They came, they saw, they became fan favourites. And while neither of them made the grand final of Eurovision 2022, Albania’s Ronela and Ireland’s Brooke most definitely won the hearts of our readers.

Last month we asked you guys to vote for your favourite non-qualifiers from each semi-final and the results are in.

Semi-Final 1: Albania is our readers’ favourite non-qualifier

  1. ALBANIA: RONELA HAJATI “SEKRET” 22.34%  (1,171 VOTES)
  2. AUSTRIA: LUMIX FEAT. PIA MARIA “HALO” 18.33%  (961 VOTES)
  3. LATVIA: CITI ZĒNI “EAT YOUR SALAD” 15.53%  (814 VOTES)
  4. SLOVENIA: LPS “DISKO” 14.54%  (762 VOTES)
  5. CROATIA: MIA DIMŠIĆ “GUILTY PLEASURE” 10.97%  (575 VOTES)
  6. BULGARIA: INTELLIGENT MUSIC PROJECT “INTENTION” 9.69%  (508 VOTES)
  7. DENMARK: REDDI “THE SHOW” 8.6%  (451 VOTES)

Total Votes: 5,242

Ronela may not have made it to the final, but she certainly turned heads with her eye-popping performance. The “Sekret”, we learned, was that she and her sole female dancer shared more than the stage: They had that fire, which helped them burn their choreography. Ronela won plaudits from many fans, who said it was both bold and brave for an Albanian singer to celebrate same-sex love.

Semi-Final 2: Ireland is our readers’ favourite non-qualifier

  1. IRELAND: BROOKE – “THAT’S RICH” 28.82%  (1,296 VOTES)
  2. CYPRUS: ANDROMACHE – “ELA” 22.06%  (992 VOTES)
  3. SAN MARINO: ACHILLE LAURO – “STRIPPER” 14.32%  (644 VOTES)
  4. GEORGIA: CIRCUS MIRCUS – “LOCK ME IN” 9.32%  (419 VOTES)
  5. ISRAEL: MICHAEL BEN DAVID – “I.M” 7.87%  (354 VOTES)
  6. NORTH MACEDONIA: ANDREA – “CIRCLES” 7.45%  (335 VOTES)
  7. MONTENEGRO: VLADANA – “BREATHE” 5.94%  (267 VOTES)
  8. MALTA: EMMA MUSCAT – “I AM WHAT I AM” 4.22%  (190 VOTES)  

Total Votes: 4,497

Brooke Scullion — a stalwart on the Eurovision 2022 promotional tour — gave us the glow-up of the season. She evolved perhaps more than any other performer on the road to Turin, growing more confident in her choreography and nailing her vocals when it mattered the most. She’s said publicly that she felt like she deserved to make the final. And it’s now clear that many of our readers do too. 

Where did your favourites finish in the polls? Let us know in the comments box below!

 

 

 

 

 

 

42 Comments
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ILPIESC
ILPIESC
1 year ago

Pls Ronela performance was tragic… Even if song is good

Greg
Greg
1 year ago

Albania really? Are people deaf or blind or what? She was a disgrace and the epitome of vulgarity on stage. Seriously.

Jofty
Jofty
1 year ago
Reply to  Greg

Not you, but I imagine many people would be less stressed if it was a male singer stripping off

esc_fl
esc_fl
1 year ago
Reply to  Jofty

Lauri from Finland’s stripping (and vocals) were the stuff of nightmares.

esc_fl
esc_fl
1 year ago

Sekret was the song I was rooting for more…before I saw her performance. Honestly, if she just took five of her dancers from FiK and did the same FiK choreography with the revamped instrumental but entirely in Albanian (the English and Spanish lyrics are super pointless), that would have been miles stronger. What annoyed me more was the FiK lyrics were about remembering nights with a secret lover who left her inexplicably, but the revamp and the performance was all about “tóca-tócalo.” It’s understandable why it scored so low with juries and not too great with televoters.

esc_fl
esc_fl
1 year ago

Between the two of them, Brooke was the more deserving of a qualification; her vocals improved drastically and her staging was super strong, and it is definitely a glow-up from what Ireland has sent in the past before. I thought it even stood out since it was performed between Cyprus and North Macedonia, which were more ballad types. Maybe it was because the hype during all the pre-season wasn’t as strong?

Eyal
Eyal
1 year ago

Ireland – I think the ‘Ole Ole’ at the end of the performance (and the fact she was cut off by the next postcard – made her look bad. Israel – We can only guess the singer lost points because of his behavior. I assume it had effect, but we should focus on the show and the vocals, the song. Was this song with gay-rights message wasn’t “more of the same” after Conchita? Is there still a room for messages we heard many times before in the contest? Albania – all have been said before. She is an interesting artist,… Read more »

Marc
Marc
1 year ago

Sekret was good in studio, was good in FIK… but they couldn’t do the same in Eurovision. Sad, but they couldn’t make it shine in that stage.

Dawid
Dawid
1 year ago
Reply to  Marc

It went from my favourite to uncomfortable to watch

Jesper Hjellnes
Jesper Hjellnes
1 year ago

I loved Sekret in studio, but no way Ronela deserved to qualify with that performance.

Thallo
Thallo
1 year ago

I understand Michael Ben David wasn’t the most likeable person (at all) but there was something so camp and fun about I.M that I wanted it to reach the final. It could’ve been a breath of fresh air in a sea of ballads in the final.

The vocals, staging and choreo were on point. The only letdown was Michael’s personality, especially in the green room and on the red carpet.

hfftj
hfftj
1 year ago
Reply to  Thallo

this is one of the rare cases that I 1000000000000000% agree with a comment
I especially loved I>M> few days before semi 2

Jofty
Jofty
1 year ago
Reply to  hfftj

Though I preferred the original version before all the usual Israeli revamps

Colin
Colin
1 year ago

That’s Rich is my favorite non-qualifier of the year. From the point where the songs were released, Ireland really did everything right this year; they picked the most competitive song (even if I liked Brendan Murray’s ballad as well), and gave her the best possible staging. This was sheer bad luck, I guess, much like Albina last year. In semi 1, I had three songs ahead of Albania on my list (Croatia, Slovenia, Latvia), so I’d hardly say that Sekret was the best NQ of the semi. I acknowledge this is the genre which is by default liked by most… Read more »

Jofty
Jofty
1 year ago
Reply to  Colin

I voted for Brendan as I thought his song was the most likely to qualify. He finished last. Agree re Malta though I don’t think Aidan would have qualified either. Out of Sight was borderline. Have a nice evening Colin!

Colin
Colin
1 year ago
Reply to  Jofty

Brendan should have had more points in his NF. I am happy to see his song had some support. As for Malta, MESC wasn’t the strongest, but it did have a few songs interesting enough to talk about their potential qualification. Of course, I have no idea whether they’d actually qualify, but I have a hunch that several of them would have a bigger chance than IAWIA.
Thank you, Jofty, and have a nice evening too. 🙂

Colin
Colin
1 year ago
Reply to  Colin
  • At minimum, I think that Out of Sight, Ritmu, A Lover’s Heart, and Into the Fire wouldn’t have the least amount of votes in a ”who should have qualified” fan poll. I feel sorry for Emma, who’s a really talented singer.
Jofty
Jofty
1 year ago
Reply to  Colin

True but it shows money can’t buy everything. Electric Indigo probably wouldn’t have qualified but at least it was a laugh and uplifting. And Nicole is the daughter of the lovely Debbie who more or less gave me a personal performance of Let Me Fly about 20 years ago!

Nobody Important
Nobody Important
1 year ago

Ronela didn’t deserve to qualify with that performance period!

Polegend Godnova
1 year ago

brooke really gave her best, she can be proud, and i would’ve loved seeing her in the final over that one country that qualified without one single point from the public. no comment on albania, that performance was indefensible…

Ray
Ray
1 year ago

For me Latvia was the best performance in Semi Final 1 and I agree that Ireland was the best in Semi Final 2.

Liam
Liam
1 year ago

Brooke absolutely but people are insane if they seriously think Ronela deserved qualification every aspect of that performance was a trainwreck she was lucky to get 12th

Briekimchi
Briekimchi
1 year ago

Ireland I can see but Albania? Not really.
Best SF1 NQ song was Slovenia, best performance was Latvia.

Albania wouldn’t be a consideration for me.

aksel kankaanranta's husband
aksel kankaanranta's husband
1 year ago
Reply to  Briekimchi

tell me you’re straight without telling me you’re straight

Albania sucks
Albania sucks
1 year ago

Odd that Ronela is still the preferred choice from Semifinal 1, even after that performance.

hfftj
hfftj
1 year ago
Reply to  Albania sucks

im not even albanian but ur name is offensive unless you are talking about the song / performance

esc_fl
esc_fl
1 year ago
Reply to  hfftj

Serb maybe? XD

Roo
Roo
1 year ago

These polls are more proof that the fan bubble lives in an alternative reality.

motopapi
motopapi
1 year ago
Reply to  Roo

Tbf any result would be “proof” of that, no one out of the bubble minds the results (at least not at this point anymore).

hfftj
hfftj
1 year ago

same for me but including cyprus

Nils
Nils
1 year ago

According to the polls and articles on this blog, basically everyone loved Circus Mircus to some degree, yet nobody voted for them.

Just stop pretending. It only adds to the insult.

Hannah
Hannah
1 year ago
Reply to  Nils

It’s not that nobody voted for them they just didn’t get enough points to be in many top 10. This fandom has always overrated the girl bops as they base it on the studio versions they’ve been listening to for months even when there was clear evidence some of them would flop on stage.

Sir Stevia
Sir Stevia
1 year ago
Reply to  Nils

I voted for them lololol

Sir Stevia
Sir Stevia
1 year ago

I feel bad for Brooke, she improved drastically.

motopapi
motopapi
1 year ago
Reply to  Sir Stevia

X2 and also for Andrea, they were both enthusiastic about and committed with taking part of the contest 🙁

Sir Stevia
Sir Stevia
1 year ago
Reply to  motopapi

Andrea’s song and staging was meh. Her as a singer though? 11 outta 10!

Jofty
Jofty
1 year ago
Reply to  Sir Stevia

Do you think she would have qualified with Armenia’s staging? Or Lesley Roy’s from last year (lol)).

Sir Stevia
Sir Stevia
1 year ago
Reply to  Jofty

I think Circles and That’s Rich were too weak of songs to advance with any staging.

motopapi
motopapi
1 year ago
Reply to  Sir Stevia

I agree, specially Circles but still it could’ve had a chance if it weren’t bc of Azerbaijan cheating

Jofty
Jofty
1 year ago
Reply to  motopapi

Why are you singling out Azerbaijan? There were 5 other countries involved one of which also made the final. It had no business there, entertaining as the performance was.

Kobe
Kobe
1 year ago

What a surprise 😀

motopapi
motopapi
1 year ago

Yeah, Albania messed up their entry big time, it was fine at FiK :/