Lena Satellite Eurovision 2011 Germany winner

The  Eurovision scoring system has changed a lot over the 60 plus year history of the contest. From pure juries to pure televote to a mixture of both. While the 2010s saw many minor tweaks to the system, it was the first decade in which a 50/50 system was maintained consistently.

At the beginning of the decade, juries and televoters were typically in agreement. However, there have been years in which the opinions diverged and the public’s favourite didn’t go on to win the contest.

Some months back we asked you to vote for your favourite televote winner of the 2010s. And after counting a massive 10,229 votes, the results are in!

Your favourite televote winner of the decade is Germany’s 2010 victor — Lena with “Satellite”.

Germany’s Lena is your favourite Eurovision televote winner of the 2010s

The lightheartedness of Germany’s Lena impressed both juries and viewers at home. An undisputed victory with both groups meant the contest would come back to Germany for the first time since 1983. Lena’s victory in the televote was quite comfortable with a margin of over 60 points ahead of runner-up Turkey.

And “Satellite” won with an even greater margin in this poll, picking up 2,755 votes or 26.93% of all votes cast.

In second place we we have Italy’s 2015 act — Il Volo with “Grande Amore”.

Eurovision 2015 was a year of firsts for the contest. Australia competed for the first time and for the first time ever the televote favourite didn’t win the contest. Italy’s operatic pop trio Il Volo delivered a multitude of goosebumps moments. But the massive televote score (80 more than Russia, 87 more than Sweden) wasn’t enough to make up for their jury result.

Gianluca, Piero and Ignazio hoovered up 1,742 votes or 17.03% of all votes cast.

The top three is rounded out by Sweden’s game-changing 2012 champion — Loreen with “Euphoria”.

Besides bringing snow to the land of fire, Loreen was the first Swedish victory of this decade. Her mesmerising performance of an upbeat-hit found praise with both juries and televoters. Viewers were sent in an alternative universe by her physical and mysterious performance. All in all, she became one of the most iconic winners of all time.

Loreen attracted 1,357 votes or 13.27% of all votes cast.

Poll results: What is your favourite Eurovision televote winner of the 2010s?

  1. Eurovision 2010: Germany’s Lena with “Satelite” 26.93% (2,755 votes)
  2. Eurovision 2015: Italy’s Il Volo with “Grande Amore” 17.03% (1,742 votes)
  3. Eurovision 2012: Sweden’s Loreen with “Euphoria” 13.27% (1,357 votes)
  4. Eurovision 2019: Norway’s KEiiNO “Spirit in the Sky” 11.96% (1,223 votes)
  5. Eurovision 2016: Russia’s Sergey Lazarev with “You Are The Only One” 7.53% (770 votes)
  6. Eurovision 2017: Portugal’s Salvador Sobral with “Amar Pelos Dois” 6.37% (652 votes)
  7. Eurovision 2014: Austria’s Conchita Wurst with “Rise Like A Phoenix” 5.59% (572 votes)
  8. Eurovision 2018: Israel’s Netta with “Toy” 4.99% (510 votes)
  9. Eurovision 2013: Denmark’s Emmelie de Forest with “Only Teardrops” 4.61% (472 votes)
  10. Eurovision 2011: Azerbaijan’s Ell & Nikki with “Running Scared” 1.72% (176 votes)

Total Votes: 10,229

Is “Satellite” really the best televote winner of the 2010s? Which act did you vote for? Let us know in the comments.

Vote in all of our Eurovision polls.

52 Comments
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Mr Vanilla Bean
Mr Vanilla Bean
3 years ago

Wow, ‘Running Scared’ made the top 10!

Ieva
Ieva
3 years ago

I think it was a joke.

Nils
Nils
3 years ago

Polls like this one always have me wondering how ‘Running scared’ won when basically nobody even really likes it. Another thing that makes me scratch my head … how could Azerbaijan get away with receiving 12 points from the Maltese televote EVERY F*CKING YEAR?

Last edited 3 years ago by Nils
Mr Vanilla Bean
Mr Vanilla Bean
3 years ago
Reply to  Nils

Answer: EBU.

Jofty
Jofty
3 years ago

Plus a lot of their songs appeal to Maltese public. For example Drip Drop sounds like a Maltese entry. I take your point however.

Jonas
Jonas
3 years ago
Reply to  Jofty

Azerbaijan ch**ted.

I’ve tried to elaborate on this a little, but the moderator has swallowed my two attempts. Hopefully they show up later – it makes me fume that they can ch**t so blatantly and I can’t even talk about it.

Nils
Nils
3 years ago
Reply to  Jonas

And promotional performances in Maltese television alone surely can’t make you their top pick for four years in a row – and then, all of a sudden, the love ends and Azerbaijan receives naught from Malta (but 12 points from San Marino instead).

I really liked a couple of their entries (Dihaj, Chingiz, Aisel). But these obvious frauds back then still prevent me from voting for them as of today.

Jonas
Jonas
3 years ago
Reply to  Nils

The trips to Malta were probably when the whole scam was arranged. $$$ to the anonymous jury, favours in return to the executives, pre-paid mobile phones being passed around. How funny that in 2011, Azerbaijan received little love from the harder-to-manipulate markets. UK, France, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Ireland – all of these countries literally gave them zero points.

Jofty
Jofty
3 years ago
Reply to  Jofty

Yees. Perhaps Azeri entries are written by Swedes with the Maltese Televote in mind?! There was sadly a “shooot in foot” moment in 2015 when Malta voted themselves out of the final and Azerbaijan got the 10th position. “Hour of the Wolf” is probably my favourite Azeri entry don’t understand why it crashed and burned. There was a “rule change” that year; under the old rules Malta would have been in and Azerbaijan out. But I liked both songs. Amber Bonnin represented Malta that year with “Warrior”, there was a glut of “Warriors” that year (!).

Jonas
Jonas
3 years ago

It was cheating. There’s no way that Malta would give Azerbaijan 12 points four years in a row. It’s not remotely plausible. They manipulated the small voter regions through bribery and fake phone voting. Not just in Malta. As soon as the reforms were brought in, Malta gave them 0 points. Coincidence? I think not.

Jonas
Jonas
3 years ago
Reply to  Jonas

Well, they were minor reforms. Before 2014, when Malta were going for Azerbaijan year after year, nobody knew who the juries were. After even more suspicious behaviour and some serious accusations in 2013, the EBU finally decided that things should be more transparent. Every jury member must be made public – their names, ages and professions. They also brought in a new rule that anybody caught cheating would be banned for five years. This is the moment that Azerbaijan’s fortunes suddenly declined, and Malta went from 12 to 0. It’s hardly unconnected.

Jonas
Jonas
3 years ago
Reply to  Jonas

Don’t forget fake computer-generated votes! They literally decided the jury result last year, and even then they couldn’t get it right.

Jonas
Jonas
3 years ago
Reply to  Jonas

Yeah, I meant they got it wrong on the broadcast. They did correct it later – by replacing one set of fake votes with another set of fake votes. Computer-generated. It’s ridiculous! The first 40 years of the contest were decided purely by juries, imagine if the winner had come down to such close voting – like Celine winning by one point. If that one point had been fake, wouldn’t the UK be annoyed? I just hope that never happens with the overall result these days. 56 fake points given out by San Marino every year, 112 fake points given… Read more »

Jonas
Jonas
3 years ago
Reply to  Jonas

This is a different issue than cheating, of course. I’ve probably sidetracked a little.

Jonas
Jonas
3 years ago
Reply to  Jonas

The whole Belarussian jury vote was fake last year.
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 10 + 12 = 58. Same with the San Marinese televote. That’s 116 fake points last year.

Sorry, my maths was slightly off in my previous post…

Jonas
Jonas
3 years ago
Reply to  Jonas

They’re not miscalculations, they’re just not real. Not decided by either jury or televote. Computer-generated, almost like a lottery. Belarus had no role in their own jury vote, and San Marino had no role in their televote.

Jonas
Jonas
3 years ago
Reply to  Jonas

Yeah, the results of the fake vote were read back-to-front. The lowest rated got the 12 and the highest rated got the 0. Either way, they’re not real. Sweden won the jury vote. North Macedonia won the jury + computer vote.

Stephanie
Stephanie
3 years ago

Sorry everybody… but a true deserved winner… although Loreen.. damn it this is a difficult… Help !!!!!

Giolo
Giolo
3 years ago

Are we sure Azerbaijan won the televoting over Sweden? The difference is to small and in 2010-2012, in the televoting rankings, countries which had not a public vote were inserted with their jury, this is realky confusing.

If you take off Sanmarinese points from the televoting (the only sure country that 100% had not a televote), Sweden would take the advantage.

vangelis vt
vangelis vt
3 years ago
Are you sure Denmark won the televote in 2013? Only averages were given for some reason. Having the highest average per country doesn't necessarily mean she would come ahead in the actual points.
Andi
Andi
3 years ago
Reply to  vangelis vt

Yes, the author IS sure

Last edited 3 years ago by Andi
Jonas
Jonas
3 years ago
Reply to  Andi

Are you sure the author is sure?

Ashton
Ashton
3 years ago

take away the juries and we’ll see if you still feel the same when televote makes a joke act win

Jofty
Jofty
3 years ago
Reply to  Ashton

And qualify!

Ria van de Velde -NL
Ria van de Velde -NL
3 years ago

Lena was not my winner, I didn’t like the song al all !! My winners were Il Volo from Italy !!

Brin
Brin
3 years ago

So? Not everypne shares your opinion?

Kosey
Kosey
3 years ago

This is a surprising result for me. I don’t see much difference between Satelite and Only Teardrops and Running Scared. It is quite a safe pop song, enjoyable for sure but not massively memorable. I am surprised that Loreen has not won as that song is in all-time classic territory.

Nils
Nils
3 years ago

Lena is not the best (televoting) winner in the passt 10 years.
There are more unique songs (Il Volo, Keiino, Conchita, Loreen) and I say this as a German.

Nils
Nils
3 years ago
Reply to  Nils

Though I agree with you and rather would have favored Conchita, Loreen or Salvador myself (and I say this as a German), one can’t argue that only Conchita and Salvador stuck out more in terms of their personalities.

Add on top that Lena sang a pop song in English while Salvador sang a jazz ballad in Portuguese and keep in mind that many people still can’t get over a man in women’s clothes and you’ll have the reason why she won this poll.

(No schizophrenia here, by the way)

Reu
Reu
3 years ago

Sorry but no, Loreen deserved more and Sergey too

Jonas
Jonas
3 years ago

I’m not at all surprised that Azerbaijan came last.

FanESC
FanESC
3 years ago

I think it could’ve been a “hit or miss” song but it worked.

Nils
Nils
3 years ago
Reply to  FanESC

I’m still stunned by their televote win and more than thankful for the existence of the juries (although I think Macedonia wasn’t anything special either). But to me, ‘Spirit in the Sky’ sounds like a cheap revamp of Rednex’ ‘Spirit of the Hawk’ that’s gone terribly wrong. Too bad to even be a ‘guilty pleasure’.

Jofty
Jofty
3 years ago
Reply to  Nils

Agree re Macedonia don’t know where that came from. Moreover when you think of all the great less successful entries, including from Tamara! Only my opinion ?

Jofty
Jofty
3 years ago
Reply to  Nils

It was OK. On a flight to Oslo during an MGP discussion the steward assured me I was “going to love it”. It was a lovely moment when the Televote was announced and Alexandra burst into tears. Wish they had kept it till the end like previous years?

Jofty
Jofty
3 years ago
Reply to  Jofty

For example it would help if the juries understood the system. For example the erm “young lady” who placed Netherlands last in the semis it must have grown on her so much that she placed it first two days later!

Jofty
Jofty
3 years ago
Reply to  Jofty

Plus there was more “suspense” the old way. In 2016 when Poland were almost in last position, and they were among the final three Televote countries to be called. I did seriously think something had gone wrong (!)

Last edited 3 years ago by Jofty
Alex
Alex
3 years ago

Maybe it’s me but I’ve been loving more and more Il Volo, Sergey and Keiino afterwards. Knowing what happened with results and everything.
I always liked them even tho they weren’t my personal favourites before the contest but watching their performances on the night with people.. was really a moment.

Last edited 3 years ago by Alex
Briekimchi
Briekimchi
3 years ago

Eurovision winners and me don’t really get along that well but, it’s easily 2017 for me.
2015 and 2019 were pretty good, too.

Esc addict
Esc addict
3 years ago

!!!???really? Nobody has overpassed Loreen during this decade, there’s a before Loreen and an after Loreen, sorry Lena. My ranking: 1st Loreen, an absolute winner with a banger, even my friends completely out of the esc know her song, not the case of the others. 2nd Conchita, just an icon with a so good voice even if the song was average in my opinion. 3rd Sergey, firstly because he always got this place in the contest and because what a performance! 4th Netta, I love how she performed and her song had something special. 5th Salvador, he and her sister… Read more »

Last edited 3 years ago by Esc addict
Esc addict
Esc addict
3 years ago
Reply to  Esc addict

Downvote me as you want, I like that and it won’t change my opinion, on the contrary.

Last edited 3 years ago by Esc addict
Jofty
Jofty
3 years ago
Reply to  Esc addict

So Euphoria is not “90’s sound”?

Esc addict
Esc addict
3 years ago
Reply to  Jofty

Euphoria is everything. It’s timeless.

Brin
Brin
3 years ago
Reply to  Esc addict

You know Loreen was barefoot too? What’s the problem with not wearing shoes?

Patata
Patata
3 years ago

I can’t belive Sergey isn’t third

Mitch
Mitch
3 years ago

Lena? Seriously?
ROFL

Tajikistan
Tajikistan
3 years ago

I don’t believe this result at all, there is no way that Loreen couldn’t win (and I don’t even like Euphoria)

James
James
3 years ago
Reply to  Tajikistan

Voting matters.

Alex
Alex
3 years ago

Lena is so underrated by some ESC fans. Satellite was a hit and Lena is one of the few (handful) Eurovision winners of recent years with an actual career after Eurovision. She’s still a big name in DACH area. Her Eurovision victory was well-deserved, a simple yet effective performance and a catchy modern song. I love how she has evolved from her ESC image. I just wish she had been in the Amsterdam show for Eurovision and maybe in the Netflix movie too. On the one hand, i am happy she doesn’t need ESC to be relevant again but pon… Read more »

Adamzee
Adamzee
3 years ago
Reply to  Alex

Lena is my favourite winner of all time – I love her and have all her albums since she won eurovision! As much as I love Mans from Sweden I completely agree that I’ll Volo were robbed in 2015…

Lollipop ESC
Lollipop ESC
3 years ago

Lena is super lovely and she is still big in business in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. So good to see that she came back as a juror for The Voice Kids Germany. The kids love her.

JORDAN
JORDAN
3 years ago

Netta is underrated. Top five for me!!!