Once you’ve caught the Eurovision bug, it’s hard to escape it. That’s certainly the case for four acts in 2022, who are returning to the Eurovision stage for another go.
These four acts hail from Bulgaria, Moldova, Italy and Ukraine. So we want to know, which song is your favourite from these returning artists?
Below, you’ll find a series of polls. Firstly, there are four poll battles for each artist, where you can vote for your favourite of their Eurovision entries. In these polls you can only vote for ONE song.
Then finally, there’s a 2022 specific poll, where each act goes against one another for your vote over this year’s entries. In this poll, you can vote for as many acts as you like.
Get clicking and get voting!
Scroll down to vote in our polls
Poll battles: Eurovision 2022 returning artists
Bulgaria – Stoyan Yankoulov
Bulgaria have selected the supergroup Intelligent Music Project for Eurovision 2022 with “Intention”. Among their line-up is drummer Stoyan Yankoulov, who has graced the Eurovision stage on two previous occasions.
In 2007 and 2013, Stoyan put his drumming skills on full show as part of the duo Elitsa & Stoyan. Performing alongside vocalist Elitsa Todorova, the pair delivered the folk songs “Water” and “Samo Shampioni”.
With “Water” in 2007, Elitsa & Stoyan gave Bulgaria their first ever qualification and top five finish at the contest. Things didn’t go as well with “Samo Shampioni” in 2013, as the pair failed to qualify for the grand final.
Moldova – Zdob și Zdub
Moldova’s Zdob și Zdub also make their third appearance at Eurovision this year. They’ll be singing “Trenuleţul” in collaboration with Fraţii Advahov.
The group first graced the stage in 2005 as Moldova’s very first act at the contest. It was a successful debut and Zdob și Zdub finished sixth with their song “Boonika bate doba”.
Six years later, the folk punk band returned for another taste. At Eurovision 2011 they performed “So Lucky”. Wearing giant gnome hats, Zdob și Zdub again reached the left-hand side of the scoreboard, finishing in 12th place.
Italy – Mahmood
It’s only been three years since Mahmood first stepped onto the Eurovision stage, but the Italian star is already back for round two.
In 2019, Mahmood took home the silver medal thanks to his contemporary R&B hit “Soldi”.
This time around, he’ll be hoping to go one further and clinch that gold. He won’t be alone in 2022 either, as he’s joined by duet partner BLANCO for “Brividi”.
Ukraine – Ihor Didenchuk (Kalush Orchestra)
The dust has barely settled on Ihor Didenchuk’s appearance at Eurovision 2021 but he’s already returning to represent Ukraine in 2022.
Ihor is the flautist in electro-folk band Go_A, who took Ukraine to the top five in 2021 with the spellbinding entry “Shum”.
But Ihor is a man of many talents … and groups. The instrumentalist is also a member of Kalush Orchestra, who are Ukraine’s chosen act for Eurovision 2022 with the song “Stefania”.
Poll: Who is your favourite returning act at Eurovision 2022?
In this poll you can vote for as many of the four acts as you wish. But you can still only vote once!
Which of each acts’ songs did you vote for? And who is your number one returning act for Eurovision 2022? Share all your thoughts in the comments below.
I’m thinking that Nika Kocharov also deserves a separate poll on whether we prefer “Lock Me In” or “Midnight Gold”…
Not even a question for me, Zdob si Zdub supremacy! The ultimate kings of Moldova! They are also my overall winners. Their music is simply another level! “Trenuletul” was my jam since it came out back in November and I legit didn’t expect them to take part in the selection, imagine how excited I was when they did??! OMG they definitely must finally get their justice for being robbed of the top 3 back in 2005! And it’s even better than Boonika Bate Toba! And on the top of everything, has the most actual message ever in the current geopolitical… Read more »
Forgot to mention that with all this horrible war situation, the song has got a whole new layer of meaning, since the recently reopened Chisinau-Bucharest train route the song is dedicated to, has taken over a huge part of the refugees’ flow to help them get to European Union. Two months ago one could say it’s weird to dedicate a whole song to a railway line, after all, it’s just a train? Now I bet we wouldn’t like to imagine how harder the humanitarian situation could’ve been hadn’t the reopening happened in December, and there been no trains going from… Read more »
A few months ago, I was asking for a Zdub si Zdub return. Now I think, Moldova made a mistake. The song is too traditionally folkloristic to appeal to many people outside the Balkans. I expect Zdob si Zdub’s first NQ.
Folklore is never a mistake. It’s literally the only music genre in that isn’t ever able to get out of style or expire, because it was already tested by centuries. It’s timeless. Even more classical than classical music itself. Folklore is a pride and a soul of every nation or ethnic group in the world. Folklore can never be wrong. Now I’m not saying you are when you say of Eurovision appeal, although I wish you were cause, as any fan, I want to believe good things about Eurovision and its audience, but if you are right, it, unfortunately, says… Read more »
Mahmood is one of my favorite artists doing music these days, period. But I voted also for Ihor, because his magical flute is a force to be reckoned. That said, though I love “Brividi” and “Stefania”, “Soldi” and “Shum” are between my favorite Eurovision’s songs ever, so I can see why the new ones are losing the polls. And this is a good example on how 2022’s lineup isn’t bad at all (in fact, I say it’s a very good one), it’s just that mine and most fans personal favorites this time seem to be a few steps behind the… Read more »
None of them is this year with a better option than their previous attempt
The drummer from Reddi is also returning.
Really ? Which was her first participation ? Denmark is my 10th i love it.
I think she was part of Denmark 2012 but maybe i am wrong
You’re correct.
I voted for Bulgaria as a late April fools joke.
I gave you a like. Wiwibloggs readers can’t take jokes.
I hope Ihor is actually there, not like at Vidbir.
Out of all of them, Italy is my favourite but I kinda fell out of love with it. I really enjoyed it during the first couple weeks but it doesn’t do much for me anymore for some reason? But I definitely understand why it’s so loved.
Honestly – same. I still enjoy the song, especialy how their voices harmonize, but I enjoy it a lot less now.
I’d say Mahmood is the best out of those four by far, but I can’t seem to appreciate Brividi as much as I’d like to. I would have liked it if it was just Mahmood singing it without Blanco, even if he was having trouble reaching the high notes in Sanremo. Blanco’s parts are ok, but his behavior throws me off too much. The lyrics are beautiful, though, both of them did a great job.
Also, Brividi seems like a song that should be sung raw; I thought the autotune in the studio version conflicted with that.
THANK YOU! Finally someone that agrees with me that autotune just ruins it
They didn’t use autotune lol
I’m out of the bubble lately, what have Blanco done?
Mahmood’s Soldi is for me like Shum one of the best entries ever. 2022 is quite mediocre. Among returning artists, Mahmood with Blanco best. But I don’t get brividi with Brividi. In my Top 5 though.
How is Mahmood vs. others poll not at 97%?
Stoyan Yankoulov, without a doubt!
Clearly Mahmood with Soldi. Together with Euphoria, the top entry in recent Eurovision history.
Arcade > Soldi
They are both good songs, but they are also very different.
It’s subjective
Brividi obviously my fave from these.. But winning Eurovision is to me between Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, the UK and for sentimental value Ukraine..
I wonder who will win xd
I would prefer Mahmood and he DOES have an amazing singing voice, showing his capabilities as a singer as well as a rapper, BUT I really just want him to return with a similar song to Soldi. Soldi had its own unique magic and rap is rarely done as well at Eurovision. Am I so bad for wanting this?
My point exactly. Mahmood on his own is really good. Is this song that good? No, sorry
Listen to his discography, he doesn’t repeat himself
Mahmood is not a rapper. His main stylistic genre is r&b.
Two of the biggest winning candidates are here.
If Italy wins , i am not sure if they are going to be the host country for 2023 because it must be hard to organise Eurovision two times in a row.
If Ukraine wins , it’s so hard to host Eurovision there because you know.
On the other hand , If Sweden wins we will watch a great organised show from a Eurovisionation country and it’s going to be night with full of Eurovision spirit.
They organise Sanremo every single year (even during a pandemic) with 5 live shows. It’s not THAT hard, if they want. And I don’t think it’s fair to choose a winner based on “Who can host better next year?”
Sanremo is hardly Eurovision.
RAI is a strong broadcaster, they can do it again. I don’t think they want it tho.
I don’t think Italy will win a second year but even if they do, there are many other cities it can go to.
If Ukraine wins, perhaps they can ask the second place runner up if they would like to host?
So, according to you, it is hard for Italy organising Eurovision (but actually Italy organises Sanremo every year, which has more or less the same costs of Eurovision). Instead for you, unlike Italy, Sweden is great at organising it. No, the reality is Italy doesn’t want to organise it, for different reasons. Italy doesn’t need to boost its tourism with the contest, unlike other countries. Being one of the big five and top contributors in Eurovision, Italy doesn’t earn money. Unlike small countries which don’t pay a lot, but earn a lot, being part of the management of EBU and… Read more »
And if Moldova wins, I hope they’ll host and pray Potin won’t come to bomb Eurovision in 2023….
Stoyan Yankoulov
I can’t understand the hype over “brividi “
Ar the very least it’s better than the other returning acts
Both Mahmood’s and Ihor’s polls were sooo hard! I love all of their songs! Mahmood is also my favorite returning artist this year. And does anyone feel like Blanco looks a very teeny bit like Omar Rudberg? (I know it’s very random, ha ha)
An unrelated question, but has Wiwibloggs removed the possibility of editing your comments within 15 minutes of posting, or I just have a glitch for the last 24 hours? I really like the feature of editing, especially because of accidental grammar mistakes due to fast writing. Thanks in advance.
Same, I found the same.
It’s probably because of that person who was using homophobic slurs all the time. That was how he got around the moderation system.
The editing option was also the only way I could dribble the filter in its hungriest days (though I guess some adjustments were made, I get filtered way less frequently now). I understand that a troll can use it on their favor, but it would be a pity if the rest of us paid for it.
I think there was someone throwing slurs around the site. It’s such a shame, bc I liked that feature too (not only because of grammar mistakes, but also the edit button gave me the chance to correct my wording if I noticed I hadn’t made my ideas as clear as I had initially thought)
Oh, that’s very unfourtunate. It probably can change a lot the way we judge comments here before we decide to either upvote, downvote or ignore them, or at least I hope so? I have observed that the key to get upvoted on this site was, most often, to “sound convincing” and to have some thoughtful argumentation of your point at hand. Not sure how to better express it, or if anybody shares this impression. The thing is that you needed to choose the wording very carefully. Which can be hard if you have some troubles using the language or if… Read more »
Brividi is so boring. I know I’ll get hate for this comment but we all have our own opinions.
Interesting thing is that all of the returning artists are returning in different combinations than in their previous attempts.
Stoyan: Voda
Zdob si Zdub: Boonika bate doba
Mahmood: both (and he’s also my favorite returning act, song-wise)
Ihor: Shum (but Stefania is also quite good)
Am I the only one thinking this year’s returning artists’ songs are ALL better than their previous entries???
Italy is my big favorite