We heard them, we saw them, we fell in love with them — but they didn’t deliver the results we were expecting. We’re taking a look at the top eleven Eurovision divas from recent years, who didn’t quite impress audiences as much as they should have.

11. Greta Salóme (Iceland 2016)

After winning Iceland’s national final with her self-written song “Hear Them Calling” and placing 14th in the 2016 OGAE poll, it seemed that Greta Salóme would easily top her 2012 result. But it wasn’t to be. Voters weren’t impressed with the performance in Stockholm and the song only placed 14th in its semi-final.

10. Ivi Adamou (Cyprus 2012)

She’s the half-Cypriot, half-Greek singer who made a splash on The X Factor and went on to represent Cyprus at Eurovision. Her song, “La La Love” was selected in a national final and quickly became a fan favourite. It made it to the final in Baku, where it received douze points from Greece and Sweden. But this was not enough to secure a top ten position, with Ivi finishing in 16th.

9. Cascada (Germany 2013)

Best known for their 2009 club banger “Evacuate the Dancefloor”, dance music act Cacada went on to win Unser Song für Malmö with “Glorious”. With lead vocals by Natalie Horler, the song was a fan favourite and placed fourth on the 2013 OGAE poll and seemed destined for success at Eurovision. Sadly this didn’t happen. Despite giving a good performance, Cascada placed only 21st in the grand final.

8. Triana Park (Latvia 2017)

After attempting five times before, electronic band Triana Park finally won Latvia’s national final, this time with the trance anthem “Line”. While the rock-infused song wasn’t a favourite with all, lead singer Agnese brought diva power to the performance, adding quirky glam to the moody song. Sadly viewers weren’t feeling it. The song only placed 18th in its semi-final, missing out on a place in the grand final.

7. Emma Marrone (Italy 2014)

Emma had won the Sanremo Music Festival in 2012, but it wasn’t until two years later that RAI internally selected her to go to Eurovision. She performed “La Mia Città”, a sassy ode to her city, Rome. In Copenhagen, she sang, she danced, she screamed, she writhed. But it wasn’t enough. Despite the song placing 11th in the 2014 OGAE poll, it only managed 21st place at Eurovision.

6. Maria Elena Kyriakou (Greece 2015)

Greek diva and winner of The Voice of Greece, Maria Elena Kyriakou won the Greek national final with her song “One Last Breath”. The song effortlessly made it to the final in Vienna, but her black and blue mysterious and melancholic staging finished up only 19th.

5. Krista Siegfrids (Finland 2013)

Krista on the Finnish national final with her cute love song marry me. But by the time she performed it in Malmö, the song had been given a clever LGBT twist, turning it into an anthem for marriage equality. The kiss got people talking, but it wasn’t enough to bring home a better result than 24th place in the grand final.

4. Barei (Spain 2016)

Barei won the Spanish national final with her uplifting song “Say Yay!”. It was a fan favourite going into Eurovision 2017 and placed sixth in the OGAE poll. But it was a different story in Stockholm. Lacklustre staging — including a cheesy fake fall – saw Spain place only 22nd in the grand final.

3. Mei Finegold (Israel 2014)

Mei Finegold’s song “Same Heart” was a massive fan favourite. It placed third in the OGAE 2014 poll and it seemed like a very obvious qualifier for the grand final. But when the results same, the Israeli diva only placed 14th in her semi-final, meaning she wasn’t going anywhere near the grand final stage.

2. Laura (Estonia 2017)

After Laura first represented Estonia at Eurovision — as part of the girl group Suntribe in 2005 — her fans were keen to see the diva return to Eurovision. That wish came true when Laura finally won the Estonian national final, this time with fellow Eurovision veteran Koit Toome. Their song, the dramatic duet “Verona” was a huge hit with fans and placed fifth in the OGAE poll. But Europe was less impressed. Despite having a strong position in the running order, the song only placed 14th, keeping Laura from the grand final.

1. Edurne (Spain 2015)

The well-known Spanish singer was internally selected to represent her country. Her song “Amanecer” had been written by a Spanish-Swedish dream team and it was a huge fan favourite. The song had placed eighth in the OGAE poll and it seemed destined to deliver Spain an even better result than Ruth Lorenzo’s 10th place the year before. But it was not to be. “Amanecer” was more a flop than a hit, and placed only 21st in the grand final.

What do you think? Which of these divas would you like to see take another shot at Eurovision glory? Share your thoughts below!

READ MORE OF OUR LISTS HERE

57 Comments
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Angelica
Angelica
6 years ago

Mei Finegold should’ve been in final. She was robbed, like really bad!
Where is Tanja (Estonia 2014)?

stojko
stojko
6 years ago

lel Ivi half cypriot – half greek?
Ivi is half [greek]-cypriot – half-bulgarian based at the moment in Greece.

Stefanov
Stefanov
6 years ago

When I hear the word ”diva” I’m thinking about Mariah Carey the way she poses sexy on bed all the time, with a glass of alcohol in hand, talking about how cruel life is, and ungrateful fiance that run away from her when she is so wonderful and doesn’t have expensive tastes like he complained.

Joe288
Joe288
6 years ago

Wholeheartedly agree with the majority of this list. Some of these results still hurt to this day 🙁
But I’ve continued to support them outside of Eurovision. Especially my pop queen Barei ???

Briekimchi
Briekimchi
6 years ago

Underrated? 11. Definitely. Top ten song from that year. Great performance and I liked the staging. 10. Slightly. I really like the song and it has aged well but how high up could it have realistically placed? A couple of places higher to get in top 15 might have been fair. 9. Nope. Forgettable song and not enough going on with the staging. 8. Nope. I thought it was the worst song in that semi-final. Vocally it was a train wreck. Triana Park did not bring their A game to Kiev. 7. Nope. The song was not performed well and… Read more »

Zebb
Zebb
6 years ago

Ivi Adamou made her cheese melt yet giving me nightmare of being called by commentators as fan favourite back then. These guilty pleasures 😀
We should see same list for divos later!

Music is the key
Music is the key
6 years ago

Actually,,,,being a diva is NOT a complment! Rather the opposite! Usually associatioed with kitch, glamour, cheesyness….and sometimes singers with an arrogant attitude. Actually, I thinkvery few serious / credible singers would be liked to be called diva….It doesn’t sound like a nice thing. Or something which gives them more poularitty / being taken serious as singers. Maybe some people should take note 🙂 It’s a mistake to use it as a compoliment 🙂

Kate
Kate
6 years ago

Why isn’t Slavko on the list?

Music is the key
Music is the key
6 years ago
Reply to  Kate

a DivO 🙂 My guiltay pleasure this year….Of course, the lyrics and stageact are AWFUL! But the melody itself was funky and cool

mad-professor
mad-professor
6 years ago

Both Spains, Greece, Latvia, Finland and (unfortunately) Cyprus got the placings they deserved.

Mar
Mar
6 years ago

All of them, except maybe Edurne and Barei, got the results they deserved. You wanna talk about wronged divas? Pastora Soler and Sanja from Serbia 2016, they were robbed.

Music is the key
Music is the key
6 years ago
Reply to  Mar

The only thing Pastroa was robbed for, was a good song! Talk about overrated entry!

Music is the key
Music is the key
6 years ago

This “lesbian kiss” at Finland 2013 is probably the most silly ESC-gimnick ever….which says a LOT!

Btw…it’s amazing how gay chuaevinsts make it a “gy thing”. Actually, the whole performance was a satire…it was all camp, kitsch taken into the extreme…not at all serious. But suddenly tyhis “fun” girl kiss is taken very sewriously…as a “statement”…..! 😀

But nevertheless, it WAS a silly gimnick!

Song itself was cool!

MarioMario
MarioMario
6 years ago

Lindita and Tako should be here… Moran Mazor as well.

Hada
Hada
6 years ago

Triana Park’s last place in its semi leaves Eurovision a little worse for it. It shows a clear message that daring and risky doesn’t work there.

Music is the key
Music is the key
6 years ago
Reply to  Hada

I agree they should have done a LOT better. great idneirock/dance song. We need more music like that in ESC. They had a very fresh style. Good songs in their NFs tooi….However…you can also say 1944 n Amor eplos dois were innovative and risky songs. And what about Lordi….they won with hard rock. Thankfully, sometimes awards risky songs / acts in a good way….when they deserve it (Conchita NOT included!)

Ern
Ern
6 years ago

Edurne and Evi Adamous deserved better.

The rest, not so much.

Lali
Lali
6 years ago

morale of the story: ignore the OGAE results because they are never close to the actual results

Music is the key
Music is the key
6 years ago
Reply to  Lali

Look at how everyone praised Estonia this year….whilst it really was nothing but a cheap, gewnric dated schlager….got what it deserved in the semi

Diogo de Albuquerque Gaspar
Diogo de Albuquerque Gaspar
6 years ago

you are ordinary person

Regina Phalange
Regina Phalange
6 years ago

I agree that all these were at least a bit underrated. Especially Mei Finegold, that was the biggest Eurovision robbery of all time.

xaxaxa
xaxaxa
6 years ago

Because there is too much divas every year. ESC fans like mostly only them and they are thinking, that every of them will qualify and men and groups will go home. But viewers have different tastes, they are not obsessed with female eurovision pop. They like different kind of musicians and songs and they vote for the best women, men and groups and for best pop, rock, etc. It will never happen that from one semifinal will go through 10 ESC fans favourite divas with pop and other projects and genres will go home. Taste of Europe is diverse, taste… Read more »

Music is the key
Music is the key
6 years ago
Reply to  xaxaxa

I agree with many things you say! To be honest…..sometimes I am NOT impressed with the “typical” esc-fan music taste…Sometimes it’s very limted….eurodance, schlagers, euroballads or simple pop songs. I don’t dislike dance or pop music. But it’s such a narrow EESCV-thinking bubble… What about rock, rnb, rap, indie, soul, ethno, country, metal etc…that is good music too! We all need musical diversity, and ESC should be about musical diversity too…..Nothing for me is more boring than schlagers and euroballads in ESC! And yes…also shouty divas…Spain 2012 and 1014, France 2015, Georgia 2017,generic ESC-clishe songs. Very fabricated, dated and unoriginal.… Read more »

Jo
Jo
6 years ago

And they boo the act when a non-favourite qualifies, like with Armenia in 2013.

Marc
Marc
6 years ago
Reply to  xaxaxa

Yes!
Still hilarious that many fans thought Denmark, Switzerland, Serbia and Macedonia were going to qualify all together at Semifinal 2. And only Switzerland did it with televote and it was 10th.
It’s very funny. and thanks God loves diversity 🙂

Áustria
Áustria
6 years ago

Maybe it is time to realize that “diva power” is the problem in the first place. Why would the display of a diva, which is a contrived and hardly relatable character, click with the casual viewers?

Jo
Jo
6 years ago

I don’t really care about them tbh.

Jo
Jo
6 years ago
Reply to  Jo

Kiev 2017 was my first Contest as part of the Eurofan community. None of the results above really surprised me: – Hear Them Calling was a sure non-qualifier to me; – La La Love idk, I wasn’t watching Eurovision back then; – Cascada, quite predictable after the copyright controversy; – Line was always a borderline song; – oh Emma…our worst result ever and deserved I guess; – Greece in 2015, qualifying was the biggest achievement, so Congrats!; – Finland in 2013…like Greece in 2015; – Say Yay, I was expecting a bigger reception from the audience, but smt like 15th-20th;… Read more »

Marcus (Day One)
Marcus (Day One)
6 years ago

I’m still shocked about Mei fivefold , greta salome and Triana Park.

They all deserved better.

AngieP
AngieP
6 years ago

I wasn’t a fan of Greta and Triana Park, so I think it was fair enough. Same with Krista and Ivi (though Ivi’s song was catchy). The thing with Emma in 2014 is that the presentation was wrong. Otherwise, the song is good and really interesting. When the song came out, I was like “another interesting act from Italy” and when I saw the staging and the outfit I said “Oh! They ruined it!” My favourites songs here are Israel 2014 and Estonia 2017 of course. In case of Mei Finegold my reaction is similar to Finland. It was one… Read more »

jane
jane
6 years ago

Real Divas are Paparizou,Dana International,Loreen,Hadise,Sertab and Ani Lorak. All the others are just copycats!

Mark
Mark
6 years ago

I think the majority of them got what they deserved.

Mattias Sollerman
Mattias Sollerman
6 years ago

Spain 2015 is a typical example of why this point system is problematic for anyone caring about results below top 10. Edurne was ranked on average 13.5, with 80% of the countries having her between 10th and 16th place.
If Eurovision would have been decided by Average Rank, Spain would have ended up in 11th place that year, which I think is about fair.
Furthermore, we’d find Cyprus in 15th, Armenia in 25th, and Germany in 19th place.

Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
6 years ago

Yea I agree with you, that would neutralize neighbor and migrant voting and we would have a fair 100% televoting system. Countries with a huge diaspora like Armenia and Serbia wouldn’t get any “free points”.

Mattias Sollerman
Mattias Sollerman
6 years ago

I’m not sure. Countries with particularly big diasporas, compared to the rest of the voting public, would have less effect on the overall result. However the smaller diasporas which don’t have enough of an impact today to affect the top 10 would in an average rank system be able to nudge their home country up a few ranks in many countries. Basically, diasporas which can dominate the the televote in a few countries would be negatively affected, while diasporas which are more scattered would obtain greater power. Now I’m actually not endorsing any specific system. I just want people to… Read more »

Jo
Jo
6 years ago

I think it would make it even worse for the “diasporas situation”. It’s also impossible to achieve a 100% fair televoting process.
Like Mattias said, countries with smaller diasporas would get more power, and the biggest ones would remain scoring across Europe.

However, more people are getting involved with the contest (and voting), and this is diminishing that effect over the voting. We can see Azerbaijan, Greece and Serbia receiving fewer points now. Poland and Hungary are getting their moment though, with the increasing participation from their diasporas (remember that they struggled to qualify in the past).

Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
6 years ago
Reply to  Jo

When you consider the entire top 26, diaspora’s effect is neglectable. The average televoting rankings of diaspora affected countries this year are as follows: 22. Greece (-6) 21. Armenia (-3) 20. Azerbaijan (-9) 17. Poland (-5) 10. Croatia (-1) Serbia, the country with the biggest advantage, came last in most countries’ televoting in the semi and would’ve come 14th considering the average. It came 11th with traditional points. There’s absolutely no need for juries when the problem would be so easy to solve with this fairer system. But even with the current system, televoting alone is more effective because in… Read more »

Marc
Marc
6 years ago

The average rank system is the most fair for sure. But with no juries.

In 2017, by this system: Norway, Netherlands and UK would have been 12th, 13th and 16th. That was fair for them and with no juries.
Also Israel was really hurt because it was 14th (ala Ireland 2013).

gerb
gerb
6 years ago

nobody outside esc bubble likes divas.
deal with it.
edurne was too funny, she was not taken seriously with that staging.
this is true, there’s a whole world outside your bubble.

Dagu
Dagu
6 years ago

I don’t really feel like half of them are divas. They are women, however woman=/=diva. It seems almost rude to call them like that, since mostly divas tend to show off a lot, like Lindita.
Also, poiting Krista Siegfrieds as a diva, seems like a good choice if you think about it. I only found her song not that long ago, and I really liked it. I’m happy that it was at least in final.

Music is the key
Music is the key
6 years ago

Other people who feel the word “diva” in ESC-terms give a bad flavour in the mouth? Seems so kitsch and “overly pinkish” too me….So not a nice word for a singer I think. Even if it is not meant like it

gerb
gerb
6 years ago

in esc terms or not, diva is a horrible word. what is that ? divine creation?
divas act like they are so precious…..ridiculous.

Music is the key
Music is the key
6 years ago
Reply to  gerb

For most people it’s negative…kitch, cheesy, “gay icon” and arrogant. But some ESC-fans wrongfully use it as if it was a compilment

Katy
Katy
6 years ago

So in your opinion, the word “gay” is something negative. How homophobic…

gerb
gerb
6 years ago
Reply to  Katy

why gays like those ”divas” anyway?
so weird match…gays and divas…everything a straight man don’t like, because no straight man likes divas, some think they like them, but can’t live with them under the same roof not even 24 hours.

Music is the key
Music is the key
6 years ago
Reply to  Katy

hehe gerb….that is right! 🙂 Strange!

Katy – I never said gay was something “negative”. But it’s negative when ESC becomes “gay”. Which it is NOT of course But sometimes it’s too kitsch, cheesy and camp….something which is associated with gays…like it or not. Hence my point.

Despite some gay chauvenist think so….ESC is not gay. but for everyone!

Dmitriy
Dmitriy
6 years ago

In this list, Maria Elena Kyriakou, Mei Finegold & Laura for me!

Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
6 years ago

Just let Barei go, she had a forgettable and rather annoying song and she flopped. I’m still shocked by the fact that no one else predicted her to end outside of the top 20 last year, it was so obvious she would lol

Luke
Luke
6 years ago

Molly (UK 2014), Lucie (UK 2017) and Valentina (San Marion 2013) should all be up there

Aline VR
Aline VR
6 years ago

Kate Ryan belongs in this list aswell!

Christian
Christian
6 years ago

Páll Oskar. 😀

Music is the key
Music is the key
6 years ago
Reply to  Christian

He had a great song. but the stage act was truly awfuL! (depsite the sexy women 😉 )

Marc
Marc
6 years ago

Song was great, and his stage even bettet lol.
Pure show and entertaintment. It’s just fascinating to watch.
Eurovision wasn’t just ready for that, 1997 and no televote.

Diogo de Albuquerque Gaspar
Diogo de Albuquerque Gaspar
6 years ago
Reply to  Christian

Páll Oskar is the best composse from Iceland 🙂

Diogo de Albuquerque Gaspar
Diogo de Albuquerque Gaspar
6 years ago

Páll Oskar is the best composser from Iceland

Miguel
Miguel
6 years ago

And Suzy? ?

Diogo de Albuquerque Gaspar
Diogo de Albuquerque Gaspar
6 years ago
Reply to  Miguel

Suzy is the most beautifuly ladie from Portugal 🙂