Wiwi Jury results: Germany’s Ben Dolic with “Violent Thing” is our favourite song from Eurovision 2020

While Eurovision 2020 has been cancelled, the Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — have still been busy reviewing and rating the 41 songs that were due to compete in the song contest. In the end, one entry has come out on top: Germany‘s Ben Dolic and his song “Violent Thing”. In second place is Malta’s Destiny with “All of My Love”, while in third place is Iceland’s Daði & Gagnamagnið with “Think About Things”.

While different jury members had different favourites, Ben Dolic‘s catchy contemporary pop track “Violent Thing” turned out to be the one song the jury could mostly all agree on. It earned an average score of 8.18 out of ten. While this is the lowest score of a winner since the Wiwi Jury began in 2012, it’s still a song worth celebrating.

Jury member Lucy was singing the track’s praises:

“I never thought I’d give a pure-pop banger a perfect ten, but when it’s this good, why not? The “don’t tell your MAMMAH” hook hits you hard every time and Ben’s tones just help make this song ridiculously cool. There really is no element of cringe like the “I met a girl in a bar” style such songs often have. It starts the second the song opens with those six notes pulling you in, and keeps hold for three minutes. This is exquisite and possibly my favourite German song at Eurovision ever.”

In second place was Malta’s Junior Eurovision champ and X Factor winner Destiny Chukunyere with “All of My Love”. Her soul-pop track picked up an average of 8.1 from the jury

Jury member Pablo had this to say about Destiny’s efforts:

“When everyone else went Billie Eilish, Malta went Lizzo. I had always thought that the year they decided to send Destiny meant automatic Eurovision victory, but I am not totally certain it would have been the case this time. The verses and the bridge need some oomph, but when that chorus hits, you can’t deny this is a banger. “All of My Love” is a really smart use of Destiny’s gospel capacities, all the while keeping the song radio-replay-ready. It is the best use of gospel in a Eurovision song and would have exploded live.”

Taking third place was Iceland’s Daði & Gagnamagnið and the song “Think About Things”. The viral favourite had an average of 8.03 from the Wiwi Jury.

Wiwi Jury contributor Bernardo shared his thoughts on the song:

“Take note: “Think About Things” walks the line of musical quality, joke entry, commercial appeal and very good production, perfectly. From outfits to looks and choreography, this entry is planned from its very first second. This would be a contender for the victory and deservedly so. It is infectious and has cross-appeal in all age groups.”

Rounding out the top five was Switzerland’s Gjon’s Tears whose song “Répondez-moi” picked up an average of 7.95, and Norway’s Ulrikke whose “Attention” closely followed with 7.9.

The Wiwi Jury reviewed the 41 songs of Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in March 2020, based on studio recordings, music videos and live performances, where available. As always, Wiwi Jury reviews will not be changed to reflect new information from subsequent performances.

The jury rankings are not intended to predict who we think would have won Eurovision 2020 — the contest has been cancelled and there will be no winner. Rather, it’s an indication of what our favourites were and a celebration of the 41 entries.

Eurovision 2020 reviews and rankings

1. Germany: Ben Dolic – “Violent Thing” (8.18)
2. Malta: Destiny – “All of My Love” (8.1)
3. Iceland: Daði & Gagnamagnið – “Think About Things” (8.03)
4. Switzerland: Gjon’s Tears – “Répondez-moi” (7.95)
5. Norway: Ulrikke – “Attention” (7.9)
6. Sweden: The Mamas – “Move” (7.88)
7. Lithuania: The Roop – “On Fire” (7.85)
8. Bulgaria: Victoria – “Tears Getting Sober” (7.75)
9. Australia: Montaigne – “Don’t Break Me” (7.73)
10. Israel: Eden Alene – “Feker Libi” (7.48)
11. Romania: Roxen – “Alcohol You” (7.35)
12. Azerbaijan: Samira Efendi – “Cleopatra” (7.28)
13. Russia: Little Big – “Uno” (7.18)
14. The Netherlands: Jeangu Macrooy – “Grow” (7.03)
15. Italy: Diodato – “Fai rumore” (6.95)
16. Latvia: Samanta Tīna – “Still Breathing” (6.93)
17. Ukraine: Go_A – “Solovey” (6.6)
18. Armenia: Athena – “Chains On You” (6.5) *
19. Finland: Aksel – “Looking Back” (6.5) *
20. Denmark: Ben & Tan – “Yes” (6.5) *
21. Greece: Stefania – “Superg!rl” (6.48)
22. Serbia: Hurricane – “Hasta La Vista” (6.43)
23. Spain: Blas Cantó – “Universo” (6.25)
24. Belgium: Hooverphonic – “Release Me” (6.1)
25. United Kingdom: James Newman – “My Last Breath” (6.08)
26. Ireland: Lesley Roy – “Story of My Life” (6.03)
27. Cyprus: Sandro – “Running” (5.90)
28. Portugal: Elisa – “Medo de sentir” (5.75) *
29. Moldova: Natalia Gordienko – “Prison” (5.75) *
30. Belarus: VAL – “Da vidna” (5.73)
31. North Macedonia: Vasil – “You” (5.65)
32. Poland: Alicja Szemplińska – “Empires” (5.63)
33. Albania: Arilena Ara – “Fall From The Sky” (5.6)
34. Austria: Vincent Bueno – “Alive” (5.53)
35. Czech Republic: Benny Cristo – “Kemama” (5.43)
36. San Marino: Senhit – “Freaky!” (5.38)
37. Croatia: Damir Kedžo – “Divlji vjetre” (5.13)
38. Georgia: Tornike Kipiani – “Take Me As I Am” (5)
39. Slovenia: Ana Soklic – “Voda” (4.88)
40. France: Tom Leeb – “Mon Alliée (The Best In Me)” (4.18)
41. Estonia: Uku Suviste – “What Love Is” (4.10)

* Tiebreak winners are decided by preferential vote.

Previous Wiwi Jury winners

• 2012: Sweden –  Loreen with “Euphoria” (9.25)
• 2013: The Netherlands –  Anouk with “Birds” (8.36)
• 2014: Hungary –  András Kállay-Saunders with “Running” (8.56)
• 2015: Estonia – Elina & Stig with “Goodbye to Yesterday” (8.50)
• 2016: Russia – Sergey Lazarev with “You Are the Only One” (8.7)
• 2017: Italy – Francesco Gabbani with “Occidentali’s Karma” (8.96)
• 2018: Israel – Netta Barzilai with “Toy” (8.61)
• 2019: Netherlands – Duncan Laurence with “Arcade” (9.15)
• 2020: Germany – Ben Dolic with “Violent Thing” (8.18)

Wiwibloggs will also run our annual alternate Wiwi Jury, using the classic “12 points” system. Will that yield a different result? Stay tuned to find out!

What do you think? Do you agree with the Wiwi Jury? Or do you have different favourites? Tell us your thoughts below — and don’t hold back!

See all our Eurovision 2020 reviews and rankings