69. The Herrey’s – Diggi-Lavatory Diggi-Ley (Sweden, 1984)

With respect to the Herrey’s – three clean-cut brothers and one rogue apostrophe – Diggi-Lavatory Diggi-Ley seems like the results of an experiment to intentionally synthesise an abysmal Eurovision entry. Antiseptic sound, meaningless title, mind-boggling lyrics – some frightful outdated balls about magical golden sneakers – and a refrain that brings a couple of full collapse of the desire to dwell.

68. The Olsen Brothers – Fly on the Wings of Love (Denmark, 2000)

The perennially demoralising sound of synthesised panpipes kicks off probably the most nondescript Eurovision winners of all: an amiable however totally unmemorable acoustic guitar-fuelled pop-rock jog. Nonetheless, it was prescient in as far as it was an early adopter of slathering vocals in Auto-Tune, lengthy earlier than it turned pop’s most ubiquitous gimmick.

67. Duncan Laurence – Arcade (Netherlands, 2019)

The sort of Eurovision winner that makes you surprise aloud what the opposite entries had been like if one thing this boring got here out on prime. There may be nothing flawed with Arcade as such, in that it’s not an actively horrible tune, however neither is there something to differentiate it from umpteen different boilerplate weepy piano ballads.

66. Netta – Toy (Israel, 2018)

Maybe it’s kindest to say that there have been evidently loads of individuals who discovered Netta’s efficiency of the staccato Toy, replete with onomatopoeic vocalising, rooster noises, flapping arms and far self-consciously wacky gurning to digital camera, endearing relatively than wildly infuriating and go away it at that.

65. Milk and Honey – Hallelujah (Israel, 1979)

A tune so weedy {that a} gentle breeze would knock it flat, sung by an ineffably annoying cabaret flip in sequinned braces. Clearly, nobody was anticipating Eurovision to provide you with a winner that mirrored 1979’s cutting-edge pop – Gary Numan, the Specials and many others – however there are limits.

64. Tanel Padar, Dave Benton and 2XL – All people (Estonia, 2001)

Middling disco-house, like a much less impactful model of Phats and Small’s Flip Round, with a tacky refrain and loads of irksome vocal ad-libbing. It was hhistoric in some methods – Dave Benton was the primary black performer to win Eurovision and it was the primary entry from a former Soviet nation to win – however not, alas, musically.

63. Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan – Rock ’n’ Roll Youngsters (Eire, 1994)

The outdated Father Ted joke about Eire intentionally coming into a horrible tune in Eurovision as a result of it couldn’t afford to host the competition the next yr had its foundation in a persistent hearsay about Rock ’n’ Roll Youngsters. It’s startlingly pallid, though be glad about small mercies: it initially had seven verses.

62. Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta – A-Ba-Ni-Bi (Israel, 1978)

By now, Eurovision’s Abba tendency was starting to look a bit clapped-out: witness the Alphabeta – three boys and three women – and the cantering however club-footed cod-disco of A-Ba-Ni-Bi, its refrain catchy solely since you are clobbered over the top with it about 7,000 occasions.

61. Nicole – A Little Peace (Germany, 1982)

Maybe there was a reactionary backlash in opposition to early 80s pop’s synthesisers and make-up, much like that which put Engelbert Humperdinck at No 1 at psychedelia’s peak: how else to clarify the UK reputation of Nicole’s winsome Ein bißchen Frieden (A Little Peace), which is basically I’d Like To Train The World To Sing with out the tune?

60. Corry Brokken – Web Als Toen (Netherlands, 1957)

Corry Brokken’s Eurovision profession was nothing if not excessive: she swept the board in 1957, then got here final, with seulement un level, the next yr. Web Als Toen’s music sounds extra romantic than its lyrics, a couple of failing marriage: the spouse complains her husband is fats, bald and drained; he wonders if she’s nonetheless alive. Good, vaguely Stéphane Grappelli-ish violin solo, although.

59. Riva – Rock Me (Yugoslavia, 1989)

One hesitates to garbage a rustic’s first Eurovision winner, however, alas, the tinny synth-bedecked Rock Me sounds just like the theme music from a low-budget late 80s daytime chatshow. Wikipedia claims its victory led to “worldwide consciousness of Yugoslav and Croatian rock”, which probably quantities to gilding the lily.

58. Lulu – Growth Bang-a-Bang (UK, 1969)

At least 4 nations needed to share the prize in 1969. Growth Bang-a-Bang, chosen by the British public in a vote that relegated a tune by the then-unknown Elton John and Bernie Taupin to final place, apparently a lot to the duo’s aid, sounded, in John’s subsequent estimation, “like one thing pissed Germans would slap their knees to in a Bavarian beer corridor”. He had some extent.

57. Bobbysocks! – Let It Swing (Norway, 1985)

There’s a distinct trace of Waterloo – nonetheless! Eleven years later! – concerning the galloping intro and sax-laden sound of Let It Swing, whereas the English lyrics provide the thought-provoking opening line “Take a look at me, I’m climbing up a ladder”. Previously members of Norway’s 1979 Eurovision entrants, the glamorously-named Chips.

56. Jacqueline Boyer – Tom Pillibi (France, 1960)

An early signal that Eurovision was as a lot about efficiency as tune, Tom Pillibi, with a smug titular character who seems like a distant relation of the man who thought the tune was about him in You’re So Useless, is ingratiatingly perky, however Jacqueline Boyer correctly bought it onstage, injecting a shocking quantity of flirtatious vitality.

55. Vicky Leandros – Après Toi (Luxembourg, 1972)

Vicky Leandros couldn’t have regarded extra Greek if she had come onstage with a bouzouki, then began smashing plates and shouting “opa!”, however her homeland didn’t, at this stage, take part in Eurovision, so she wound up representing Luxembourg with the (very) faintly country-inflected Après Toi: bog-standard early-70s Eurovision balladry, however subsequently a UK hit.

54. Måns Zelmerlöw – Heroes (Sweden, 2015)

Your enjoyment of Heroes could rely in your emotions about David Guetta’s model of pop home, which it resembles very carefully, particularly recalling his 2014 single Lovers on the Solar, with maybe a soupçon of Avicii’s Wake Me Up thrown into the combination. Not unhealthy, however surplus to necessities.

53. Brotherhood of Man – Save Your Kisses For Me (UK, 1976)

Brotherhood of Man seldom bothered to cover their debt to Abba – take heed to their 1977 hit Angelo subsequent to Fernando – however, even at their naffest, one suspects Björn and Benny would have balked on the cutesiness of Save Your Kisses For Me, with its accompanying dance routine and it’s-actually-about-a-toddler concluding twist.

52. André Claveau – Dors, Mon Amour (France, 1958)

By 1958, the tumult of rock’n’roll was raging all through Europe, not that you’d have seen inside Hilversum’s Avro Studio, the place André Claveau, a singer already in his late 40s, was taking over all-comers with the lullaby-like Dors, Mon Amour.

51. Carola – Fångad av en Stormvind (Sweden, 1991)

If you’re after proof of Eurovision’s tendency to lag behind the occasions, think about Fångad av en Stormvind, which has one thing of the Pointer Sisters’ 80s single I’m So Enthusiastic about its perky clipped rhythm and blaring synths and received 9 years after I’m So Excited was recorded.

50. Udo Jürgens – Merci, Cherie (Austria, 1966)

An enormous star in Germany, Udo Jürgens turned well-known by eschewing the nation’s most important easy-listening development of oompah-infused schlager in favour of a extra emotive, chanson-influenced fashion. Merci, Cherie is an efficient instance of what he did, full with a powerful vocal suggestive of moistening eyes and trembling lips.

49. Gigliola Cinquetti – No Ho L’età (Italy, 1964)

After the jazz-influenced pleasure of the earlier yr’s winner, Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann’s Dansevise, this goes again to the standard early Eurovision territory of ballads: No Ho L’età is a superior instance, replete with high-drama dynamic shifts and orchestration, in addition to a bizarre, reverb-heavy, relatively Joe Meek-esque impact on the rhythm monitor.

48. Teddy Scholten – Een Beetje (Netherlands, 1959)

The favourites in 1959 had been Britain’s Pearl Carr and Teddy Johnson, who regarded as in the event that they had been on their solution to a golf membership dinner dance, with Sing Little Birdie, however they had been pipped by Een Beetje: equally upbeat, and thus fairly raffish by earlier Eurovision requirements, however crucially, and in contrast to Sing Little Birdie, not supernaturally annoying.

47. Lenny Kuhr – De Troubadour (Netherlands, 1969)

This the yr Eurovision went nuts: it was controversially held in Spain, then a fascist dictatorship; Salvador Dalí designed the publicity materials; 4 songs tied for first place, and folks music, not a style that the competition historically favours, made a uncommon mark with one in every of them, the gently fingerpicked acoustic guitar of De Troubadour.

46. Marie N – I Wanna (Latvia, 2002)

Disco-house that turns Latin American when it hits the refrain, like a reduce and shunt of Spiller’s Groovejet and Ricky Martin’s She Bangs. Maybe presentation was all right here: the efficiency featured a besuited Marie N performing a same-sex tango with a feminine dancer, earlier than whipping off her swimsuit to disclose a minidress.

45. Secret Backyard – Nocturne (Norway, 1995)

Nocturne’s victory heralded the arrival of the WTF? Eurovision winner: the handiwork of latest age duo Secret Backyard, who specialised in floaty background music instrumentals with a Celtic tinge, it’s a floaty background music instrumental with just a few strains of cod-operatic vocals thrown in in order that it adhered to Eurovision guidelines.

44. Toto Cutugno – Insieme: 1992 (Italy, 1990)

Ah, the timeless assured pop hit components that may be a energy ballad about European political integration. A vote winner three years earlier than the EU was established, it begins atmospheric, builds to a suitably rousing climax and, in accordance with on-line sources, was produced by somebody who went beneath the startling pseudonym of Quantity Two.

43. Sandie Shaw – Puppet on a String (UK, 1967)

Decried by Sandie Shaw herself as “sexist drivel” with a “cuckoo clock tune”, Puppet on a String was however large: it was, on the time, the biggest-selling single ever by a British feminine artist, which maybe says loads about 1967’s reactionary thirst for gran-friendly pop within the face of psychedelia’s alienating weirdness.

42. Linda Martin – Why Me? (Eire, 1992)

One other energy ballad, the songwriting handiwork of two-time Eurovision winner Johnny Logan, which kicked off the period of Eire dominating the competitors. If nothing else, it was a victory for persistence on the a part of Linda Martin, who entered the Eurovision contest a staggering 9 occasions.

41. Frida Boccara – Un Jour, Un Enfant (France, 1969)

This yr’s 4 joint winners provided a spread of music – schlager from Britain, folks from the Netherlands, easy-listening pop from Spain – however Un Jour, Un Enfant proved Eurovision’s urge for food for a Francophone ballad was as sturdy as within the late 50s: the orchestra surges and crashes, Frida Boccara’s vocal is the dictionary definition of giving 110%.

40. Dima Bilan – Consider (Russia, 2008)

This exposes the gulf in attitudes to Eurovision : the yr Britain despatched a runner-up from The X Issue, Russia’s entry was produced by visionary R&B auteur Timbaland and written by the co-author of Nelly Furtado’s Maneater. The large ballad Consider definitely isn’t on the record of Timbaland’s best productions, however nonetheless.

39. Salomé – Vivo Cantando (Spain, 1969)

With out wishing to sound unpatriotic, among the many tied winners of Eurovision 1969, this, relatively than the UK’s Growth-Bang-a-Bang, is the decide. Admittedly, the bar isn’t set terribly excessive, however Vivo Cantando’s false ballad opening, rattling congas and cries of “hey!” at the very least generate a gentle pleasure missing in Lulu’s dispiriting oompah frenzy.

38. Lena – Satellite tv for pc (Germany, 2010)

One other up to date pop development will get Eurovisionised, on this case, the post-Amy Winehouse/Lily Allen wave of non-specifically “retro” pop. Satellite tv for pc’s most evident comparability is likely to be Eliza Doolittle’s Pack Up; there’s the suspicion that Lena’s deeply bizarre accent is likely to be an try at mimicking the estuary English of Kate Nash that has gone wildly off piste.

37. Charlotte Nilsson – Take Me To Your Heaven (Sweden, 1999)

The purpose at which Eurovision started consuming itself: Take Me to Your Heaven is a campy, blatant homage to Abba, full with Waterloo-esque intro and sax, Dancing Queen piano and Agnetha and Anni Frid-style harmonies. It’s nowhere near the songwriting requirements Abba set, however Steps might have had a success with it.

36. Alexander Rybak – Fairytale (Norway, 2009)

The very best-scoring winner ever on the time, and bafflingly fashionable within the UK – it reached the Prime 10, a uncommon feat for a latterday Eurovision winner – Fairytale affords up a mix of folky violin, a thumping bass drum that weirdly presaged the sound of Mumford & Sons and gently oompah-infused Euro dance.

35. Séverine – Un Banc, Un Arbre, Une Rue (Monaco, 1971)

A uncommon pre-Abba Eurovision winner that feels linked to up to date pop developments: triumphant melody hovering over a reasonably funky beat, it sounds not not like the British bubblegum pop, by White Plains or (the unique) Brotherhood of Man, that flooded the charts between the waning of the 60s and the rise of glam.

34. Johnny Logan – Maintain Me Now (Eire, 1987)

Logan’s second win, as soon as extra touting romantic distress in ballad kind – for causes that aren’t totally clear, it’s their final night time collectively and he’s angling for a tearful farewell shag – this time coupled to a mammoth sway-along lighters-aloft refrain and a definite trace of Chris de Burgh’s Girl in Crimson concerning the sound.

33. Jean-Claude Pascal – Nous Les Amoureux (Luxembourg, 1961)

In an indication of fixing occasions, Britain’s entry was Are You Certain? by the Allisons, who had evidently modelled themselves on the Everly Brothers. It was no match for Jean-Claude Pascal’s brooding, jazzy ballad, which was daring in one other means: Pascal was homosexual, and Nous Les Amoureux’s lyrics obliquely referred to a gay relationship.

32. Eimear Quinn – The Voice (Eire, 1996)

It’s noticeably completely different from something that had received Eurovision earlier than, and you’ll detect the affect of Kate Bush and Enya on The Voice, which wafts pleasantly alongside, tapping into the Riverdance-inspired vogue for conventional Irish music by means of its penny whistle and rumbling bodhráns.

31. Dana – All Sorts of The whole lot (Eire, 1970)

Nice Eurovision story: Irish schoolgirl trounces Spain’s entrant, Julio Iglesias, singing ballad with wide-eyed college meeting hymn lyrics: “seagulls and aeroplanes/issues of the sky”. Dana instantly fired her supervisor and launched into a profession that culminated in working for Irish president, suggesting she may need been steelier than she regarded.

30. Marie Myriam – L’Oiseau et l’Enfant (France, 1977)

Extra Eurovision scandal. Britain’s entry (and favorite to win), Lynsey de Paul and Mike Moran’s Rock Backside, a topical dispatch from a UK crippled by strikes and stagflation, was not supported by the BBC, which didn’t need to pay to host the occasion once more the next yr. L’Oiseau et l’Enfant, which was much less topical, though fairly sufficient – received as a substitute.

29. Sandra Kim – J’aime La Vie (Belgium 1986)

Maybe inevitably, the 80s Francophone vogue for what Serge Gainsbourg referred to as “lolycéennes” – feminine pop singers of their early teenagers – discovered its solution to Eurovision, though scandal ensued when it was found Sandra Kim was 13. The tune itself is child powder in musical kind, however fairly good, as synthy Euro bubblegum goes.

28. Lys Assia – Chorus (Switzerland, 1956)

The primary Eurovision winner was resolutely a product of the postwar, pre-rock’n’roll pop world: geared toward adults and devoid of modernity, it might have been made within the early Thirties. That stated, it’s a genuinely stunning tune with a stunning tune and sweeping orchestration and fashionable in a means that subsequent Eurovision winners wouldn’t at all times be.

27. Anne-Marie David – Tu Te Reconnaîtras (Luxembourg, 1973)

As soon as extra, one suspects, the UK thought it had victory within the bag due to Cliff Richard, unconvincingly espousing hippy sentiments (“energy to the bees”) 5 years too late on Energy to All Our Mates. It was catchy, however no match for Tu Te Reconnaîtras, equal elements chanson and massive Burt Bacharach-esque ballad.

26. Helena Paparizou – My Quantity One (Greece, 2005)

There’s a sense by which My Quantity One, Greece’s solitary Eurovision triumph, feels remarkably like a Hellenic tackle Turkey’s 2003 winner Each Approach That I Can: it has the same rhythm and dramatic strings, a stomach dancing interlude changed with a burst of choreographed sirtaki, and conventional Turkish devices courtesy of the bouzouki and Cretan lyre.

25. Corinne Hermès – Si La Vie Est Cadeau (Luxembourg, 1983)

Through which the standard Eurovision French-language massive ballad will get an 80s improve: the drums increase, dampened guitars chug, the sproing of the fretless bass is far in proof and Corinne Hermès herself sported massive hair and shoulder-pads you may land a helicopter on. As a rebooted instance of sort, it’s not unhealthy.

24. Kalush Orchestra – Stefania (Ukraine, 2022)

British audiences appeared to take it as learn that Sam Ryder’s Area Man had actually received the 2022 contest and that the precise winner was the recipient of a sympathy vote following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Area Man is certainly the extra memorable tune, however Stefania’s mixture of people tune and hip-hop is hardly a shame.

23. Emmelie de Forest – Solely Teardrops (Denmark, 2013)

One other winner so melodically tight that it appears it was written by exactly the sort of blue-chip songwriters who churn out bulletproof hits for main artists, with solely the unlucky preponderance of a penny whistle – which a blue-chip songwriter would have struck out as too naff – to mark it out as Eurovision fodder.

22. Massiel – La, La, La (Spain, 1968)

Who might resist the jaunty charms of Britain’s 1968 entry, Cliff Richard’s Congratulations? Clearly somebody might: one level clinched it for Massiel. Setting a precedent for British sore loserdom in Eurovision, Congratulations’ co-writer, Invoice Martin, instantly decried La, La, La as “garbage”; the truth is, it’s a stylish instance of mid-tempo late-60s straightforward listening.

21. Céline Dion – Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi (Switzerland, 1988)

A Eurovision winner of two halves: Céline Dion’s efficiency has the showstopping high quality that will subsequently make her a world megastar and the tune is melodically sturdy, however there’s something a bit naff concerning the manufacturing’s preponderance of Syndrums – already an anachronism by 1988 – and the shift in tempo on the refrain.

20. Bucks Fizz – Making Your Thoughts Up (UK, 1981)

Regardless of their cruise-ship picture, Bucks Fizz in the end launched higher singles: the jittery My Digicam By no means Lies is genuinely worthy of reappraisal. However, even divorced from its celebrated dance routine, Making Your Thoughts Up – an replace of the vaguely rock’n’roll influenced fashion of Racey – has a sure puppy-dog vitality.

19. Marija Šerifović – Molitva (Serbia, 2007)

Marija Šerifović was Eurovision’s reply to the sort of rock star who goes on about authenticity: “I like to listen to music, not watch it,” she proclaimed, eschewing visible gimmicks in favour of a dressed-down efficiency. Molitva was a really sturdy ballad: had the lyrics been in English, it would even have been a success within the UK.

18. Måneskin – Zitti e Buoni (Italy, 2021)

If nobody might have predicted that Måneskin would spin out a profession from Eurovision that’s nonetheless filling stadiums two years on, you possibly can see why Zitti e Buoni stood out: tight, Crimson Sizzling Chili Peppers-influenced onerous rock that doesn’t sound like a novelty or a rock band dumbing down for the competition.

17. Johnny Logan – What’s One other Yr? (Eire, 1980)

Time has been surprisingly variety to a ballad that appeared unbearably drippy when it changed Geno by Dexys Midnight Runners as UK No 1, in a chart in any other case dominated by the thrilling sound of two-tone. Forty years on, it sounds oddly charming, in a shiny, massive sax solo, 3am-on-Mellow Magic means.

16. Salvador Sobral – Amar Pelos Dois (Portugal, 2017)

Maybe the success of La La Land and its soundtrack paved the best way for 2017’s sudden Eurovision winner, an impressively subtle jazz piano ballad, the vocal influenced by Chet Baker, that might have pre-dated the Eurovision contest itself. Maybe it merely stood out, a second of calm amid the glittery mayhem.

15. Dana Worldwide – Diva (Israel, 1998)

In a single sense at the very least, the competition proved wildly forward of the curve: 24 years earlier than Kim Petras turned the primary trans girl to prime the US chart, a trans girl received Eurovision. The tune itself is standard-issue homosexual membership Euro-house banger, of a bit with the hi-NRG remixes and covers churned out by Almighty Information.

14. Ell & Nikki – Working Scared (Azerbaijan, 2011)

It’s onerous not really feel that the taint of Eurovision may need scuppered Working Scared’s probabilities as a success single within the UK: definitely, its pretty melody and sound – thick layers of synth, with a Coldplay-ish stadium ballad at its centre – are totally as much as British chart requirements. As an alternative, it struggled to No 61.

13. Ruslana – Wild Dances (Ukraine, 2004)

Wild Dances opens with the trembita, a Ukranian alpine horn that sounds just like the noise an elephant would make earlier than trampling you to loss of life, however the remaining isn’t as subtly understated: booming drums, rock guitar, ululating vocals, acid home synth, glammy shouts of “hey!” It’s additionally filled with melodic hooks: daft, however weirdly irresistible.

12. Katrina and the Waves – Love Shine a Gentle (UK, 1997)

After pausing to contemplate the unlikely profession of songwriter Kimberley Rew, who went from punky psychedelicists the Gentle Boys – authors of (I Wish to Be An) Anglepoise Lamp and Sandra’s Having Her Mind Out – to penning a Eurovision winner, allow us to word that Love Shine a Gentle is fairly good: subtly anthemic, bolstered by a heat Hammond organ.

11. Isabelle Aubret – Un Premier Amour (France, 1962)

One other early Eurovision triumph for a ballad, however it’s product of noticeably richer stuff than earlier winners: darker, extra atmospheric, its temper haunted relatively than nostalgic. Listeners of a sure age could also be unable to listen to its opening notes with out assuming they’re listening to the outdated Thames TV ident.

10. Niamh Kavanagh – In Your Eyes (Eire, 1993)

Good pub quiz reality: the important thing change throughout In Your Eyes was recommended by Idina Menzel, now finest referred to as the voice of Elsa in Frozen and the singer of the inescapable Let It Go. In Your Eyes is certainly a reduce above your common Eurovision ballad, aided by Kavanagh’s impressively gutsy voice.

9. Conchita Wurst – Rise Like a Phoenix (Austria, 2014)

It’s tempting to recommend that Rise Like a Phoenix’s author had been paying shut consideration to Adele’s Skyfall earlier than penning their very own cinematic ballad, however Conchita Wurst’s efficiency, which was concurrently heartfelt and OTT, bought it. Russian homophobes had been so upset by the entire enterprise, they demanded Eurasian nations break free and begin their very own contest.

8. Lordi – Arduous Rock Hallelujah (Finland, 2006)

Clearly novelty worth had a task within the Eurovision victory of Finland’s reply to Kiss. However Lordi had been already platinum-sellers at dwelling after they received the 2006 competitors, and Arduous Rock Hallelujah is each appealingly ridiculous and in on the gag, skilfully mixing a glam metallic melody with Dio-like wails and a succession of daft puns.

7. Train-In – Ding-a-Dong (Netherlands, 1975)

Proof of Abba’s speedy influence on Eurovision: with its You Maintain Me Hanging On-ish guitar hook, Ding-a-Dong is comparatively hip and vibrant-sounding. Its alarming English lyrics however (“every thing is humorous if you stroll alongside along with your ding-dang-dong”), it is usually extremely charming, and Edwyn Collins’ 1998 cowl is unbelievable.

6. Sertab Erener – Each Approach That I Can (Turkey, 2003)

From the early 00s, you possibly can hear up to date pop developments being Eurovisionised: Each Approach That I Can seems like Holly Valance’s 2002 hit Kiss Kiss, though belly-dancing vocalist Sertab Erener would likely argue the melody has roots in conventional Turkish music. The rhythm in the meantime mimics the jittery R&B of Future’s Little one’s Jumpin’ Jumpin’.

5. Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann – Dansevise (Denmark, 1963)

The primary sufferer of an alleged bloc-voting scandal – did Norway alter their vote so Switzerland would lose? – however Dansevise deserves to be remembered for greater than that. Subtle, jazz-inspired – you possibly can hear the affect of the Dave Brubeck Quartet’s Take 5 on its melody – and massive on twangy guitar, it’s genuinely nice.

4. Loreen – Euphoria (Sweden, 2012)

Perversely, when Eurovision entries began turning into pretty much as good because the pop singles that get within the charts, the competitors misplaced a few of its attraction: a part of the attraction was ready to see one thing wrong-footed or bizarre. However you possibly can’t argue with the glistening EDM pop of Euphoria, full with killer earworm refrain.

3. Jamala – 1944 (Ukraine, 2016)

The lyrics of 1944, concerning the ethnic cleaning of Crimean Tartars by Stalin, prompted controversy: Russian politicians complained that it was linked to Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea. However it will be an authentically unbelievable monitor no matter it was about: understated and moodily atmospheric, a rhythm influenced by two-step storage, nice refrain.

2. France Gall – Poupée de Cire, Poupée de Son (Luxembourg, 1965)

Serge Gainsbourg had a bizarre relationship with 60s pop: right here, France Gall seems to be singing about being a brainless puppet, her followers hoodwinked idiots. Meta critique of the music trade, or simply nasty sarcasm? Both means, the melody is wonderful, its pressing rhythm and Gall’s uncooked vocal thrilling.

1. Abba – Waterloo (Sweden, 1974)

A couple of years in the past, all the 1974 Eurovision Music Contest was posted on BBC iPlayer. It was virtually price watching, partly due to the efficiency of favourites, Dutch duo Mouth and MacNeal – Mouth specifically exudes the spectacularly irritating smugness of a person who thinks voting is merely a formality – however principally to see Waterloo in context. Hopelessly overfamiliar it could be right this moment however, amid the opposite entries, it appears like a bomb going off. Eurovision had tended to lag desperately behind developments in pop, however Waterloo felt present, audibly influenced by glam, particularly the sound of Roy Wooden’s Wizzard: pop historical past was made.