The Eurovision 2022 season saw a boom in national finals, with 27 countries using a show to select their entry for the contest. Although we now have 27 winners who will move onto Eurovision, many of the other entries that didn’t make it will remain on our playlists for some time. To celebrate these acts, it’s time for our countdown of Team Wiwi’s top national final songs of Eurovision 2022, now entering the top 30.
As usual, the team from wiwibloggs have voted for their favourite songs that competed in the national finals for Eurovision 2022 but were not selected. Note these are our favourite songs, not songs we think should have gone to Eurovision.
After reviewing the 100s of songs that were entered into this year’s national finals, we finally settled on our top 50. And now we’re ready to share it with y’all. We’ll reveal ten tracks each day until we reach the winner.
Let the countdown continue!
Team Wiwi’s top national final songs of Eurovision 2022: 30 to 21
30. Theoz – “Som du vill” (Melodifestivalen)
Theoz was one of the youngest contestants in Melodifesitvalen 2022. But he put that youth to good work by delivering an energetic and fun performance of “Som du vill” (“As you please”). Making a journey via the second chance semi-finals, Theoz eventually reached the grand final on his very first outing at Melfest. (Jonathan)
29. Olivera – “Thank God I’m An Atheist” (Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu)
What we said: Olivera is a pop music philosopher. Her enchanting song tackles big ideas — like what happens after we die and whether we can create our own sense of heaven while we’re still living. Her voice cuts in multiple directions — it haunts, but it can also lift you up depending on how you interpret her message. This is pure class from start to finish and well deserving of your consideration for Eurovision. (William)
28. Inbal Bibi – “Marionette” (X Factor Israel)
Israel mixed their selection process up in 2022 and introduced The X Factor. After reaching the final four, Inbal Bibi was paired with the song “Marionette”. It seemed like a perfect match, and Inbal was a fan favourite to come out on top. Whilst that didn’t happen in the end, we’ll always have her puppeteer-style performance to watch back. (Jonathan)
27. Nicole Azzopardi – “Into The Fire” (Malta Eurovision Song Contest)
What we said: There are so many bland pop songs in this selection that I find myself craving for something a little bit different. Same beats, same vocals, same rhymes (illusion/confusion, safe/game, above/love yep). What sets this one apart is that is packs a punch. The dance beats are a little fiercer, the bass line is a bit thicker, the vocals are stronger, and the lyrics are dark enough to stand out. We’ve seen this type of song a million times on the Eurovision stage, so it’s hard to think this could be a contender for victory, but we also know that with enough of a performance, it could be a dark horse. (Natalie)
26. Ditonellapiaga & Rettore – “Chimica” (Sanremo)
A duet between Ditonellapiaga and Rettore might not have been what Sanremo fans were expecting. But the result was certainly a good one. The Italian singers had an abundance of “Chimica” (“Chemistry”) on stage and brought one of the most infectious songs of the festival. (Jonathan)
25. Javiera Mena – “Culpa” (Benidorm Fest)
What we said: It’s not every Eurovision season you see a song that ended up in your Spotify top 100 get signed up to compete for a chance to go to the contest. Javiera is a formidable electropop commander and “Culpa” is a testament to the fact. Its wide range of musical elements never fail to impress me: the danceable, diverse base beats, the great use of vocal effects, the dramatic organ climax, all to end in a vocal layering of good/evil à la Phantom of the Opera. Javiera is a complete original, and this song would be one of the most dignified options for Spain to send. (Pablo)
24. Sara Jo – “Muškarčina” (Pesma za Evroviziju)
In 2013, Sara Jo failed to qualify to the grand final of Eurovision as part of the girl group Moje 3. In the years since then, she has grown to become one of Serbia’s biggest pop stars. Thus, there was a lot of anticipation when Sara was announced as a contestant in Pesma za Evroviziju 22. With her performance of “Muškarčina” (“Macho man”), Sara served sex appeal and hit dynamic positions that would even make yoga teachers jealous. Although her Eurovision return will have to wait, Sara proved she hasn’t let her previous result drag her career down. (Jonathan)
23. Voyager – “Dreamer” (Eurovision – Australia Decides)
What we said: West Australian progressive-rock quintet Voyager deliver the neon-heavy entry “Dreamer”. The synth-heavy song is a commentary of living, breathing and being in the now. With lyrics commenting on lost love, mixed emotions and loss, lead singer Danny’s powerful vocals emphatically bring the listener the feels. (Sebastian)
22. Omar Rudberg – “Moving Like That” (Melodifestivalen)
Following his worldwide success as part of the Netflix series Young Royals, there was a lot of hype behind Omar Rudberg going into Melodifestivalen 2022. From the very first camera shot, Omar sizzled during his performance of “Moving Like That”. Unfortunately, Sweden weren’t feeling it as much as everyone else and Omar crashed out of heat one. We’ll never know if the technical issues surrounding the app voting in heat one impacted Omar’s chances. But regardless, it’s a performance he can be proud of (and we can look forward to seeing Omar in Young Royals season two). (Jonathan)
21. Elis Mraz – “Imma Be” (ESCZ / Una Voce per San Marino)
What we said: This is fun and it’s entertaining. Elis is a great performer – she can sing, rap and perhaps even more importantly she can deliver a compelling, engaging performance that draws the listener into her sassy world. I’m especially impressed that the rapping is seamlessly incorporated into the rest of the song. There’s no “rap break”, more that the mood of the song requires her to channel her inner Nicki and drop some bars in certain places. Best of all, the song feels like it could be a current pop hit. This would be really fun to experience live in Turin. (Robyn)
Previous top national final songs: “Wanna Be Like” (#35 in 2020)
Our top national final songs of Eurovision 2022 ranking is determined by independent votes from a panel of wiwibloggers. They are Jonathan, Cinan, Youyou, Diego, William, Pablo, Oliver, Edd, Antony, Deban, Sebastian, Luis, Antranig, Padraig, Tom, Renske, Lauren, Robyn and Ron.
Which songs do you think should feature on the list? Are you surprised by our Eurovision 2022 national final top 30 choices? Let us know in the comments.
I don’t really think “Culpa” should be up there, though I expect more BeFest acts climbing the top. My #30 to #21: 21. Tribe Friday – Shut Me Up (7) – Melodifestivalen 22. Labiuse & Fabry feat. Miodio – Blu (7) – Una voce per San Marino 23. Younghearted – Sun numero (7) – UMK 24. Pauline Chagne – Nuit Pauline (7) – Eurovision France 25. Dargen D’Amico – Dove si balla (7) – San Remo 26. Jaguar Jonze – Little Fires (7) – Australia Decides 27. Alabama Watchdog – Move On (7) – Eesti Laul 28. Alban Ramosaj – Theje (7) – FiK 29. Aka 7even – Perfetta… Read more »
Culpa was one of my favorites from the NF season. So glad it made your top 25.
I know this is a personnal top but putting ‘Chimica’and ‘Culpa’ in here instead of ‘All In’ ? Choices.
Voyager was robbed.
They are the people’s choice.
I know I’ve already said that commenting too much about the actual order is almost pointless as mine would obviously be entirely different, but really, only 20 songs in the whole NF season above Elis Mraz who didn’t even make the final of that casting show in San Marino? Only 26 songs in the entire year above some random Nicole Azzopardi track from the very weak Maltese selection? Not to forget about the perpetual Melfest bias, with both Theoz and Omar making the top 30, this is all quite a heavy dose of that typical wiwi realness after years of… Read more »
By the way, I miss Sabrina and Tibor. She hasn’t commented for a couple of days, and him for about a week. I am starting to get worried. Of course, I miss reading their top lists, but most of all, I hope that they are fine.
It’s kind of you to noticing my absence, Colin. 🙂 I’m currently working and studying, so life has been crazy. Anyway, I’m planning to comment with my top national finals’ entries on the last post of this series and hopefully I’ll manage to be around during WiwiJury. On the other hand, I’m afraid we may have reasons to be worried about Tibor, since his comments disappeared from another post and he hasn’t showed up again after that. I hope I haven’t ennerved him too much in our eternal discussion about the effects of staging on results!
I’m really glad you are fine, Sabrina. 🙂 I understand, life can present a lot of obligations at the same time. Take your time. I look forward to reading your post about your favorite NF entries. Usually there’s a lot of interesting songs there. Also, your WiwiJury reviews are always a joy to read. Tibor seems like someone who is sure of his own taste, and likes challenges in discussions about different entries. I’m sure that polite discussions here didn’t unnerv him. 🙂 I just hope that he is well. I’d like him back on board, if he wants to… Read more »
Tomorrow my homework will be to reduce the pre-list I made with 52 songs (I guess it’s a sign that I had a good time during this national finals’ season) to 25. Our lists tend to be very different this time, you already mentioned most of my favorites (C’mon, not even a top 50 to “Ciao Ciao”? We’re done! :P). What’s weird about what happened to Tibor is that it was very similar to what happened to Vanilla Bean. Though we know Vanilla Bean looooved to pick a fight, while Tibor normally just minds his business. Anway, let’s hope he… Read more »
Aww… I do like Ciao Ciao (it was in my top 65 I was planning on sending first, and now is in my honorable mentions). Who knows, maybe it climbs up in future revisions?
I don’t know what’s with Tibor now, considering all of his recent posts seem to have been deleted. Hopefully it’s a temporary setback. He’s always respectful and eloquent. You are right, Vanilla Bean hasn’t commented for a long time either. Maybe he comes back in the April reviews?
I don’t know for sure, because I wasn’t around when it supposedly happened, but I remember someone saying here that Vanilla Bean went too far in one of his comments and maybe got banned for that. But I honestly don’t know what happened.
Will look forward to your list when it comes out, Sabrina! Seems many of us are a bit busier this year and other things always come first, but hope they’re going well for you!
Since Colin and I seem to be a rare year of musical taste similarity in our lists, I can only assume mine is as close to as different from yours as his is!
I don’t know if you had a similar experience, but the pandemic has frozen my life for a while and now it’s the opposite, it’s like everything is moving too fast. I love reading you guys’ lists too, because it’s interesting to see how tastes can vary, even more when we have a pool of hundreds of entries to pick. The more songs and artists that got mentions, the better. It’s nice to have niche entries finding some love from the fandom, even when they hadn’t no chance to go to Eurovision.
My top 30: 30. Pauline Chagne: Nuit Pauline (France) – A compelling 80s throwback using a harp is exactly what we needed to hear this season. While I think that France still made the right call, this would’ve been in a similar realm of quality. 29. Massimo Ranieri: Lettera di là dal mare (Italy) – What a beautiful classical entry! The lyrics are heartbreaking, and the melody is lovely too. 28. Sara Jo: Muškarcina (Serbia) – Sometimes I change my mind about a song, and this is a poster child for that. Now I think that this hypnotic industrial bop would’ve been a… Read more »
This is a great part of your list for me…with an amazing six of these songs getting into my top 50! I love to see it. I also enjoyed Queen Bees and O Forse Sei Tu a lot. Don’t know how they would’ve ranked for me but definitely on the side of “good” songs. Fome De Viagem is ok and quite fun. It got lost in the Portuguese selection a bit due to the strength there but it is nice. “Take Me” isn’t my sort of thing but it wasn’t badly performed and I do know you appreciate songs like… Read more »
sara should have been top 10 period
My faves from this set: Marionette – Inbal Bibi: YES!!! While I believe Michael was the best performer and I love him, Inbal was such a good singer for X Factor! With ZAZA, I think she could have won the ticket to Eurovision! Into The Fire – Nicole Azzopardi: WINNER! While I know this would have trouble beating Ritmu – Aidan Cessar, I still think this would have been the best choice for Malta, we need more party songs this year! Moving Like That – Omar Rudberg – SERIOUSLY Sweden? How in the world did this not qualify to the… Read more »
“Som du vill, Baby, du är festen”. Det var jättebra 😉 Merci Theoz !
Into the Fire is a bop, Nicole has a great voice too
I hope she gets to come to Eurovision eventually, she hopes to bring Europop back!
Made an email typo below. ;;
Here was my top 30-21:
#30 – Yuman – Ora E Qui (Italy)
#29 – Rayden – Calle De La Llorería (Spain)
#28 – Inbal Bibi – Marionette SNAP (Israel)
#27 – Aris – Do Svidaniya (Romania)
#26 – Diana Castro – Ginger Ale (Portugal)
#25 – Pongo And Tristany – Dégrá.Dê (Portugal)
#24 – Wellboy – Nozzy Bossy (Ukraine)
#23 – Boris Suboti? – Vrati Mi (Serbia)
#22 – Daria Marx – Paranoia (Poland)
#21 – Tananai – Sesso Occasionale (Italy)
I’d provide the boots. :3
Also, trade Bulgarian band for Boris Subotic, and the Israeli entry for Rayden. 🙂
(Of course, I respect all the entrants, and wish them all the best, but this is a wishful thinking song-wise.)
Only one of these made it into my top 50, and only one more (Rayden) made it into my top 88. But it’s all fine, we are celebrating diversity!!!
Inbal Bibi – “Marionette” is my favorite from all the national finals this year. This song is still playing in my head and i will continue to listen to it. I also really loved Omar Rudberg – “Moving Like That”, Javiera Mena – “Culpa”, Voyager – “Dreamer”. Sara Jo – “Muškar?ina” performance was so professional.
#22, #24 and #28 made my list but some of the others just don’t have any business being there tbh. Again, I’m really worried about how you guys ranked SanRemo. Chimica, really?
I like Imma Be much better than We are Domi. It’s a pity we are not going to have her in Torino.
Imma Be was a mess live, I’m glad she didn’t win…
bibi should have won
Olivera is my favorite national final act (Besides the wolves). Thank God I’m An Atheist instantly became one of my favorite songs I’ve ever heard : )
I hope she represents Finland one day.
Favorite song of all times; that is a bit much. But it is a good and honest song. Much better than this Bonjoviish would be hard rock song which is now representing Finland.
Sara jo only 24? Should have been top 5 here.
she’s actually 28 but i agree she looks youthful !
21. LUMA – All In (Slovenia) – oh my, what a performance! This would have been something else in Eurovision. Such chemistry, such an atmosphere, such artistry. 22. Valeria Barbas – My Tree (Moldova) – deliciously leftfield, takes me to another planet 23. Andra Oproiu – Younique (Romania) – a simply happy track with a really nice message, my heart feels so much warmer after it has been on 24. Dianna Rotaru – My Time is Now (Moldova) – a lovely, comforting song with the most inspired pipes I’ve heard for a while 25. Der Var Engang – En Skønne… Read more »
Except you. Thanks for the reply!
I mean, I got Luma in my list…so there’s that!
I kinda like Ritmu but not that much and My Tree is a bit interesting.Diana Rotaru is great even if the song is not good.
After that, the rest would be closer to my bottom 50 national final songs than the top, sorry! If Sasha Bognibov didn’t exist, Younique would be my last place this season. XD
That’s fair enough, tastes will always differ. I suspected that we would have divergence as we got towards the top of the list!
And Younique is such a heart-warming track – are you sure you can’t be persuaded of its charms?
Your ranking would still probably work well as a playlist. XD
I’ll let Colin take over when it comes to Younique though. :3
This time our tastes really differ a lot. Apart from Luma, Mari Bolla, and Aidan (and Sanmarinese / Danish songs, as I haven’t heard them properly), these songs are quite down on my NF lists, some even near the very end. But one thing they are not is overrated, so I find it cool to see an original list giving spotlight to entries that are rarely seen on top lists. As Briekimchi says, as long as Bogibnov isn’t there, it’s fine. 😉
I don’t see any chemistry in Luma. Just a guy with poker face standing and a girl moving by his sides… B O R I N G.
It’s a definite mood, and if you don’t feel the mood then it’s perfectly reasonable you would find it boring as not a lot happens. I enjoy it because it is different and for me an interesting theme. I read into it that the singer is controlling the synth player, you could read it as in terms of a love interest, or a side of a personality or even a love of music itself. Everything is meticulously orchestrated, which I feel fits the theme of the song.