Andres Putting

You don’t have to be the winner of your edition of Eurovision to end up winning. Whether that’s by climbing the charts, expanding your fan base or becoming a domestic treasure, lots of acts who finish second have proven there are plenty of ways to win — even without the Eurovision trophy.

Earlier this summer we asked our readers which Eurovision runner-up from the past ten years was their favourite. After counting 10,675 votes, the results are in.

Who is your favourite Eurovision runner-up of the past ten years?

1. Eurovision 2018: Cyprus’ Eleni Foureira with “Fuego”

In the days leading up to Eurovision 2018, fans became more and more convinced that Cyprus would win it. But in the end, as Eurovision 2019 host Assi Azar would say, they didn’t. Despite that, the song still became a staple choice for fan favourite all-time tops and achieved widespread success across Europe. We even saw it performed by Måns Zelmerlöw on the Tel Aviv stage.

2. Eurovision 2022: United Kingdom’s Sam Ryder with “SPACE MAN”

We all knew it would take someone very special to break the U.K.’s cycle of poor results and negative press coverage. Thankfully Sam Ryder was well up for the challenge. With his near-perfect falsetto and positive outlook on life and the contest, Sam gave the U.K. its best result since 1998. He went on to hit #2 on the U.K. charts, making “SPACE MAN” the highest charting Eurovision entry in the country since Gina G’s “Ooh Ahh…Just a Little Bit” in 1996.

3. Eurovision 2019: Italy’s Mahmood with “Soldi”

Mahmood’s win in the Sanremo Festival 2019 came as a surprise to many. But then, in the months leading up to Eurovision, the unique Italian R&B song grew on Eurofans. After Tel Aviv, “Soldi” charted in 24 countries in Europe.

4. Eurovision 2021: France’s Barbara Pravi with “Voilà”

Barbara Pravi earned her spot at Eurovision the hard way: By competing in France’s quality national final Eurovision France: C’est Vous Qui Décidez! Barbara wowed with her voice, her beautiful melody and her classic-yet-contemporary staging to climb the scoreboard in Rotterdam. She’s subsequently toured Europe and continued to charm audiences with her kind spirit and delightful music. 

5. Eurovision 2017: Bulgaria’s Kristian Kostov with “Beautiful Mess”

The top of the 2017 scoreboard was a beautiful mess of different genres. The winner from Portugal won the jury vote and the public, with Bulgaria’s Kristian Kostov finishing second in both. Kostov not only got the highest score ever for a non-winner, he also got the second-highest score of all time. Furthermore, just one year after Poli Genova secured Bulgaria’s top score in the contest, Kristian smashed it and then some.

6. Eurovision 2016: Australia’s Dami Im with “Sound of Silence”

In only its second year competing, Australia sashayed straight into the top two. Dami Im’s “Sound of Silence” won the jury vote and was seemingly on the way to a landslide victory, but eventually finished second, a tiny margin behind Ukraine’s “1944”.

7. Eurovision 2014: The Netherlands’ The Common Linnets with “Calm After the Storm”

The Netherlands shook everyone by taking second place in 2014. It was only one year after the nation qualified to the Eurovision final for the first time since 2004. The Common Linnets’ soft folk song won hearts, and for a moment it almost looked like victory was in their sights.

8. Eurovision 2013: Azerbaijan’s Farid Mammadov with “Hold Me”

“Hold Me”, Azerbaijan’s only second-place finish in the contest, was notable for its staging. While Denmark was the hot favourite to win, there were plenty of other acts that seemed like strong contenders, including Azerbaijan. However, Denmark was the clear winner and Azerbaijan had to settle for silver.

Check out more of our polls here

22 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Peter
Peter
1 year ago

Where is Russia 2012 and 2015?

Im so fab
Im so fab
1 year ago

The fact Azerbuyjan is dead last with a negligible amount of votes indicates for the milionth time that the Azeris play dirty and got their 2nd place with bribes. The people that actually voted for Azerbuyjan are few and not enough to rise them to 2nd place. Without the jury bribery of course.

aubin
aubin
1 year ago
Reply to  Im so fab

Or it shows that the taste are evolving… At the time, it was my 3rd of the year (which was superweak), not a bribery for me… And it is also the oldest of them all,… Second to last is the Netherlands, which was at the time, the song considered to be robbed :p

Robert
Robert
1 year ago

Actually not bad.. all got nice votes.. I would prefer CATS to be higher but happy nonetheless

Chris
Chris
1 year ago

I’m glad we won this poll because winning the contest is out of the question ?

Iván el Conquistador
Iván el Conquistador
1 year ago

Eleni and Sam were awfully robbed, and all because people engaged in wokeness and virtue signaling.

Sophia
Sophia
1 year ago

Completely agree, the winners in both years were highly politically motivated. If it were GoA this year, maybe I’d feel differently, because that performance in 2021 really did slay, but this year’s was more average. In no other year would it have won with over 400 points from the public. Even the third place, Chanel, would’ve been a more worthy winner.

Esc addict
Esc addict
1 year ago

My top 8 runner-up since 2013:
1st Azerbaidjan 2013
2nd France 2021
3rd Australia 2016
4th Uk 2022
5th Italy 2019
6th Cyprus 2018
7th Bulgaria 2017
8th The Netherlands 2014

My top 9 winners since 2013
1st Duncan Lawrence
2nd Jamala
3rd Conchita Wurst
4th Netta
5th Emmelie de Forest
6th Mans
7th Salvador Sobral
8th Kalush Orchestra
9th Maneskin

Aris
Aris
1 year ago

The real winner !
Fuego still burning

Samo
Samo
1 year ago

The singing wasn’t special but it was good and unlike Channel, Eleni actually did sing the song.

Jonkonfui
Jonkonfui
1 year ago
Reply to  Samo

Chanel did not sing the song? It was you?

Eurotoxics
Eurotoxics
1 year ago

She deserved to win more than Toy

GojoSatoru
GojoSatoru
1 year ago
Reply to  Eurotoxics

Both didn’t deserve the top 3.

McRoro
McRoro
1 year ago

Voted for “Voila” but I, ofc, love “Fuego”. But Barbara Pravi won my heart in Rotterdam and I actually went to see her concert when she was in Lisbon! Not only is she talented but she’s also engaging and funny! She’s a breathe of fresh air and I can’t thank Eurovision enough for introducing me to her and her art!

TheDr Mistery
TheDr Mistery
1 year ago

Thank you. I thought I was the only one with the main difference that it wasn’t anything special to me even in 2018, although I still preferred it to the actual winner – “Toy”. Eleni is obviously a great performer but the song and the staging were just ok. Once viewed alongside Ukraine 2008 and Spain 2022, there’s no comparision. I even prefer “El Diablo”, tbh. Still I don’t hate it and I respect Eleni’s talent very much.

Lisa
Lisa
1 year ago

Meh. Preferred “Beautiful Mess”, “Sound of Silence” and “Calm after the Storm”. Actual songs.

ete sech
ete sech
1 year ago

Of course Fuego was gonna win this poll but – seriously, most of these runners up would’ve been fine winners of their respective years imo

Vivian
Vivian
1 year ago

Of course the ‘yas queen slay’ types love Fuego. Imagine how much hate the song would get if it were performed by a dude xD

Jofty
Jofty
1 year ago
Reply to  Vivian

But it was performed by Luca Hanni for Switzerland the following year?

Vivian
Vivian
1 year ago
Reply to  Jofty

Luca’s entry was far more ‘Ricky Martin’ than ‘Fuego’

TheDrMistery
TheDrMistery
1 year ago
Reply to  Jofty

I still regret it wasn’t third. Just a few points…

Sophia
Sophia
1 year ago
Reply to  Jofty

Yes, and he got 4th place and out-performed all the other Fuego remakes of that year