For much of the 2010s, the third-place spot was simply a signal of what was to come. Twice, Sweden took home bronze only to come back a year later and grab gold. Ukraine also secured victory just three years after its third-place finish. And while they didn’t win between 2010 and 2019, Russia and Italy also firmly established their dominance, almost always finishing top ten.
On the other hand, Austria’s third-place marked the last of five consecutive qualifications – a streak which started with Conchita’s 2014 victory. For others, it was a high point. Serbia got its second-best result as an independent nation, Romania matched its 2005 finish and Moldova recorded its biggest success.
But who was your favourite third-place act? Some months ago, we asked y’all to decide. And the results are in!
After counting 6,512 votes, we can confirm that Italy’s 2015 bronze medalists Il Volo are your favourite third-place Eurovision act of the 2010s with “Grande Amore”.
Italy’s Il Volo are your favourite third-place Eurovision act of the 2010s with “Grande Amore”
They’re Piero Barone, Ignazio Boschetto and Gianluca Ginoble. And together, they make up the operatic pop trio Il Volo. And in 2015, they came very close to winning Eurovision. In fact, they topped the televote with a massive 366 points — a record that’s only been beaten by Norway in 2009 and Portugal in 2017. However, the professional juries weren’t so keen and the Italians ended the night in third place. Six years later, they remain one of the biggest acts to emerge from the song contest and “Grande Amore” is one of the most-watched Eurovision songs on YouTube of all time with over 200 million views.
Here they picked up 1,183 votes or 18.17% of all votes cast.
We have another televote winner coming in at number two. This time it’s Russia’s Sergey Lazarev with “You Are The Only One” in 2016. Like with the Italians, he was a massive favourite with the viewers at home, scoring 361 points. But despite this and being top of the odds, he only came fifth with the experts. Sergey would return three years later and finish third again. However, the love for his 2019 effort “Scream” hasn’t endured — it finished last in this poll.
“You Are The Only One” attracted 973 votes or 14.94% of all votes cast.
She finished third in 2014 and now she’s third once more. Sweden’s Sanna Nielsen was massively popular with fans of the contest, partly due to her fairytale story of getting to Eurovision on her seventh attempt. However, “Undo” proved to be a hit in its own right. It came fourth with the public and second with the juries.
This time around, Sanna took home 896 votes or 13.76% of all votes cast.
Poll results: Who is your favourite third-place Eurovision act of the 2010s?
- 2015: Il Volo — “Grande Amore” (Italy) 18.17% (1,183 votes)
- 2016: Sergey Lazarev — “You Are The Only One” (Russia) 14.94% (973 votes)
- 2014: Sanna Nielsen — “Undo” (Sweden) 13.76% (896 votes)
- 2010: Paula Seling and Ovi — “Playing with Fire” (Romania) 9.2% (599 votes)
- 2017: Sunstroke Project — “Hey, Mamma!” (Moldova) 8.52% (555 votes)
- 2013: Zlata Ognevich — “Gravity” (Ukraine) 8.32% (542 votes)
- 2011: Eric Saade — “Popular” (Sweden) 8.02% (522 votes)
- 2012: Željko Joksimović — “Nije ljubav stvar” (Serbia) 7.69% (501 votes)
- 2018: Cesár Sampson — “Nobody but You” (Austria) 6.1% (397 votes)
- 2019: Sergey Lazarev — “Scream” (Russia) 5.28% (344 votes)
Total Votes: 6,512
Do you agree with the results? Are Il Volo your ultimate third-place finishers of the 2010s? Who did you vote for? Let us know below.
The competition is actually not that strong. 2nd and 4th place are much better
Austria 2018 is really underrated in this poll!
1. IL VOLO – Grande Amore
2. Zeljko Joksimovic – Nije Ljubav Stvar
3. Sunstroke Project – Hey Mamma
As you can see by my personal ranking, I’m pretty satisfied with the winner..!
Edit: Wow, I think I have never seen a comment section so downvoted ever before… Lotta negative energy i guess
Undo finished 3rd… again, haha. In all honesty, I consider Undo one of the most overrated Eurovision entries EVER! Just an ordinary ballad with gramatically questionable lyrics. Really boring, I could never understand the fuss about it.
Oh its you. Commenting every year how you find every Swedish song overrated and generic while pretending Spanish, Italian or whatever country have less generic entries. We get it, you dislike Sweden. Change the tune!
i wish sergey won this poll so he could be both first and last place
4th placed songs are usually better than the bronze medalists
Rip Belgium 2015… you should have won
Rip Belgium 2017 also….
to be honest, except for ‘playing with fire’ and zeljko joksimovic, i don’t think any of them deserved to finish that high.
those are the 2 that didnt deserve it
Scream was my 2nd place (one of the few Dream Team songs I liked), but I think if Sergey had sent the Russian version Krik, it would have been more powerful. I love Undo and Nije ljubav stvar, but Grande amore just never seemed to connect with me
Undo is so much better than Grande Amore it’s ridiculous
I consider Undo one of the most overrated Eurovision entries EVER! Just an ordinary ballad with gramatically questionable lyrics, lol. Really boring, I could never understand the fuss about it.
let people enjoy camp once a year good god
2015 was such a great year I feel every song in the top 10 could have been the winner. I expect 2015 songs to top this list. Even the last places are miles above others
Il Volo were famous before the contest…