independent source and your article looks like was written from an SVT press release.
The Swedish song won, it is catchy and maybe it become a radio hit. That´s it. Don’t take it that seriously.
I think the fact that someone needed to write an article to defend it speaks volumes against the song lmfao. No it’s not a terrible song at all, but nobody can really deny that it would be nothing without its staging.
Yeah this article sounds really childish. I believe Måns won with a great song and performance, it was deserved (although out of the top 3 i would’ve liked to have seen Russia win). But this article just sounds butt-hurt at the inevitable criticism that always comes, which is more than called for this year since the disparity between the winner, the televote and the jury vote. I also believe that juries have an important part to play in eurovision. But the current system is flawed badly. The sheer amount of weight their vote has is problematic. 5 people have the… Read more »
Italy had a good song, but Sweden came up with very creative staging. The Italy’s staging, on the other hand, looks like something they came up with less than a day. Eurovision is not only about song anymore – it’s also about the package song + staging. Sweden obviously had a package that won juries. Also, Sweden won based on the Eurovision rules we have now – no one’s victory was stolen. Based on the televoting, Norway would have ended up 17th. Would that be fair?
I think the juries should have rated Il Volo higher and Mans lower, but that doesn’t mean I agree that Il Volo should have won… on the other hand, I feel sorry for Italy, who can’t seem to conquer both public and jury vote simultaneously (recall the outcome in 2011, where Raphael Gualazzi won the jury vote but was only 10th in televote). And who knows whether Mans would have ranked higher with the televote if he wasn’t so early in the running order and Il Volo wasn’t going in the prime position of 27th? The jury is there to… Read more »
“Sweden won by the rules but it doesn’t necessarily follow that the rules were fair.”
By definition, it does. They’re the rules that Italy and the other 39 countries all agreed to when they agreed to participate.
I don’t know what contest you guys are pining for, but Italy was participating in the Eurovision Song Contest, which has music juries. And they didn’t win. Get over it.
1) ”In defence of Mans Zelmerlow” . Why, have you previously supported Italy ??? 2)”The song is also charting across the world and won the third highest total score of any song in the history of the contest” Since when is charting a criterion? I mean Serbia 2007 or Conchita wasn’t exactly radio hits.The only winning Esc song making an impact is Euphoria.We all know that whoever the winner was this year, whould be on some EUROPIAN charts for 2 weeks and that’s it.Charting,for me, should definitely not be a factor. 3) “Heroes” proved popular with fans in the arena,… Read more »
Least professional blog I have read in a long time. Not even worthy a lenghty response.