This is an instalment of the A Song for Everyone series.
In our most recent post, we got to see the most popular and least popular Eurovision entries as indicated by fans. But with the large amount of data we have, the project does not stop there.
Here’s a reminder of the format of the project:
We launched A Song for Everyone, a project in which we aimed to find out whether every single Eurovision entry in history has its fans. To achieve this, we opened a form that listed every single Eurovision entry (including entries from 1993, 1996, and 2020 that never saw the ESC stage). Respondents were asked to select each entry that they liked. Unlike other projects that aim to measure the popularity of entries, a points system was not in place and respondents were free to select as many entries as they wanted.
Below, we will look at what the most-liked songs from each year are, as voted by the 56 participants in the project.
What is the most-liked song from each year?
Rest assured, we will release the full breakdown of each year in the coming weeks. However, it won’t hurt to look at which entry is the most popular from each year, and compare the result to whether or not the song won.
1950s
For the 1950s, it appears that the most popular entry of each year is also the song that won. The main exception, of course, is Italy’s Grammy-nominated entry from 1958, Nel blu dipinto di blu, which is also the most popular entry of the decade. There always seems to be a bias towards better-known songs, but even here it appears that Eurovision fans don’t appear to be very well-acquainted with the entries of this decade. As can be seen above, even the best-known songs struggle to be liked by more than half of respondents.
1960s
For the 1960s, results are a little mixed. There is considerable support for Poupée de cire, poupée de son (Luxembourg 1965), which is one of the most popular Eurovision entries of the 1960s. Dansevise is also well-liked, and fans have declared Vivo Cantando (Spain) to be the true winner of 1969. The tension between Spain and the United Kingdom in 1968 continues, with both entries deemed equally popular among fans.
But intriguingly, the songs of the early 1960s don’t seem to enjoy a lot of support. As can be seen, the most-liked entry of 1962, Tipi-tii (Finland) is liked by only a third of respondents. One can imagine how popular (or unpopular) the other entries from that year are.
1970s
As time passes, the number of “likes” received by the most popular entry of each year increases. It is no surprise that Waterloo (Sweden 1974), winner of the EBU’s Congratulations special in 2005 and one of the best-known Eurovision entries to exist, is highly liked by fans. Meanwhile the best-selling Eurovision entry of all time, Save Your Kisses for Me (United Kingdom 1976), is a little less popular in comparison.
Curiously, the most popular entry of each year in this decade also happens to be the winner, with a minor exception being a tie between 1970’s top 2 entries.
1980s
It appears that participants seem to be a little more acquainted with the entries of the 1980s, with non-winning entries being shown to be most popular in 3 different years. Despite Bucks Fizz’s Making Your Mind Up being one of the more popular UK Eurovision entries, it did not seem to be as popular as the German Johnny Blue in this project. In 1984, there is a tie between the top two entries. The year before, there is a tie with two songs that didn’t win. But the entries in question, Sweden’s Främling and Israel’s Hi, are highly popular among fans in general. Thus it is no surprise that they beat the Luxembourgish winning entry.
If ABBA’s Waterloo was the most popular entry of the 1970s, Celine Dion’s Ne partez pas sans moi seems unable to secure that same achievement for its decade. Consider the fact that the act behind Switzerland 1988 went on to achieve worldwide success but her ESC entry is a lesser known song in her repertoire. This is a different case from the former, where the success of Waterloo is directly linked to ABBA’s launch into international stardom.
1990s
With more recent entries being more familiar among fans, there is much more variation for the most popular entries of each year in this decade. Only 4 winners are present among the 13 songs featured above. Even then, half of them are tied with other songs from their respective years.
With the exception of Hombres (Spain 1993), every entry made the top 10 of their respective years. But even the two songs above that did not make the top 5 of their respective years were still widely celebrated. Hombres was consistently applauded by the Irish audience whenever it was awarded points. And while Ooh Aah (Just a Little Bit) (United Kingdom 1996) came 8th, it is one of 3 Eurovision songs to be nominated for a Grammy Award.
2000s
The trend continues. Again, only 4 winning songs are featured among the 10 entries above. The most-liked songs from each year this decade all came from the top 7. With the exception of Sweden’s When Spirits are Calling My Name (Sweden 2000) and Estonia’s Rändajad (Estonia 2009), all songs above made the top 3.
What is also notable is the fact that these entries appear to be more well-liked than those in previous decades. While 20th century entries may struggle to find themselves liked by more than 40 people, the most popular songs of this decade sail easily into that territory. We even have one entry, Molitva (Serbia 2007), being liked by 50 out of the 56 participants, or almost 90%.
2010s + 2020
With most Eurovision fans being well-acquainted with the entries of the 2010s, it is no surprise that the results are somewhat all over the place. Only 3 of the songs above won their respective contests. Spirit in the Sky (Norway) did not win the contest in 2019, but did win the televoting portion of the grand final. Euphoria (Sweden 2012), notable for winning the annual ESC250 vote year after year, does not seem as popular here either.
Curiously enough, not all the entries above necessarily did well either. Rockefeller Street (Estonia 2011) notably came 2nd-last in the grand final. The two French entries Requiem (2017) and Mercy (2018) failed to make the top 10.
The song that would have represented Iceland in 2020, Think About Things, was crowned the most popular Eurovision 2020 entry. Many speculated that the song would have won. Even in the absence of an official EBU result, the song enjoyed success worldwide due to its popularity on the app Tiktok.
Stay tuned for more!
In the next article, we will look at the actual winners of each contest. There are 67 of them, and we will see how they hold up against each other. Thank you for making it this far in the article. Please stay tuned for the next instalment of this series!