We’re moving on to the second part of our countdown of the top national final songs of 2019, as voted by the members of Team Wiwi. With the competition closer than ever, the top 20 is packed full of some of our real favourites.
Check out the next five songs below, with five different countries and multiple languages all represented in the countdown today!
20. “KAOS” — Raiven (Slovenia)
Just what does Raiven have to do to win EMA? On her third attempt, Raiven once again saw victory just taken away from her, finishing as runner-up for the second time. Lea Sirk was even visibly shocked when “KAOS” failed to send Raiven to Tel Aviv.
In many ways, “KAOS” is the opposite of the victorious “Sebi”. Whereas Zala and Gasper were understated and barely staged their act, Raiven let us have it. Aggressive and in-your face, matched with some serious voguing, it’s yet another NF classic for Raiven.
19. “Brutalero” — Luka Nizetic (Croatia)
After a rumoured comeback didn’t pan out in 2018, Croatia’s Dora returned for the first time since 2011. And whilst there weren’t many standout performances in the field, it would be impossible to ignore “Brutalero”.
Luka Nizetic’s bold and brash performance made him immediately stand out amongst the pack. Perhaps for that reason, it was either a love/hate affair for him with the Dora jury, which meant he only finished 3rd overall (despite finishing 2nd on the televise). Team Wiwi certainly lean more towards the “love” though!
18. “Là-haut” — Chimène Badi (France)
With millions of album sales behind her name, Chimène Badi was easily one of the biggest names of this year’s Destination Eurovision. And she lived up to her reputation with the anthemic “La-haut”.
Chimène served up some big vocals too, and it’s hard to deny how catchy the song proves to be. A respectable third place in the DE final was her result in the end, and she takes a spot on our countdown too.
17. “En livredd mann” — Mørland (Norway)
After Alexander Rybak’s return in 2018, it seems Norway wasn’t quite feeling having another returning act go to Eurovision. But the fact that Mørland’s “En livredd mann” didn’t even make the superfinal rounds at Melodi Grand Prix is still something we’re trying to understand.
Showing off the Norwegian language, Mørland proved that “A Monster Like Me” was certainly not a one-off. Taking us on a journey both through the song and staging, this was a real shock to see it stumble at MGP.
16. “League of Light” — Julie & Nina (Denmark)
The televote favourite in Denmark – but that wasn’t quite enough for Julie & Nina to take the ticket to Tel Aviv. “League of Light” brought us a taste of Greenlandic to Dansk Melodi Grand Prix, and quickly became a favourite with many fans.
The duo kept their staging simple for the performance, instead allowing their vocals to do the work for them. The 50/50 split meant that whilst the public “League of Light” over “Love is Forever”, the jury took victory away from them. We’ll just have to hope they make a return soon to introduce a new language to Eurovision!
Tomorrow, we move on to our top 15! Are any of the songs in this section your national final favourite? Let us know all your thoughts down in the comments below.
20- I’ll get a lot of down votes for this, but for some reason I dislike KAOS (but I like Raiven). There’s something about it that bugs me, and I’m yet to know why. 19- Surprisingly good live, but meh. 18- The French NF was my favourite NF out of all of them, and I really like this song. However, I always hear these kind of songs on the radio, which really take the magic away from this song. 17- My number 1, followed by the actual winner, in the Norwegian selection. So disappointed that he didn’t get to the… Read more »
I know that Boje by Gipsykord will be excluded from this list cuz robbed skinny bop aswell as Samo Bez Straha by Nataša & Una
Laura Bretan should be number 1 because she should actually be going to Eurovision
I’m still crushed Mørland didn’t make the superfinal. It was no doubt the best song in this years MGP (with KEiiNO being a close runner up)
I am sad that Raiven for the third time said goodbye to the ticket, on esc I read one comment that Slovenes do not like Raiven, for several reasons, firstly, colorful hair and music that creates, I listen to each day in my mind Kaos, I listen to the perfect music among the five songs of REM sleep phase that are excellent. Unfortunately, while RTV Slo organizes Ema Raiven, she will never win, she has great potential, recently she said she sings songs only in Slovenian, because she wants to promote her small country Slovenia added that singing about love… Read more »
Thanks for including Madar, repulj. Absolutely love that song. 🙂
Raiven should’ve won with KAOS. It’s masterpiece and she is out of this world. Love.
Morland was soooo much better than Keiino, in my opinion. In turn, Brutalero?… C’mon, you must be joking!.. Thank God this did not pass.
nobody wants to win
My Top 25 (continued):
20. Laura Bretan: Dear Father (Romania) – Despite still being cautious about the lyrics, I have to say – what a voice!
19. Grete Paia: Kui isegi kaotan (Estonia) – Amazingly constructed song, especially the bridge.
18. Silvan Areg: Allez leur dire (France) – One of the most memorable performances this season.
17. Lisa Ajax: Torn (Sweden) – What a change of pace for Lisa, delivering such emotion!
16. Jana: Viktorija (Serbia) – Quite a special song with a unique form and very mysterious lyrics.
Yes, so good we got rid of that stupid song. The lyrics sound like computer generated cliches. I hate when song writers think the voice is enough. If a good voice has a lazy song, deserves to crush and burn.
It perhaps has a “cult” vibe at times. Musically, it’s stunning. Laura’s voice is outstanding. I really have some mixed feelings here, but I felt it belongs among the highest quality songs nonetheless.
Based on the composition and voice, as well as lyrics in a different contexts (religious movie, for instance), I just felt I have to include this. Unlike other songs I find the best, DF is not something I frequently listen to. If I were to replace it in my top with another song, it would be Makeda’s “The Day I Loved You Most”. It was my favorite from Germany, but as I didn’t rate Germany (there was no time), I didn’t officially include it. However, I revisited that song few days ago, and now I think it should be here… Read more »
I’m just rating them as a hobby, but thanks nonetheless. 🙂
I got those lyrics as old testament level infatuation. You know, like “Put thy Lord first”. I didn’t see anything explicitly romantic in any way, although I find it somewhat “off”. It’s nice believing and all, but blind devotion to anything from someone so young seems a bit awkward. Just my personal opinion.
Apart from “blame”, I don’t understand what “now or never” means. Do you say that to god or father?
As readers can see, DF has provoked more discussion here than any other “top” song that didn’t make it. I don’t hear the creepiness in the lyrics, personally. I just see them as spiritual rather than practical. The singer’s voice is extraordinary, and enhances the song so well. It finished 2nd in its National Final, and was the public’s winner. Normally, I would expect DF to easily top this list as number one. However, we all understand why it will not appear in this list at all.
Raiven, kaos and the stage were amazing.
Oh yay, another one out here who liked Gerg? Szekér’s song!
I hope Wiwi hasn’t forgotten A Dal 2019… sure the song level from this year is not as great as 2018 but there still were gems!!!
thank u for including là-haut, it’s excellent
Mørland should have been in the gold final – I blame the bizarre jury votes! I love KEiiNO but would’ve been behind En Livredd Mann too!
he got one vote juss like keiino. the two-way final was still gonna be the bubble vs spirit in the sky
This article came at a perfect time XD Brutalero music video has been released and the song has a slight revamp https://youtu.be/JHqa0njl7CQ
League of light should have won in Denmark
I was rooting for them but with that performance I was not surprised they didnt win
Something else should’ve won in Denmark, that’s for sure.
It would be a Bit funny if dear father were to appear on this list
Grinding my axe
“Là-haut” is an amazing song with message and impressive vocals. The official video gave me goosebumps! Y’all need to watch it! 😀
If ‘En livredd mann’ had won, it would’ve been in my Top 10 for sure.
that “brutalero” song is strangely enjoyable. a latino dance song that does not take itself seriously and does not pretend it’s slick and expensive. it practically screams “I’m trashy and I know it”, and neither Luca Hanni’s song nor Tamta’s does that.
and still Croatia sent a “brutalerolly” boring power ballad.
patiently waiting for tower of babylon
Just Mørland for me. Come on, Wiwi! Take this a little seriously!
These are all strong entries, but Mørland’s songwriting is in a different league to the others. Even if I don’t like this particular song, I would put Mørland in the top 10 simply for the quality.
Apart from Mørland (who truly was robbed) and Chimène Badi, I don’t really agree with this selection. Raiven’s song is just noise (how anyone can actually enjoy listening to that is beyond me) and Julie and Nina’s ‘League of Light’ is plagiarised so has no merit whatsoever.
What do you mean is plagiarised?
Alessia Cara – Scars to your Beautiful
Kaos was Raivens weakest song. And that Croatian attempt called Brutalero was my last place. Sorry.
As a Croatian, I have to admit I strongly dislike Brutalero too. However, I see it has many fans, so I assume we would have better chance among ESC fans.