Eurovision Hosts and Presenters 2010 to 2019

This year at wiwibloggs we are celebrating the festive season with a series of different polls. For the next few days, we’re going to stuff your stockings with a selection of end-of-decade Eurovision votes. Consider this a unique riff on the classic “Twelve Days of Christmas” carol.

Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, you can join us and let us know your thoughts for each and every poll.

Eurovision Hosts: 2010 to 2019

Every year, one of the most popular questions in the run-up to the contest is: Who is going to host?
Dozens put their name in the hat and many more are rumoured to be on the front line to become the face of their country.

Some of TV’s finest, funniest and, occasionally, weirdest and cringiest hosts were chosen to present in the past. But who in this decade was the best?

Take a look at all the hosts from 2010 onward and vote for your favourites in our poll. You can vote for as many as you like, but you can only vote once — so make it count!

Eurovision 2010: Erik Solbakken, Haddy N’jie and Nadia Hasnaoui

Ah, who could forget the presenters in NorwayErik Solbakken, Haddy N’jie and Nadia Hasnaoui?
We love a cringey moment in Eurovision and TV Presenter Erik and his pre-voting speech hit the cringe sweet spot! The speech which was obviously meticulously choreographed to explain all the things you can do whilst you wait for the votes to be delivered. As Eric was walking, he undressed to reveal some sparkly green party clothes, carried a candelabra, popped some confetti, opened a bottle of champagne, made popcorn in a microwave and took a family photo – it was top-level cringe with definitely a hint of genius.

Everything is in fact choreographed to the minute on the night in Eurovision… usually. But you can’t help but suspect that wasn’t quite the case when Haddy N’jie visited the UK commentator Graham Norton’s booth. The slightly awkward exchange only proves that you can’t completely plan everything.

However, you can’t deny the hosts’ talent. They showed off their rather impressive language skills in the lead up to the voting with a segment where they effortlessly speak to several of the Eurovision acts in their own languages including German, Spanish and Finnish.

Eurovision 2011: Anke Engelke, Judith Rakers and Stefan Raab

The hosts in 2011 were comedian Anke Engelke, TV Presenter Judith Rakers and all-round entertainer Stefan Raab. The latter of which stole the show by showing off his talents singing and playing on his electric guitar. This included performing a swing version of the previous year’s winning song “Satellite”. Luckily Lena was there to save the day and joined in at the end. Fake punches, fireman’s lifts and paraphrasing the Ronald Reagan Berlin Wall speech (classic) were also on show as these three presenters certainly made it an entertaining year.

Eurovision 2012: Leyla Aliyeva, Nargiz Birk-Petersen and Eldar Gasimov

No awkward lifts happened in 2012 however as Leyla Aliyeva, Nargiz Birk-Petersen and one half of the winning song for Azerbaijan Eldar Gasimov took a more straightlaced approach that year. The night kicked off with Eldar and Nikki’s winning song “Running Scared”. It was a very professional approach some will say, with no flirting between hosts and no jokes. The land of fire it may be but it seemed that the fire was a bit more controlled on stage in Baku.

Eurovision 2013: Petra Mede

The one and only Petra Mede was the sole host of Eurovision 2013. Though she was joined by the “Popular” Eric Saade in the green room, Petra took the proceedings single-handed with grace and flair. The presenter, comedian, actress and all-round genius Petra just had her cards with her for help and gave Europe a flawless performance. Even giving the audience a brilliantly funny song about Sweden before the voting started.

Eurovision 2014: Lise Rønne, Nikolaj Koppel and Pilou Asbæk

TV Presenter Lise Rønne, musician and journalist Nikolaj Koppel and Game of Thrones’ Euron Greyjoy, sorry, Pilou Asbæk took charge of the 2014 contest. Not too much to buzz about here as the three gave a very accomplished performance. They also sang a brilliant, though very cheesy interval song about the number 12 – of course the highest score a country can give. However, the United Kingdom’s commentator was subjected to another impromptu “chat” and this was almost certainly not rehearsed. Spraying Graham’s small cubical with a truck full of confetti, a result of Graham allegedly poking fun at Pilou’s Chinese speaking (a running theme in the contest) – with Graham responding with “How lovely, it’s so fun” It was very clear what he meant but the three hosts in Copenhagen were indeed lovely and fun!

Eurovision 2015: Mirjam Weichselbraun, Alice Tumler, Arabella Kiesbauer and Conchita Wurst

It was an all-female affair in Vienna as television presenters Mirjam Weichselbraun, Alice Tumler, Arabella Kiesbauer and 2014 winner Conchita Wurst took to the stage to host the contest in 2015. Another accomplished performance, though with perhaps a slight lack of personality with many of their jokes and improvised pieces failing to land. Professional yes, fun? – you decide.

Eurovision 2016: Petra Mede and Måns Zelmerlöw

Petra Mede was the host once again. But this time she was joined by the 2015 winner Måns Zelmerlöw. More of the same from Petra in 2016 and she was definitely aided by Måns and his charismatic smile. They worked very well together, though the “Heroes” singer could be forgiven for a few nerves at the start. They did create, however, one of the most memorable interval acts ever with a parody song celebrating how to win Eurovision called “Love, Love, Peace, Peace”. Genius, Genius.

Eurovision 2017: Oleksandr Skichko, Volodymyr Ostapchuk and Timur Miroshnychenko

Kyiv brought us a contest with an all-male cast with comedian Oleksandr Skichko and TV presenters Volodymyr Ostapchuk and Timur Miroshnychenko, the latter of which hosted the Junior Contest in 2009 and in 2013. With sparkly blazers, these boys came to “D-I-S-C-O” which definitely set the precedent of the energy they brought to the stage. Not all of it was warranted as some of it felt like some bizarre Eurovision lads holiday, including making part of the audience dance the Ukrainian dance Hopak with them. Nevertheless, boring they were not and they definitely kept the audience going throughout the long show.

Eurovision 2018: Sílvia Alberto, Catarina Furtado, Filomena Cautela and Daniela Ruah

It was another all-female group in Lisbon and it definitely promised drama as all four ladies were actresses. Three of them were also TV presenters — Sílvia Alberto, Catarina Furtado and Filomena Cautela. Portuguese-American actress Daniela Ruah was best known for being an actress in the US crime drama NCIS: Los Angeles. They certainly lived up to it — they pulled duck faces, put on American accents, had contestants lift them up and even proposed to them. They were determined to make sure everyone was entertained, a very different dynamic to that of 2015.

Eurovision 2019: Erez Tal, Assi Azar, Lucy Ayoub and Bar Refaeli

The final hosts of the decade were TV presenters Erez Tal and Assi Azar, presenter and poet Lucy Ayoub and international model and entrepreneur Bar Refaeli. It was an interesting dynamic, with the three younger members of the team flawlessly and professionally working together. At points, Erez seemed like the stern uncle that invited himself to the party. While he was perfectly proficient, it never felt completely natural, slowing down the energy of his younger colleagues. Assi however was especially good during the interval act when previous contestants were playing the “Switch Song” (a game singing each other’s songs). Bar even accidentally created a phrase that will be remembered in Eurovision folklore for a very long time — “I’m sorry zero points.”

That was only a little reminder but who were you favourite hosts this decade?

Who are your favourite Eurovision hosts of the 2010s?

[crowdsignal poll=10483476]

Check out more of our polls here

41 Comments
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[…] who were the best Eurovision hosts of the 2010s? That’s the question we posed to y’all some months back. And now the results are […]

Denis
Denis
4 years ago

Of course Petra and Måns! However I quite liked Erik Solbakken too..
Also the years with 4 hosts are among the worst. 2015 would have been better with just Conchita and 2018 with just Filomena. Since they are the only ones that had personality that year

moramento
moramento
4 years ago

The current top three is pretty much my top three: Petra, Petra and 2011

Tom
Tom
4 years ago

“Movin on to Estonia” haha i will never forget the hosts of 2019

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
4 years ago

Sweden are in a different league when it comes to presenters. Congratulations Petra and Måns. 🙂

Probably the host choice that backfired the most was 2017, when a contest to “Celebrate Diversity” was not hosted in such a way. Facepalm moment. But really the worst hosts to watch technically were 2015, in my opinion.

Ana
Ana
4 years ago
Reply to  Purple Mask

Ok, the slogan that year was ”Celebrate Diversity” but it’s just a slogan. In 2009 you didn’t have a slogan at all. It’s not that important of a thing. And 3 men hosting isn’t worse than 4 women in 2015 and 2018. And about the fact that they were all white, I mean, Ukrainians are white. It’s not like they have there tv presenters that are latinos or black, it’s not an immigrant attracting country. They are white, kill them for that.

Jonas
Jonas
4 years ago
Reply to  Purple Mask

I dunno, in Eurovision terms, 2017 gave us the first ever all-male presenting team, so I guess that’s diverse. 1956 was the last and only other time there was no female host. Diversity means more than different skin colors or gender, too, so… I think they covered “diversity” in other ways. Are we assuming they are all heterosexual?

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
4 years ago
Reply to  Jonas

All valid points from Ana and Jonas.
From a media perspective though, it is a basic PR tick-box that was glaringly unticked. If it was explained that “there have never been all-male hosts before” then fine, but nope. It’s as if they didn’t give a f…

Richard
Richard
4 years ago

No brainer, Petra and Mans

Mr Vanilla Bean
4 years ago

Petra and Petra.

Africavision
Africavision
4 years ago

I’m sure that many would agree that the 5 most memorable hosts this decade are: Anke Engelke, Petra Mede, Måns Zelmerlöw, Filomena Cautela, and Assi Azar… (Aside: I also really liked Erik Solbakken).

Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
4 years ago

anke engelke is my favorite overall, she’s so sweet n i love how she would bop to the entries n get emotional during the recap

Jonas
Jonas
4 years ago

I loved when she tried to embarrass Azerbaijan into democracy when she announced the 2012 German results. Her “it’s good to be able to vote, and it is good to have a choice – good luck on your journey, Azerbaijan, Europe is watching you” speech made me love her all the more. One of the only ones to actually acknowledge what was happening in the host country.

Lobstr
Lobstr
4 years ago

The 3 from 2012 are amazingly bad. I mean that Nargiz girl. How did she get this job?
https://youtu.be/MOQ33XwlXd4?t=390

Hello hi
Hello hi
4 years ago

The following years were excellent to
acceptable
16 excellent -perfection
13 great without Eric
11 should have only been Anke
14 handsome
10 good
18 should have only been filomena

And then the bad to the totally unacceptable

19 dull
17 Handsome men ugly presenting skills
15 hot mess
12 complete abomination , robotic , drab ,

insalata di cesare
insalata di cesare
4 years ago
Reply to  Hello hi

Announcement of votes was the worst in 2016, also the graphic design was bad and flawed

Sabrina
Sabrina
4 years ago

To be fair, I don’t remember much about the hosts of some years. But I guess it’s fair to say that Petra Mede was the big name of the decade, doing two times an amazing job as a host. Her chemistry with Mans was great and he also proved in UK You Decide that he can be very entertaining. I remember liking the Danish hosts too. And I think Filomena Cautela is deligthful, I feel she would had shined more if Portugal had decided for less people hosting.

Roelof Meesters
Roelof Meesters
4 years ago

2011 and 2016 by far, the last 3 host teams were all terrible: 3 men in 2017, and 4 people in 2018 and 2019, which is way too much. I’m glad we’ll have a more diverse team in 2020.

Kirby
Kirby
4 years ago

Petra Mede is the one and only!!!

Jonas
Jonas
4 years ago

Petra Mede 2013 was the best, but Nadia Hasnaoui deserves some love.

Bravotica Bromance
Bravotica Bromance
4 years ago

SILENCE! I‘ve made my decision, bring back my hosts!

7 hosts stand before me and now the time has come to crack jokes for their lives…

And the winner of this decade‘s host race, Portugal, shantay you stay. Denmark, you gave us plenty of fish and a good laugh, now, shashay away

Roy Moreno
Roy Moreno
4 years ago

Petra, Måns and I wish I could vote for Filomena alone 🙁
The 2019 hosts were good too but I feel like I loved them more than others because I know them xD so I didn’t vote for them here

PP77
PP77
4 years ago

1.2011
2.2014
3.2019

Joseph Mendy
Joseph Mendy
4 years ago

My favourite hosts from this decade:

Anke Engelke
Judith Rakers
Leyla Aliyeva
Nargiz Birk-Petersen
Petra Mede
Måns Zelmerlöw
Mirjam Weichselbraun
Oleksandr Skichko
Filomena Cautela
Assi Azar

Maya G
Maya G
4 years ago

I’m one of those rare few who don’t fancy Petra all that much. She’s professional and adequate for sure, but I find her too stiff and cold, not very funny and unable to go off script when necessary.
I did however vote for 2016 because Måns brought a lot of charm and sincerity to this duo, and the script was probably the best in the history of the competition. The part where Petra received the juries’ votes by herself still felt wooden and unpleasant to me, but other than that it was incredible.

PP77
PP77
4 years ago
Reply to  Maya G

I agree. For me Petra try so hard to be funny….
For me best host
1.1985
2.1984
3.2011 (Anke)
4.1987
5.1981

Bravotica Bromance
Bravotica Bromance
4 years ago
Reply to  Maya G

Petra mayday, the Pokerface. Seriously someone poke her face!

Jonas
Jonas
4 years ago
Reply to  Maya G

Yeah, I didn’t like the scripted back-and-forth between Petra and the jury vote spokespeople in 2016.

insalata di cesare
insalata di cesare
4 years ago
Reply to  Jonas

2016 had the most cringeworthy voting section of all. I was very uncomfortable watching the exchanges.

Rasmus
Rasmus
4 years ago
Reply to  Maya G

so you prefer the stiff Azerbajani hosts before Petra? they were like 3 ice cubes with 0 personality or the Austrian 3 girls with more then 0 personality or Asif from israel who only talked about his men wihtout shirts.

Maya G
Maya G
4 years ago
Reply to  Rasmus

Dude… take a chill pill.
I didn’t write Petra is a terrible host, I actually wrote that *in my opinion* she’s professional and adequate but robotic and overrated.
She is far better than the Azerbaijani trio, but I do think that quite a few hosts this decade had a more pleasant and likable presence than her. I think Assi was a good host but I really didn’t like his “me so h0rney” jokes, nor did i like Petra’s incessant “Eurovision fans are gay” jokes.

Maya G
Maya G
4 years ago

Best host of the decade: Anke Engelke, hand down! Funny, spontaneous, silly in a good way, fluent and charismatic. Perfect.
Worst host of the decade: Catarina Furtado, she had a terrible accent, zero comedic timing and she messed up the voting (“Right now Cyprus is leading”). Filomena was awesome though, and Daniela was good too.

Azaad
Azaad
4 years ago
Reply to  Maya G

Had Filomena and Daniela just hosted as a duo they could’ve been great

Darren
Darren
4 years ago

Individually (due to being handsome and sexy)
Mans Zelmerlow
Volodymir Ostapchuk
Assi Azar

However personally my favorite hosts of ESC ya got to be 2011 and 2016

Eric
Eric
4 years ago

MÅNS AND PETRA! Only!

NickC
NickC
4 years ago

Easiest poll: Petra and Mans, by a mile.
Then Bar and Daniela, then Filomena.

KESC
KESC
4 years ago

My favourties from each year
2019: Assi (Bar was also good)
2018: Filomena and Daniela (her reaction when announcing the Swedish televotes was priceless)
2017: Volodymyr
2016: Both
2015: Alice
2014: Pilou
2013: Well.. 😀
2012: Eldar
2011: Anke
2010: Nadia

My favourite presenters overall: Of course Petra Mede and hands down Måns Zelmerlöw.. he was so professional, I really did not expect that he would be such a great host

Jo.
Jo.
4 years ago

Petra, Stefan & Anke.

WannaEatMySpaghetti
WannaEatMySpaghetti
4 years ago

Petra and Måns of course! They are the dream duet to host the contest. I also loved 2011 and 2018 but only for Anke and Filomena!

The worst host of the decade were by far the ones of 2012. And 2015… worst semi final results announcement I’ve ever seen (even if I’m from Belgium and I nearly had a heart attack it was way too fast)

Skiwalko
Skiwalko
4 years ago

Petra and Mans have no competition here, but if Portugal happens to host the contest in years to come, Filomena needs to get it all for herself Petra 2013-style, as she deserves. Her talent felt truly wasted in 2018.

Alaska
Alaska
4 years ago
Reply to  Skiwalko

I completely agree with you. I would have voted for the 2018’s hosts if it weren’t for Catarina Furtado atrocious job. I have been following Filomena’s work for a long time now. She can be even better than what people saw her doing on Eurovision.