For Eurofans, endless speculation and countless predictions shape the months leading to the Eurovision final. Even if fans only have the studio version of a song to work with, they still dive heart-first into those most important questions: What will the staging look like? Who will have the voice to match the power of the music? Who will achieve an incredible result against the odds?
This year was filled with big surprises. San Marino’s Serhat achieved the best result ever for San Marino, finishing 19th in the grand final. On top of that he secured a tenth-place finish in the televote, proving that size does not matter in Eurovision. Norway’s KEiiNO, despite being nowhere near the top of the betting odds, won the televote by a margin of 30 points.
But in the end, only one performer could take home the coveted Vision Music Award for Biggest Surprise. After counting 3,133 votes, we can now reveal that North Macedonia’s Tamara Todevska emerges victorious. With over 45% of all votes counted and a margin of over 22% over second place, this is a clear victory for the “Proud” singer.
Deban and William immediately fell in love with Tamara’s song when it was released, praising it as the best ballad North Macedonia has ever sent. You can watch their first reaction below.
The broader Wiwi Jury was split about whether Tamara could bring North Macedonia back to the final — giving her an average score of just 6.44 and putting her in 21st position. Wiwiblogger William was among the more confident people in her corner.
“Borderless, timeless, powerful, classical, contemporary — ‘Proud’ ticks so many boxes. A power ballad of the first order, it glides from verse to chorus owing to the masterful control and melodic vocals of Tamara — one of North Macedonia’s brightest gems. If she can nail this vocally during the live show — and with tasteful staging to fit the stirring tune — I see no reason why she can’t slay her way to the final.”
Her raw emotions elevated the song to a new realm over the studio version. She managed to create the perfect balance of intimacy and power to touch the hearts of viewers and jurors alike. The important feminist message was delivered in an authentic way: she dedicated the song to her own daughter. All in all, she made her country Proud.
Eventually, she proved her doubters wrong by winning the jury vote — no easy feat for a country that has continuously struggled to make the final. She captured many (if not all) records for a Eurovision singer from North Macedonia — the best result ever in the final and semi-final, the highest score ever and the first jury winner ever from the Balkans.
Eurovision 2019: Biggest Surprise
- Tamara Todevska – 1,411 votes (45.04%)
- KEiiNO – 716 votes (22.85%)
- Serhat – 711 votes (22.69%)
- Victor Crone – 155 votes (4.95%)
- Leonora – 140 votes (4.47%)
Total votes: 3,133
Tamara Todevska follows in the footsteps of other great artists who impressed the world against all odds. Previous winners of this award include The Netherlands’ Common Linnets (2014), Belgium’s Loïc Nottet (2015) and Moldova’s Sunstroke Project (2017).
Vision Music Awards 2019: The Nominees
This award is just one of over a dozen awards we have launched as part of the Vision Music Awards 2019 (VMAs).
Our 13 categories — from best dressed to 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 browse all of our nominees and categories here.
I frankly don’t understand why Estonia were a nominee for this.
Such a tragedy, really. The one time North Macedonia actually WON a voting and their big moment got stolen anyway. And that half-victory is a big a deal, all things considered.
Each of the contenders exceeded expectations: all of these contenders were mostly predicted to flop, but San Marino and Estonia qualified, Leonora positioned Denmark to the left side, North Macedonia won thr jury vote, and Norway won the televote. Norway winning the televote is foreseeable, whereas…
Nobody:
No one in the fans:
Not even one person:
Juries: NORTH MACEDONIA!
Russian OGAE gave North Macedonia 12 points and she was very popular among Russian fans in VK fun-clubs.
True but I was SO close to being that one person! I predicted the top ten finish with a top five jury score but even I didn’t have it WINNING it.
Norway winning the televote might’ve been a bigger shock though. In the week of the contest, there was A LOT of talk online about KEiiNO not qualifying! Seems crazy now to think of it….
Congratulations to our runner-ups as well! Before the grand final I was dead certain KEiiNO would finish somewhere in the middle of the right side of the table and boy did they prove me wrong with that astonishing televote win. Thanks for showcasing us a bit of Sami culture and confirming that classic fun Eurovision bops are still alive and well.
She is really winner this year no Netherland with this voting
Oh really? If we trust every single comments on the internet, every song could be the real winner…
For some people only the public vote should count so Norway should have won. For others, jurys were right and North Macedonia is the winner. For weirds people, San Marino was the best (joking 😉 he can’t sing but he’s nice). In the end you know what? Duncan came 3rd and 2nd in both votes and overall he won and deserved it. So… get over it.
PS: I love Tamara, I’m not an anti N.Macedonia.
And it was such a deserved surprise for her and North Macedonia. FINALLY their efforts paid off. Tamara deserved it soooo much.
Tamara definitely did give us a surprise this year… A pleasant one at that! No matter what you may think of the song, I doubt any one will argue that it was awesome seeing North Macedonia finally succeed at Eurovision, especially with someone as lovely as Tamara. I won’t ever forget her reactions as she received those 12 points and was top of the leader board… You could tell it was a surprise even to her!
Congrats to Tamara and North Macedonia for the top 10 finish…
but I gotta be honest, I think “Proud” is meh,
totally get why people didn’t want it in the top 10.
Okey when all 42 aongs is new original style of songs next year you NEVER heard before ever. Then call me:)
Why all 42? Only one can be the jury winner.
Some other people also have something from Arcade to Sigra out of their top 10, each with a different preference. That’s the beauty of preference.
The César Sampson of 2019
Thank you for the earworm this evening 😀 “It wouldn’t be right lettin’ you go…”
You’re welcome haha 🙂