If you are someone who loves both the Eurovision Song Contest, and Data packed into a blog post (or either if not both); then you’re in for a real treat! This post has been on my to do list for a few years now, but I thought I would wait until my 20th Anniversary of actually caring about the Eurovision Song Contest, to do it.
I have always known about The Eurovision Song Contest, but never really cared for it, until 2004 when I heard Ukraine‘s entry, and from that point on I have been a loyal fan of it.
I just thought it would be fun to share which countries I have voted for over the years, plus perhaps other interesting titbits, such as perhaps countries I wished I had voted for, or perhaps any that I have since regretted voting for; unlikely as I have loved virtually all the songs I have voted for, but it might be nice just to see if any have not aged well in my oppinion.
Anyway, enough intros, lets begin with the simplest one, just a quick list of the countries I have voted for and in which year:
- 2004 – Ukraine (Winning Song),
- 2005 – Switzerland, and Ukraine (out of a fond loyalty for voting for them the previous year),
- 2006 – Finland (Winning Song),
- 2007 – Finland, and Bulgaria,
- 2008 – Finland,
- 2009 – Finland,
- 2010 – Moldova,
- 2011 – Sweden,
- 2012 – Iceland, and Sweden (Winning Song),
- 2013 – Norway,
- 2014 – Ukraine,
- 2015 – Israel,
- 2016 – Russia,
- 2017 – Romania,
- 2018 – Denmark,
- 2019 – Norway,
- 2020 – CANCELLED,
- 2021 – Finland,
- 2022 – Finland, and Moldova,
- 2023 – Norway, and Moldova.
Now looking at that list, you may spot one country being repeated more than most others, in Finland. No Joke, I really did vote for Finland, four years in a row. I have even produced a Pie Chart to show how much of a Eurovision Pie they can claim from number of years I have voted for them.
Now of course, I haven’t put in actual number of votes per year, as I can’t remember that figure, but generally, I only vote for each country I vote for once.
But whilst a Pie Chart is always nice to see (perhps more for some than others), here’s a quick ranking of the countries I have voted for the most by number of votes:
- 6 Votes – Finland,
- 3 Votes – Ukraine, Moldova, and Norway,
- 2 Votes – Sweden,
- 1 Vote – Switzerland, Bulgaria, Iceland, Israel, Russia, Romania, and Denmark.
So over the last 20(ish) years, I have voted for Finland for 25% of that time. The next highest being a draw for Ukraine, Moldova, and Norway at 13% each. Then 8% for Sweden, and 4% for everyone else.
So that’s probably the easiest list to create as it’s a straightup list of facts. So now lets try something a little different. Why not, Songs I wished I had voted for? Now I’ll try and keep this as brief as possible with a simple list rather than a prolonged post.
- 2007 – Moldova (I had already voted for two countries, but if I had voted for a third, easily Moldova),
- 2008 – Azerbaijan (Very quickly learned to love this song, If I had voted a second time, would have picked Azerbaijan),
- 2009 – Belarus (Heard this song in the Semi-Finals, but it never reached the final, if it had, would have chosen it over Finland),
- 2010 – Germany, and Denmark (I had voted once for Moldova as my main choice, but both these songs were terrific too),
- 2014 – Iceland (Because I now prefer it over my original choice; Ukraine),
- 2017 – Moldova (it was a tie between Romania and Moldova, but If I had made a second vote, then it would have been for Moldova),
- 2022 – Norway (I had chosen two songs, but I came pretty close to voting a third song, which would have been Norway).
Interesting to see that in this list, the only country to appear more than once is Moldova, never spotted that before, although this is the first time I have really made this list. Also, worth pointing out that it was impossible to vote for one song; Belarus, as it never left the Semi-Finals. Annoyingly I wasn’t able to vote for it in the Semi-Finals either, as there was some weird rule that UK residents were not allowed to vote in that Semi-Final.
Now in contrast to the above list, what about songsI have since pretty much regretted voting for? Well, let’s take a look:
- 2009 – Finland (There wasn’t a lot of choice or songs that were my cup of tea. It’s not a bad song, but if Belarus had reached the final, would voted for Belarus),
- 2014 – Ukraine (I thought Iceland’s song was just a bit too silly at first, but have since wished I could have voted for them instead of Ukraine),
- 2017 – Romania (It’s a really good song, only slightly ruined from rewatching by possibly the most embarrassing/awkward kiss in Eurovision history).
Only three songs and three countries this time. Although one of those was entirely for how the song concluded and not actually for the song itself.
Now as I have pretty much wraped up on ideas for more statistics on this post. Why not, just close out, I list some of my personal Eurovision achievements. I have already mentioned above that I have successfully voted for the winning song Three Times, but what about other statistics, like Runners Up, Third Places, Top 5, Top 10, and Other placements? Well, just so I can add another pie chart, lets see how well I have done with other placements, and what it might show us about how well I do at picking good songs:
So, I am terrible at picking the Runners Up, but equally good at picking songs thaty either finish in the Top 10, or outside the Top 10.
So, that’s pretty much how I voted over the last two decades worth of the Eurovision Song Contest, along with some data as to how well I did at picking Winners and Losers. Now, in fairness I do frequently look at the Eurovision Odds website just to see who the favourites are in the lead-up to the next contest. But, I don’t usually follow it, as after all, it’s a Song Contest, and I always vote in the there and then for my favourite song.
As for which songs are my personal favourites, I’ll leave that for another time!
Things I Like 
Leave a comment