The Eurovision 2023 season was once again filled to the brim with national finals. A total of 24 countries used a show to select their entry for the contest. Although we now have 24 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 50 national final songs of Eurovision 2023.
As usual, the team from wiwibloggs have voted for their favourite songs that competed in the national finals for Eurovision 2023 but were not selected. Note this is not an objective list, but is determined by the personal votes of a panel of wiwibloggers. We encourage you to share your own personal favourites in the comments below.
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.
It’s time to find out which song will enter our Hall of Fame. Let the countdown commence!
Team Wiwi’s top national final songs of Eurovision 2023: 50 to 41
Honourable mention: Melanie Wehbe – “For The Show” (Melodifestivalen)
After counting all the votes from Team Wiwi, there was in fact a tie for 50th place. Tie-break rules see the act who received votes from the highest number of jurors win; the second tie-break sees the act who topped the ranking of the most jurors win (then most second places, third places etc.).
Following the tie-break, it was Sweden’s Melanie Wehbe who just missed out on the top 50 with her Melfest entry “For The Show”.
50. Wiktoria – “All My Life (Where Have You Been)” (Melodifestivalen)
Wiktoria returned to Melodifestivalen for the fourth time this year, having gone directly to the final on her previous three attempts. Sadly, that pattern came to an end in 2023, with the Swedish star finishing fifth in her semi-final and failing to qualify. Nevertheless, “All My Life (Where Have You Been)” is still a fun bop that many of us have added to our playlists.
Previous top national final songs: “Not With Me” (#13 in 2019), “As I Lay Me Down” (#4 in 2017), “Save Me” (#7 in 2016)
49. Ronela Hajati – “Salvaje” (Una Voce per San Marino)
Eurovision 2022 star Ronela Hajati doesn’t want her non-qualification at last year’s contest to define her Eurovision story. The Albanian star decided to enter Una Voce per San Marino with the hope of representing the microstate at the 2023 contest. She battled her way through the second chance round to reach the grand final, but unfortunately didn’t make the top ten with her entry “Salvaje”. Hopefully she’ll be back at Eurovision soon to add another chapter to her story.
48. Umami Tsunami – “Geronimo” (Melodi Grand Prix)
Norwegian trio Umami Tsunami aimed to wash the competition away at Melodi Grand Prix. They sailed through semi-final one with their energetic song “Geronimo”. Sadly, the boyband got into troubled waters at the grand final, finishing in last place. But we’re still bouncing along to the studio cut.
47. ADGY – “Too Good For Your Love” (Eurosong Ireland)
What we said: Well this dark bop is definitely a surprise. It’s a song that could make the audience jump — and drivers, too, as it’s sure to get radio play. The chorus is extremely catchy and it gets stuck in your head after only a few listens. The lyrics are a bit generic, but not bad, especially considering that this is a dance track that pays more attention to the sound and the tempo. This could do well in Eurovision with suitable staging — maybe something similar to what the Czech Republic had in 2022. (Ruxy)
46. Paola & Chiara – “Furore” (Sanremo)
Time to head to the disco. Italian duo Paola & Chiara won the Newcomers’ section of Festival di Sanremo in 1996. Over two decades later, the sisters returned for the Big Artists’ section this year. Their entry “Furore” brought the dancefloor to the Ariston Theatre and took Paola & Chiara to a 17th-place finish.
45. Zejna – “Rumba” (Pesma za Evroviziju)
Zejna brought some Latin flair to Pesma za Evroviziju 23 with her song “Rumba”. The Serbian singer strutted her way across the stage accompanied by four backing dancers. She improved upon her result from PzE 22 and claimed seventh place in the grand final. We’ll still be going “bum-bum-bum” and “bam-bam-bam” for some time to come.
44. INGER – “Awaiting You” (Eesti Laul)
Not content with just singing, INGER decided to throw in a turntable for his performance at Eesti Laul 2023. The Estonian star spun right into the grand final and to a seventh-place result. This marks INGER’s third trip to the Eesti Laul final, after previously competing in 2019 and 2020.
43. Søren Torpegaard Lund – “Lige her” (Dansk Melodi Grand Prix)
In a show full of uptempo numbers, Søren Torpegaard Lund cut through the noise and stood out on his own. “Lige her” mixed elements of musical theatre and 60’s charm to produce a timeless song. Søren may not have advanced to the superfinal of Dansk Melodi Grand Prix, but his one-camera-shot performance will forever be a moment.
42. Tananai – “Tango” (Sanremo)
After reaching Sanremo 2022 through the newcomers’ Giovani show, Tananai returned in 2023 as an automatic Big Artist. His entry “Tango” honoured those fighting in Ukraine and the loved ones they’ve had to leave as a result. Tananai eventually reached the superfinal of this year’s festival, ultimately finishing in fifth position.
41. Panetoz – “On My Way” (Melodifestivalen)
For their third appearance at Melodifestivalen, Panetoz brought the fun number “On My Way”. Mixing African music with Swedish hip hop, the multi-ethnic group brought a slice of sunshine to the cold Swedish nights. Viewers lapped it up and sent them direct to the final from heat two, ending up in tenth place.
Our top national final songs of Eurovision 2023 ranking is determined by independent votes from a panel of wiwibloggers. They are: Oliver A, Simon, Oliver R, Lukas, William, Ruxy, Lucy, Luis, Forrest, Pablo, Antony, Cinan, Freddy, Dayana, Antranig, Youyou, Jonathan, Deban, Mario, Sebastian, Edd, Padraig, Ron and Tom.
Which songs do you think should feature on the list? Are you surprised by our Eurovision 2023 national final top 50 choices? Let us know in the comments.
Wiwiblogs as usual confirm they don’t have any taste because only Tananai has normal song in this compilation
Only 3 out of WIWIs pick for 41-50 managed to make my top 50… but most of the other 7 would have reached my top 100 list though.
I have way too many songs from this national final season that I love so it was hard to come down to a top 50. Should have been a top 100 instead. LOL. But here is MY 41-50th at least, based on songs only (a bad performance doesnt make a song bad), or song combined with performance (a gret performance can indeed make a not great song feel way better). 41: Agoney – «Quireo Arder» (SPAIN) 42: Adgy – «Too Good For Your Love» (IRELAND) 43: Matt Blaxck – «UP!» (MALTA) 44: Fifi – «Stop» (ALBANIA) 45: Eagor – «Starac dana» (SERBIA)… Read more »
I have 45 songs on my playlist with the songs I love the most from this season: “Atomike” – 2Farm “Freedom” – Nicklas Sonne “Monsters” – Bedwetters “So Good (At What You Do)” – m els “Venom” – Ollie “No Business On The Dancefloor” – Keira “OK” – Langi Selli og Skuggarnir” “Due” – Elodi “Terzo Cuore” – Leo Gassmann “Il Bene Nel Male” – Madame “Made In Italy” – Rosa Chemical “Alba” – Ultimo “Master Blaster” – Detour “Sway” – Inspo “Hush” – Patrisha “Like a Move” – Beatrich “When I’ll Find” – Justa Rubeziute “La La Land” –… Read more »
Sorry that the title of KRUTb’s song got messed up!
I’ll have to wait until the next ten entries because there aren’t 50 songs I’ve liked this season.
I love this part of the season. Where we recall all the great songs we’ve encountered and kept of listening during this NF season. I’m looking forward to read what Wiwibloggers have gathered, as well as readers’ lists in the comment section. 🙂 50 – Jone: Ekko inni meg (Norway) – Let’s start this list with a really effective and punchy song with a great flow, and a strong hook. The backing vocals being this artificial sounding is a choice, but I really like the energy. 49 – Mara Sattei: Duemilaminuti (Italy) – Sanremo offered a lot of great songs this… Read more »
We’re at the bottom end of the top 50 so it’s probably mostly still songs that we’re all thinking are great, rather than fantastic but it’s a promising start from yourself! You know you already have three here that are rated MUCH higher (and still come) in my own top so taste for making sure they made the cut at least!
The most Colin pick is definitely at no.47, though 45 is also a distinctly Colin choice, too! I’m hoping to see at least one of these in each set of ten.
I can promise you a few of distinctly Colin picks up the list too. I’ve seen your video, and knowing what’s ahead, I look forward to having many more similar songs up there too. Aside from two already on the list, five more of your top 10 will be listed ahead. Others are mostly somewhere in my honorable mentions. Yeah, these are my 7.5s, mostly. Songs I find great, and really like, but we are approaching the heavy hitters soon enough.
I love nearly every selection on this list! Tananai really stole my heart this year <3
If you only knew the hold Adgy’s song had on me for weeks D:
Ohmygod same here lol
ADGY and Ronela should not be in the top 50 lmao.
Adgy if given a better live vocals and admitally a better studio, could have won the entire thing in Ireland!Not sure why Unami Tsunami did so badly in the MGP final! They had good staging!
“Lige her” is by far the best of these ten, and should be much much higher! It should have won, and maybe would have if the voting had gone to plan.
By far my favourite, at least.
Additionally, CONOLLY BETTER belong in this year’s Wiwi top 10 NF songs.
I’m really bored and actually being sick at this moment to even write a top 10 so here’s my top-5 favorite National Final songs of ESC2023 that din’t make the contest (with actual scorings that would stand in my Eurovision top 37):
1. Krut – ” Kolyskova” (10/10) (Biggest robbery of the year and it isn’t even close).
2. Filip Balos – “Novi Plan Drugi San” (10/10)
3. Princ – “Cvet sa Istoka” (10/10) (Yes, it’s very 2000’s Eurovision but it’s an absolute banger).
4. Jone – “Ekko Ini Meg” (9.5/10)
5. Jann – “Gladiator” (9.5/10)
If Krut was in Liverpool she’d be locked in for my twelve points,
I wonder if Wild Youth were not going to Liverpool whether they would have figured on any of these lists? I liked Adgy, but the live was a little off. Honourable mention to Up by Matt Blxck which was probably one of the only two viable options for Malta.
If Ronela and that awful live ADGY performance can a make this list, that’s a testament to a pretty poor year of national selections.
It’s mainly a testament to wiwi making some very curious chances, as always I guess. I would never even contemplate about actually including those 2 on a list like this.
choices*
not chances
So many great songs. For this list, I like all of them bar 46. which is more of a I dont remember it (that many songs in sanremo, ig some passed me by). I also like the honorable mention but I figured with the staging it wouldnt advance, still a nice listen though.
In love with lost of the National season songs..
Nochentera, Love Vibes, Rollercoaster, Il bene nel male, Honestly, On my way, Hoida Mut, So low, I will wait, Where did you go, Ylivoimainen, I was gonna marry him, Lige her, Hold on, Air, O impossivel, Alive, Presidente, Posele mene, L’addio, Like a movie, All my life (Where have you been), Flamenco, Take you home, Girls like you, Ça m’ennuie pas, Midnight summernight and ofcourse Quiero arder
Not gonna make a top 50 because I don’t have the memory for it lol, but these are some of my faves that didn’t make it:
gIANMARIA – Mostro
Rüta Mur – So Low
Cherine – ça m’ennuie pas (still mad)
Vicco – Nochentera
La Deva – Fiori su Marte (still mad)
Jann – Gladiator
My favorites, non-ranked: Krut, “Kolyskova” You Can’t Win, Charlie Brown, “Contraste Mudo” Beatrich, “Like a Movie” Megara, “Arcadia” Rodan, “Introvert Party Club” Meelik, “Tuju” Ellip, “Pretty Girl” Neon Letters and Maiko, “Tokimeki” Inspo, “Sway” Public Image Limited, “Hawaii” Connolly, “Midnight Summer Night” Luize, “You to Hold Me” Madame, “Il bene nel male” Colapesce Dimartino, “Splash” Petunija, “Love of My Life” Cherine, “ Ca m’ennuie pas” Gala Dragot, “T’inquiete” Benjamin, “Hoida mut” Elsie Bay, “Love You in a Dream” Ida-Lova, “Lat hela stan se pa” Pam Rabbit, “Ghosting” Filip Balos, “Novi plan drugi san” Nadia, “Devojka tvog decka” Barbara Munjas, “Putem… Read more »
Now that I know this is a yearly tradition, I’m looking forward to crawling through the archives for everyone’s old faves.
Elsa Lila will probably land on the top 10 of this list
41. Public Image Ltd – Hawaii (Ireland) – so intimate and dripping with pain, the realism of human experience in this track is palpable. I enjoy that the song doesn’t follow a conventional and expected pattern, it seems to fit how personal this song is. Whatever you might think about Johnny Rotten as a person or a singer, there is no denying that he understands how to portray honest emotion. 42. Portion Boys – Samaa taivasta katsotaan (Finland) – A really professional party song and arguably the best live performance in UMK, these guys deserve a lot of credit for… Read more »
As usual some choices I wouldn’t necessarily have made and some songs I don’t remember at all, but I was actually pretty close to include Portion Boys in my list. I have listened to this song more often than I care to admit. 🙂
I am completely with you about this being my favourite list of the season moment, there is the opportunity to get more excited because of the variety of songs on display. It’s fascinating to see other readers’ selections, you really begin to see a pattern in taste, which is of course to be expected. Leila Jane has somehow allowed us to meet in the middle, so well done her! Jerry Heil ended up 59th for me, so not far off. It will be fascinating to see if we agree on any more from 40 to 1!
Not to kill the suspense, but I can already reveal that “Booty” narrowly missed out as the only entry in the Polish NF I thought was actually worse than the winner. And that is quite an accomplishment in itself.
Haha! What I can say, I like songs with a bold point of view and an atmosphere. Booty definitely has both, but yes I can see why it is unpalatable to many. I have one other entry in my top 50 that fits into this bracket that I know will upset a lot of people,
You liked Portion Boys, I like your taste.
The annual Kosey list! Let’s GO!
I like Maria and Madame. Portion Boys were great live, too.
The others are deliciously left-field.
Thanks Briekimchi, I will try to be predictable in my unpredictability! I’m hoping you will find the usual mix of cheap songs that make you roll your eyes and potentially the odd hidden gem that everyone missed! Enjoyed your list as well, one of them has made me top 50, which is quite good cross-over for us! I also find Tibor’s list to be full of sophistication and your list full of panache, so I’m really looking forward to what is to come!
Heehee. Well, some of life’s best experiences cause you to roll your eyes. 😉 I’ll say no more!
Let’s have fun with these lists, different as they’re bound to be. :3
I always look forward to your list, Kosey, because they are always unique. Glad to see Portion Boys, Maria Celin, and Madame on the list. I have to second Tibor and say that Booty is not exactly my pick… but I can understand the incredible meme value it has. 😉 Also, I respect that the list is authentically yours, and contains the entries you personally find the best, and not just the aggregator of fan-favorites. Kudos to you! 🙂
My favourite list of the season moment. I think, this was a very good year when it comes to musical quality in the NFs I was following closely, so I actually could have included more entries. But I only have fifty spots. 50 Colla Zio, Non mi va: Sanremo was once again one of the best NFs, and this was a fresh little tune with a catchy chorus. I liked their Sanremo Giovani winning entry “Asfalto” a little better, but this was also really enjoyable. 49 Demchuk, Alive: This is primarily here, because I like him so much as a… Read more »
Elsa Lila – Evita
Krut – Lullaby
Ulrikke – Honestly
EYJAA – I Was Gonna Marry Him
CONNOLY – Midnight Summer Night
Rüta Mur – So Low
Cherine – ça m’ennuie pas
This is actually a pretty good first ten by Wiwi standards. The Ronela one has NO business being included but otherwise, Tananai too low.
My Top 50-41:
50: Gala Dragot – Emotion Ollie (Belgium)
49: Alfred Garcia – Desde Que Tu Estas (Spain)
48: Ivandro – Povo (Portugal)
47: Hana Masic – Nesreca (Croatia)
46: Soren Torpegaard Lund – Lige Her (Denmark)
45: Wiktoria – All My Life (Sweden)
44: Le Bebae – Tocco Il Fondo (San Marino)
43: Igor Stanojevic – Iza Duge
42: Ella – Waist (Norway)
41: Vicco – Nochentera (Spain)
The San Marino song I’m stanning as secretly great is MeriCler’s fun Italian disco bop “Souvenirs.” Someone get this girl a proper stage and sound system (maybe a Flo Rida verse if you can spring for it). The only full record of the song that I can find has less than 300 views on YT.
She was my San Marino winner the year before. She’s really good.
Soren Lund is a great choice indeed, firmly in my top 15 of the season and would have actually been the best Danish entry since 1995’s classic Fra Mols Til Skagen for me. Including Ronela Hajati’s disaster bop in a ranking like this seems a bit too shameless tho…
Oh dear Wiktoria T_T. She definitely deserved to be in the final… Besides, her powerful and emotional ‘Not With Me’ in 2019 is still one of my Mello favourites. (And I ranked it over John Lundvik’s ‘Too Late for Love’).
I also love Søren. Beautiful vocal and fancy appearance. He reminds me of the adorable Monika Liu last year. Tho I have to say ‘Lige her’ is not an ESC song and could flop harder than Carousel’s ‘Last Night’ (Latvia 2019.) Hope he will come back another year.
Look forwards to the top 40 😉