It’s the moment we’ve been waiting for since Netta reprised “Toy” at the grand final in Lisbon. Today, September 1st, marks the first day that any song competing at Eurovision 2019 can officially be released. Eurovision 2019 season is underway!
As we’ve already covered, a song doesn’t have to be even announced for Eurovision to later be confirmed as an entry. And of course — as we’ve seen in the past — the EBU might even allow a song that’s technically been heard before anyway…
But is it better to show your hand early, rather than leave it late? Do countries that reveal their song first have an advantage over the last country to reveal? We’ve taken a (totally unscientific) look at the last five contests to see who came out on top.
Eurovision 2014
First to Reveal: Ukraine — “Tick Tock”, Mariya Yaremchuk
6th place in Grand Final, 113 points
Last to Reveal: Russia — “Shine”, Tolmachevy Sisters
7th place in Grand Final, 89 points
International focus was already well and truly on Ukraine and Russia at Eurovision 2014. Hype for the Copenhagen contest ran simultaneous to the mounting crisis in Crimea and along Ukraine’s eastern front.
“Tick Tock” was the first song revealed for the contest, winning the Ukrainian national final in December 2013. The Tolmachevy’s “Shine” was released (in audio form only) at the last possible opportunity in March.
Heavily revamped before the contest, “Tick Tock” opened the show and still managed a remarkable 6th place, just ahead of “Shine”.
The penultimate song released? It was none other than Conchita’s “Rise Like a Phoenix”…
Eurovision 2015
First to Reveal: FYR Macedonia — “Autumn Leaves”, Daniel Kajmakoski
15th place in Semi-Final One, 28 points
Last to Reveal: Montenegro — “Adio”, Knez
13th place in Grand Final, 44 points
Daniel Kajmakoski’s Skopje Fest victory with “Lisja esenski” in November 2014 puts him as the earliest reveal on this list.
Compare that to Knez, who publicly revealed “Adio” after the song deadline. The song was presented on time to the Head of Delegation meeting, however, meaning it was fine for entry. There would be no time for any revamps, though.
Not that the revamp of “Lisja esenski” to “Autumn Leaves” did Macedonia any favours. With three ex-Blackstreet members on stage with him, Kajmakoski dropped out in the Semi-Finals. Knez, meanwhile, went on to score Montenegro’s best-ever result, with 13th in the Grand Final.
Eurovision 2016
First to Reveal: Albania — “Fairytale”, Eneda Tarifa
16th place in Semi-Final Two, 45 points
Last to Reveal: Bulgaria — “If Love Was a Crime”, Poli Genova
4th place in Grand Final, 307 points
The adage of “save the best until last” could be applied for a second straight year in 2016. Bulgaria’s on again/off again return to Eurovision was capped off by a late reveal of Poli Genova’s “If Love Was a Crime” — and to great reception from fans.
Contrast that with the frankly abysmal reaction to the revamp of Eneda Tarifa’s “Fairytale”. As ever, the Festivali i Kenges winning song was heavily changed between December and the contest.
At the contest, Poli stormed to Bulgaria’s best ever result at the time, finishing 4th. “Fairytale”, meanwhile, finished a lowly 16th in its Semi-Final.
Eurovision 2017
First to Reveal: Albania — “World”, Lindita
14th place in Semi-Final One, 76 points
Last to Reveal: Armenia — “Fly With Me”, Artsvik
18th place in Grand Final, 79 points
A second year running with a poor reaction to an Albanian revamp. Lindita’s “World” won Festivali i Kenges in December as the Albanian language “Bote”. Many fans wanted the song to remain in its native tongue, but the change was made for Kyiv.
Several countries left it late in 2017 — Bulgaria’s Kristian Kostov a notable name amongst them — but Armenia were last on the list. Artsvik’s experimental “Fly With Me” was a slice of folk-pop the 2017 contest had perhaps been lacking to that point.
Though Artsvik faltered to a remarkably low (for Armenia) 18th place, Lindita failed to make it out of the semi-final once again for Albania.
Eurovision 2018
First to Reveal: Albania — “Mall”, Eugent Bushpepa
11th place in Grand Final, 184 points
Last to Reveal: Georgia — “For You”, Ethno-Jazz Band Iriao
18th place in Semi-Final Two, 24 points
Third time lucky! Whilst we knew the names of other acts, Albania’s Festivali i Kenges once again graced us with the first song of the year for Eurovision 2018.
With only some trimming done to the original “Mall” — even keeping it in Albanian — Eugent Bushpepa got to show off his incredible vocals and storm to one of Albania’s best ever results at Eurovision, just finishing outside the top ten.
The same could not be said for Georgia, however. Whilst other late arrivals like Equinox and Ieva Zasimauskaite posted some respectable results, Ethno-Jazz Band Iriao did not do the same. Whilst they showed off some great ethnic sounds, they finished dead last in their semi-final…
Five years – and five very different sets of results! After Albania’s success this year, will another country opt for an earlier-than-usual reveal? We’ll be finding out soon…and before you know it, we’ll be landing in Israel!
Which country are you most excited to see for this year’s contest? Let us know all your thoughts in the comments section below!
Wasn’t there a year where Malta picked their song first so they could use their Junior Eurovision stage for MESC? I remember their selection being in November….?
I don’t think that it plays such an important role when a country’s song will be released because only Eurofans like us are following the contest all year. And on the big nights the bigger percentage of people voting are hearing the songs for the first time.
Lol that’s completely untrue. I know a lot of people who don’t follow ESC closely but vote in the main shows, especially in the Grand Final. Not to mention that several fan favourites end up flopping.
Usually, the countries that reveal their songs late have already a sense of what others chose. However, that doesn’t mean that they don’t run a selection process or consider songs at the same time. In 2016, in particular, the awaiting was worth it. The moment “If love was a crime” came out I loved it! In 2017, I think “Beautiful mess” was announced close to the deadine and it crasched it! The last couple of years, I think Russia tends to reveal its entries late, This year, I’m eager to see what the Big 5 have to offer, hoping for… Read more »
Happy New year to all Euro fans! :)) I cant wait for new Eurovision songs, especially from Ukraine, France, Sweden,Albania and Italy, and i so want UK finally bring a really amazing song to contest, lets enjoy a new season! 😀
Albania is the bringer of joy! They officially start the Eurovision Season, thus giving the best Christmas present to all of us! Kindest thanks on behalf of all Eurovision fans, including the ungrateful ones.
Tick Tock’s revamp was probably the biggest in modern ESC history (2000 and beyond)
Made of stars*
Alma revealed Requiem before Lindita’s Botë
Happy New Year!!!
To answer the question, I think, everybody is excited about their “own entry”. So, I am excited about Germany’s song for example. I am also excited about France, just because I like the language. And then I wonder about our “new success” countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, The Netherlands… As well as the “struggeling” countries: UK, Spain – what will they do to become “great again” 😉
I’m getting different vibes from my country (UK) at Eurovision. The quality of the songs at EYD were the strongest the UK has seen since 2000. Sadly, we picked the weaker song (or the juries). I think it’s time to go back to well-known artists and we get to pick the song in a NF!
So, JOWST, get writing a song now!
Quit funnily – next week is the Jewish-new-year holiday.
Happy new year for us all!