In December, #EurovisionAgain will celebrate Eurovision non-qualifiers, with a fan rewatch and vote of 20 of the best songs that never made it to a grand final. But before that, we want to know which non-qualifiers are your favourites. We’re running a series of polls to see which acts wiwibloggs readers think deserve a second chance.
The polls include all countries who had more than one non-qualifier in the semi-finals era — from 2004 onwards. Listen to the non-qualifying tracks and vote for your favourites! We’re continuing with Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark and Estonia.
What is your favourite non-qualifier from Finland?
- 2004: Jari Sillanpää – “Takes 2 to Tango”
- 2005: Geir Rönning – “Why?”
- 2010: Kuunkuiskaajat – “Työlki ellää”
- 2012: Pernilla Karlsson – “När jag blundar”
- 2015: Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät – “Aina mun pitää”
- 2016: Sandhja – “Sing It Away”
- 2017: Norma John – “Blackbird”
- 2019: Darude feat. Sebastian Rejman – “Look Away”
What is your favourite non-qualifier from Georgia?
- 2012: Anri Jokhadze – “I’m a Joker”
- 2014: The Shin & Mariko – “Three Minutes to Earth”
- 2017: Tamara Gachechiladze – “Keep the Faith”
- 2018: Ethno-Jazz Band Iriao – “For You”
- 2019: Oto Nemsadze – “Keep on Going”
What is your favourite non-qualifier from Greece?
- 2016: Argo – “Utopian Land”
- 2018: Yianna Terzi – “Oniro mou”
What is your favourite non-qualifier from Hungary?
- 2008: Csézy – “Candlelight”
- 2009: Zoli Ádok – “Dance with Me”
- 2019: Joci Pápai – “Az én apám”
Previous polls
- Part 1 – Albania, Andorra, Armenia and Austria
- Part 2 – Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia
- Part 3 – Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia
Which non-qualifiers are your favourites? Who would you like to see have another shot at Eurovision? Tell us your thoughts below!
Finland 2017
Georgia 2017
Greece 2018
Hungary 2009
Blackbird, don’t sing to me…. a song contest – and Norma not singing in the final to us – why????????????????????????????????????????????
I have still got over Norma John not qualifying for the final – that song is so down it lifts me up.
Also, PKN were before their time, Eurovision weren’t ready for them then, hopefully it will be one day.
“That song is so down it lifts me up.” 😀 Fantastic!
Blackbird’s melody is actually entirely in a major key (i.e. happy), it is only the magic of the harmony that makes it melancholy. It’s a beautiful song.
Thanks Purple Mask! I’ll throw a complement back at ya – I love the way you always connect the technical aspects of a song to its emotional impact – always insightful!
1. Finland – 5 of 8 songs are amazing, namely Nar jag blundar, Blackbird, Sing It Away, Aina mun pitaa and Tyolki Ellaa, Finland is one of my favourite countries in Eurovision for these. My choice is Tyolki Ellaa, 6th in my ideal-picks ranking.
2. Greece – both songs are awesome, but I go with my favourite Greek entry ever, Utopian Land.
3. Georgia – magical 3 Minutes to Earth, although Oto’s song was great too.
4. Hungary – Az en apam is the only option. The other 2, I must say, unfortunately, deserved their NQ.
Finland: I voted for 2010, 2012, 2017. 2010 was just pure fun and I would’ve loved to see this in the final because I think there were worse songs that qualified *cough* Russia and Belarus *cough*. 2012 was very calm and atmosprheric but at the end of the day I understand that it was probably too forgettable plus 2012 was a strong year and that didn’t help. 2017 NQ was quite shocking but the semi was full of Eurovision powerhouses like Sweden, Azerbaijan, Australia, Armenia so it wasn’t necessarily an open semi. But the weird thing is that juries didn’t… Read more »
När jag blundar is my favorite Eurovision song ever (besides Rise Like a Phoenix). It is criminally underrated. I do have to say that I prefer Pernilla’s national final performance.
Anri looks like the main vocalist of The Sunstroke Project
Iriao has to be one of the most underrated entries in history. Such a gem.
Finland: 2004, 2010, 2012, 2017 & 2019
Georgia: 2017
Greece: 2018
Hungary: 2019
I haven’t opinated on the previous posts of this series, but here the answers are so easy to me, I can’t resist:
Finland: “Blackbird”, definitely. I still can’t understand.
Georgia: “Keep the Faith”. Not so much for the song, but for Tamara’s performance.
Greece: I actually liked both, but “Oniro mou” was one of my favorites that year, even if I admit that something was off during the performance.
Hungary: “Az én apám”, but I can understand why it hasn’t made it, since people were comparing Joci with Joci and “Origo” was better.
Finland is so underrated, most of the songs that didn’t qualify are simply amazing
Yep, true.
Finland: Blackbird (2017)
Georgia: Keep The Faith/Keep On Going (2017/2019)
Greece: Oniro mou (2018) (I also like Utopian Land very much for some reason)
Hungary: Az én apám (2019)
Työlki ellää – It’s ethnic, fun, and in Finnish. It would’ve qualified by televote only.
Finland: Nar Jag Blundar – Blackbird would definitely be my second choice, but I just love 2012 so much!
Georgia: Keep the Faith: By default.
Greece: Demi should have been Greece’s second NQ not this. Tho, I completely understand why it failed. The staging was underwhelming, Yianna wasn’t vocally the strongest and it was in a blood h bath that was the first semi. Non of those helped it. Still, it was way more deserving of a final then Demi ever was!
Hungary: Az En Apam – Again, by default. I prefer Origo much more.
Finland: 2012. I’m probably the only one here that didn’t vote for 2017, but I was never a huge fan of Blackbird. On the contrary I adore När Jag Blundar and I wonder why so many people seem to not like it. I don’t understand swedish but it makes me feel something mystical. However I voted for 2019 as well due to the fact that I like this kind of music (but it doesn’t work at Eurovision unfortunately) Georgia: 2019. An unpopular choice too, but I voted for 2017 as well. These are the 2 songs that I would be… Read more »
I think it’s pretty much an even split between 2012 and 2017 in the comments section. There’s about five of us who went with När Jag Blundar. Actually, my dark secret as a Eurovision fan (downvotes incoming) is that “Blackbird” was my last place in 2017. 😉
I’m certainly not going to downvote your opinion, but I am puzzled on why is that. I mean, even if you find the song too slow and uneventful (which I would personally disagree on, but I can see legit grounds on why would someone think that), I am surprised there was nothing you found worse.
My candidates:
– Montenegro – Cheap and messy
– Spain – Repetitive and dull
– Lithuania – Just no
– San Marino – Most looping hook ever
It’s true that there’re people here in the comment section that support Finland 2012, but as I can see now in the actual results of the poll (so far), Finland 2017 has a big lead against Finland 2012, 22% ahead.
Finland – For me it’s between När jag blundar and Työlki ellää. Blackbird is an honorable mention. Unpopular opinion: Why? is a really underrated entry, I think it deserves more recognition
Georgia – Keep the faith, by miles(btw I’m probably the only person in here who likes I’m a joker)
Greece – Oneiro mou
Hungary – I can’t decide between Az én apám and Candlelight
not only you, I also like I’m a joker 😀 tho if Anri ever decides to come back, he should have even better song than this kinda mess I’m a joker was XD
Finland – Nar Jag Blunder is such a beautiful song, it’s a crime it didn’t qualify
Georgia – None of these songs are that great tbh, but Keep The Faith really delivered on the night
Greece – Oniro Mou no question, my favourite of 2018 by far and would’ve been a shoe in for a top ten finish if the staging and vocals were better
Hungary – Not really that fond of any of these songs either but Joci
This selection is mostly easy for me:
Finland – Blackbird, no question.
Georgia – Actually I like all of these, but Tamara deserved to qualify the most, based on performance.
Greece – Both! But I would choose Argo if I had to; “Utopian Land” is memorable and quite unique as a song.
Hungary – Joci, Joci, Joci! P.S. Hungary please come back.
Greece qualifying ahead of Finland in 2017 is among the worst developments in ESC history. It should’ve been Demi who was the second Greek act to miss the final, not Yianna. Semi final 1 in 2018 was also tragic because usually, when there are an odd number of countries competing, and thus unequal semis, the second semi has one more song, and in 2018 it was the other way around. I often think how if 2018 was like other years, and the second semi had an extra song instead, how lovely it would’ve been if Belgium or Greece was moved… Read more »
This! Gravity is a mediocre song and having it qualified ahead most of others is a puzzle. Even if you enjoy that kind of dance tracks, Greece had a better one.
This is Love is musically interesting and lyrically almost “so bad it’s good” in the likes of Cleopatra.
Hey, Gravity wasn’t that bad 😀 at least Hovig managed to sing live better than Demy XD
(tho I can agree with someone who calle This is love a “guilty pleasure” bc even if Demy sang badly the song is deffo catchy 😀 )
It’s not *that bad* at all. I called it ”mediocre”, which would literally translate as ”middle of the road”, even though I can see why it sounds kinda bad. The thing is that Semi 1 of ESC 2017 had A LOT of better songs. To break it down: Portugal (1), Moldova (2), Belgium (4), Azerbaijan (8) and Poland (9) totally deserved to qualify IMHO. No questions asked. Then, we have Sweden (3), which actually grows on me with each listening and it’s staged to perfection. In a semi as strong as semi 1 of 2018 it would be under question,… Read more »
Ha ha… Okay, I’m not disliking the song either, but it feels very underwhelming. It starts interesting and then there is another first verse… then another… then it ends. I feel cheated. 🙂 But sure, Artsvik herself was amazing. Then again, I am a fan of Claudia Faniello’s Breathlessly (another unpopular opinion) and her strong performance didn’t save it from being last in the televote. For me, Dihaj’s Skeletons is one of the rare examples of Azerbaijan not playing it ”safe”, so I really dig the song. 🙂 For the record, I think that ESC 2017 had only 4 bad… Read more »
I agree, the styling made her look older. Surprisingly, that was a common thing in 2000s, sometimes even in 2010s. I just recently watched the 2000 contest and many contestants looked much older than they actually were. Both the guy from Romania and the woman from Malta were 32, but looked well in their 40s. The most extreme example was the UK’s singer, who was 36, but looked somewhere in her mid 50s. Not trying to shame anyone, but those stylings were so aging. Claudia really isn’t far off. The song was quite elegant and vintage though, so maybe that… Read more »
I just recently saw and rated that era. I can say that 2000-2004 was a really bad time for ESC (paused in 2005, but extended to 2006). The worst one is probably 2002. That is the first time ever that I rated more than half of the songs as under average. There are five songs* I could even call kinda good and only one which would even remotely enter my playlist these days. Okay, I’m extending it to six (kind of), because of Russia. A classic example of catchy music + cheesy lyrics = a guilty pleasure, but part of… Read more »
2008 is for me pretty good for 2000s standards because I really love about 15 songs (even though some didn’t even qualify, so I am a bit unsatisfied about that). However, the bottom was really, really low. I’ll admit that. For example, Estonia and Belgium were just abysmal. North Macedonia’s song is actually one of the better ones in 2002, yeah. Still, I had to listen to it several times to get a melody. It has a really odd structure, without much immediacy. But it does cover it with soothing atmosphere. I wasn’t entirely sold on the results there. North… Read more »
I also found Armenia to be underwhelming. Artsvik has a beautiful voice but it was suited to a diva power ballad, not a mid tempo ethnic number, and she frankly didn’t have the charisma to elevate the song. I actually prefer the instrumental version to it. Moreover, I found the staging to be really lacklustre. However I do appreciate what they were trying to do. Cyprus was just a mix of cringe and basic and Greece was straight up bad. I would’ve swapped out those countries for Finland, Albania and Latvia. Latvia coming in last place in SF1 (and 41st… Read more »
i’ve been noticing heavy bias for more recent non-qualifiers in these polls, either a lot of ppl never listened to songs from over than half a decade ago or eurovision entries age like avocado milk bc otherwise i can’t explain myself how sennek could win over kate ryan or franka over feminnem
The thing is, with the introduction of the juries, songs from the 2010s tend to be more respectable than songs from the 2000s, and respectability is a factor in determining qualification for many. We may like trashy bops being in the contest, but very few people complain when the ballad qualifies over it.
It’s not the best method to approach the contest, given the diversity of music on offer, but that’s the way it tends to go.
In my opinion, the 2010s generally had higher quality songs at Eurovision than the 2000s. Of course there are always exceptions, but it seems that the 2014-2018 period was exceptional for strong Eurovision songs that did not qualify.
Oh Polegend, nobody loves Feminnem quite as much as you and I do. 😉
Or me, I met them in Oslo and told them I was sad they had not qualified. They were absolutely charming
That’s exactly what I wrote under that post. I’m with you on that. 2010s certainly were stronger than 2000s which produced top contests in the end only with introduction of two semi-finals. I don’t know if 2010s had such strong contests as 2008 and 2009 but overall quaility was way higher.
Finland 2005,2010,2017. 2017 deserved TOP 10 in final
Georgia 2017,2019
Greece 2018
Hungary 2008,2019
Finland: 2017
Georgia: 2017
Greece: 2018
Hungary: 2019
mostly all of these songs deserved a NQ, with exceptions being the amazing entry of Finland 2017, one of my fav ESC songs of all time and Georgia 2017. if it’s not obvious yet, the results of semi 1 at 2017 left me hugely dissapointed…
The highly underrated and unappreciated “Sheni Gulistvis” was robbed.
I agree. It wasn’t catchy, but it was relaxing and I connected to it more than many songs which qualified from the weaker heat 2 that year, and even many which narrowly missed out. I connected only with Norway, Moldova, Sweden and perhaps Slovenia and Ukraine, more than this, in contrast to the high quality heat 1.
Finland 2012 is the class act in the selection of these countries, for me.
I voted for 2017 (my runner-up of that year), but 2012 would be my second choice. It definitely should have qualified. It’s like a lovely lullaby.
Still sad Az En Apam didn’t qualify. Origo remains one of my fave ESC entries ever, and my fave ever Own Language Entry.
Finally someone who loves these two songs as much as I do! <3
Origo is even my winner of 2017 (brilliant mix of folk and rap, sung in their own language etc. – this as a winner would have fitted very nicely with slogan of that edition IMO) and Az en apam is in my top10 of 2019 <3
“Origo” was in my Top 3 with Moldova and Portugal that year but “Az en apam” was… boring in comparision.
I have same top 3 from 2017. Hungary, Portugal and Moldova were all truly fantastic.
Whilst I don’t think As En Apam was anywhere near as good, and could have had a better ending, he was still a brilliant vocalist, and I think it was better than Estonia (though that was a grower), Serbia and Slovenia.
Finland – Työlki ellää
Georgia – Keep The Faith
Greece – Oniro mou
Hungary – Az én apám
Finland – Blackbird is the masterpiece, so it not qualifying is one of the biggest robberies of a decade.
Georgia – Keep the Faith is the best one I guess.
Greece – Onirou mou by a lot, even though the other one isn’t terrible.
Hungary – Az en apam and Candelight both should have made it. I know that the latter is a popular choice for putting in bottom 5 in 2008, but this is my opinion.
Almost the same here. The only difference was that I chose “Utopian Land” for Greece because of how unusual and memorable that song is to me.
Utopian land indeed is very unusual and memorable. It’s one of those songs (much like Georgia in 2019) which is somewhat removed from what I usually listen to, but I have to appreciate the originality in it. It’s somewhere between ”this is so messy” and ”hey, this is so cool”. A true mixed review for me, but I am drawn to it’s more unusual aspects. That kind of song can change my perspective at any time.
As I can see, with this bunch of countries we only agree with Greece 2018, and Georgia 2017 I guess. So, let’s wait for the next countries
Finland: Both 2010 and 2017 absolutely deserved it. I voted for 2010 entrants because they almost qualified even with juries punishing them for singing in Finnish.
Georgia: Not the most inspired bunch of songs but Tamara (2017) gets my vote on the basis of stellar vocal performance.
Greece: 2016 is terrible so 2018 wins by default with a great song and singer but underwhelming staging.
Hungary: 2009 is a kind of guilty pleasure for me.
Hungary had a good song in 2009, but WTH was that live performance?! :/ It really destroyed any chances of qualifying they ever had 🙁
Yeah, he was out of breath all the time but studio version was fine. I liked “Candlelight” as well.