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Since the final of ESC 2018 will take place tomorrow, I figured I'd post a little something relating to it. I've been following it since Lordi won on 2006 (it was big news here, the newspapers were screaming, "Hell just froze over - Finland won the Eurovision Song Contest!"). I wouldn't exactly call myself a fan, but it's a good chance to once a year listen to various kinds of music I don't usually indulge in. Most of it is crap, but almost every year, there are a few songs worth downloading, and several more worth listening to once or twice.
This year, there are three songs I find pretty good, worth downloading: Denmark's, Serbia's and The Netherlands' entries. Unusually, all of them even made it to the final. I don't think any of them will win, but personally, I like these three the best this year.
That said, none of them are quite good enough to compete with my favourites across the years. There have been some truly great songs that absolutely stand out among the mass of mediocrity that I find the typical ESC fare to be. Let's see...
2017: Absolutely nothing, last year sucked.
2016: Cyprus. Probably the best rock song ever in ESC. Made it to the final, but placed 21st. An absolute injustice, seeing as there wasn't a single other song even worth downloading that year.
2015: An unusually good year, there were no less than 7 songs I judged worth downloading. The best of them were Georgia's (a considerable number of Georgia's entries are among my favs) and Slovenia's (really like the lyrics of this one) entries.
2014: Another great year, this one surpassing even 2015 with 8 good songs. The best of them: Slovenia again. I can't believe this masterpiece didn't even make it to the final.
2013: Unusual year in that I actually think the best song won. Denmark, the best among a total of 6 songs worth downloading.
2012: Like 2016, a year with only one song worth downloading, but Iceland's entry really was a great one that year... Too bad it placed 20th. *sigh*
2011: 4 good songs, of which Turkey's (gives Cyprus' entry in 2016 a run for its money, but I still think this isn't quite as good) entry was particularly good. Naturally, it didn't make it to the final...
2010: Nothing, a terrible year.
2009: Another year when I think the best song won. Norway's entry that year was a few levels better than the same artist's entry this year. Overall pretty meh year, only one other entry that I considered worth downloading.
2008: Pretty good year, with 5 good songs. Georgia's entry was the best. The lyrics are fantastic.
2007: Another pretty good year, with 6 good songs: Georgia's entry was great again, but the winner, Serbia's entry, was on a level of its own that year. One of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard - and I don't even understand a word of the lyrics.
2006: Finland. The only good song that year, and I like to think that it was a sort of a wake up call, showing that the contest can be won even with a non-conservative song.
I'm not terribly familiar with the songs from years before that, but there's one that absolutely needs to be mentioned: the 1996 winner. No matter how many times I hear this, Eimear Quinn's voice still gives me the shivers.
Besides that, there's one special case that needs to be mentioned: the winner of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest of 2012, Ukraine. This little girl would give a run for their money for any single artist I've mentioned in this post - and win against most of them.
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