Ahead of Eurovision 2015, we all had our favourites — and high hopes for them. We dreamed of their success and feared their potential failure, knowing full well that at Eurovision cruelty, shock exits, and disappointing results are par for the course. There are countless songs that fans love, but which they know (or at least worry) won’t go down well with Europe.
Thankfully many surprised us and ended up exceeding expectations. This year Cyprus’ John Karayiannis — who many panned as boring and dead on arrival — took his country back to the final. Serbia’s Bojana Stamenov — who faced criticism after switching her song to English — belted it out and rose to become the bookies’ fourth favourite after the semi finals. And Israel’s Nadav Guedj danced his way into Europe’s heart and helped Israel break its four-year drought, going all the way to the Top 10. But in the end one act surprised our readers the most. After counting 3,696 votes, we are pleased to reveal that Belgium’s Loïc Nottet has won the Vision Music Award 2015 for Biggest Surprise.
From the very first moment wiwibloggs heard Loïc’s song, we had Top 5 feels. Here’s how we reacted on March 10, just moments after the song’s release.
Belgium ultimately finished fourth with the Wiwi Jury. But, following a shaky first rehearsal, a lot of fans (many Belgian) had their doubts. Loïc pulled it together during his second rehearsal, ultimately slaying all the way to fourth in the grand final (and a Vision Music Award for Most Memorable Staging). Expectations met! Expectations exceeded!
Previous recipients of this award include Malta’s Gianluca Bezzina (2013) and The Netherlands’ Common Linnets (2014).
Eurovision 2015: Biggest Surprise
1. Loic Nottet 1,638 votes (44.32%)
2. Nadav Guedj 577 votes (15.61%)
3. Bojana Stamenov 557 votes (15.07%)
4. John Karayiannis 508 votes (13.74%)
5. Knez 416 votes (11.26%)
VISION MUSIC AWARDS 2015: THE NOMINEES
This award is just one of a dozen awards we have launched as part of the Vision Music Awards 2015 (VMAs). Our 13 categories—from best dressed to most most wronged at ESC—identify the contestants who left the biggest impression on Eurovision fans, regardless of whether they won the contest or not. You can watch the nominations video below. You can also read more about the awards here.
Loic had one of the best songs of last year 🙂
Biggest surprise, per se, was John from Cyprus. He was good, while I was expecting him to be boring.
Lithuania was a big surprise! I only heard the song prior to the contest. But once I saw the staging, the performance and then the staging – it was clearly a brilliant song choice. I expected it to come 9th or 10th tbh
I wasn’t surprised at all by Latvia. I saw her performance in the national, and was confident she was going to kick ass.
But I WAS surprised by Israel, so maybe I’m not the best judge.
How I would have voted in the final if I was in the jury:
1. Italy
2. Belgium
3. Estonia
4. Israel
5. Australia
6. Latvia
7. France
8. Montenegro
9. Russia
10. Norway
11. Sweden
12. Greece
13. Spain
14. Georgia
15. Slovenia
16. Serbia
17. Albania
18. Poland
19. Romania
20. Lithuania
21. Germany
22. Cyprus
23. Hungary
24. Azerbaijan
25. Armenia
26. UK
Differences with my pre-contest top-10: Australia, France, Montenegro and Russia are in, Sweden, Greece, Spain and Slovenia are out.
Best non-qualifier: Czech Republic
I think that Latvia was the biggest surprise and it’s not even on the list?
@danielvarga NO
Please, sign my petition! Thanks!
https://www.change.org/p/european-broadcasting-union-invite-the-big-5-and-the-host-country-to-perform-their-songs-in-the-semi-finals
Wasn’t a big surprise for me. I knew he was gonna be top 5. Underrated in my opinion. Should’ve won. 😀
Go Loic <3
Latvia was a big surprise. I loved the song but I didn’t think their song would be 6th!
I was really happy when Cyprus qualified but it’s sad how poorly it did in the final. Along with Serbia, they were extremely underrated before the contest began but I knew they couldn’t get bad results. As for Loic, it was pretty clear he was going to get atleast top 10. Knez wasn’t too much of a surprise as Montenegro qualified with a similar song last year and Zeljko’s balkan ballads also do well. Nadav is the biggest surprise for me, I could never expect such an awful, poorly song song to do so well; it’s still beyond me how… Read more »
Cyprus is the biggest surprise, because it was boring and Czech Republic, Malta or Portugal could have taken that place in the final.
Yeah Loic just slayed. Israel was amazing. But am I the only one who didn’t like Latvian song
Belgium wasn’t a surprise for me, I knew he would slay, Cyprus on the other hand… he really earned his place in the final.
Cyprus andMontenegro qualifying and Serbia’s top 10 result were the biggest surprises for me. So undeserved
Assuming by surprise we mean something positive. As much as I hated it beforehand, the biggest surprise was just how bad Iceland’s performance was. You guys had it very highly rated. Similarly, Macedonia’s end product compared to how strong the song sounded before the contest was also really surprising.
The whole list i agree with, except for Belgium.
Yeah i agree with this vision award..
I actually voted myself 4 Loic of Belgium on this category..
He managed to lift his song up with his great live performance..
The biggest surprises of Vienna’s Vision were except Belgium’ 4th place,Latvia’s 6th place, Israel’s 9th place & Russia’s 2nd place & 303 points..
4 the record,now his song *Rthythm Inside* even has grown on me & i like it more..
I still can’t understand why Serbia and Cyprus qualified… Anyway, Belgium is not a big surprise, I knew it would have finished in top 10, unfortunately. That song has too much american style
I would also add Latvia to the list. Prior to the semi finals Latvia was a non-qualifier, but wow, she killed it live. Still love the song!