I enjoy watching modern ESC, of course like the rest of us, but without a doubt it's the songs from the contest's past which I enjoy listening to the most. I love how entries were truly unique each year, and listening to how studio versions were adapted for orchestra, and how different orchestras from different host nations sounded.

In fact, I love this so much I spend some of my off-time transcribing a few of these entries to a semi-exact level in MuseScore, utilising audio separation software to isolate each section of the orchestras and then working out by ear the notes, duration and playing style. (I've been doing this for a few years and have a few songs completed, might post here but don't know if it's something that people would be interested in! - plus they're not AMAZING in quality, I'm not a professional musician)

When I started doing this I knew I would have to do it by ear because I thought the original sheet music written decades ago surely wouldn't exist anymore, and copies wouldn't exist online because I'd imagine nobody actually cares about this sort of stuff, until yesterday when I found a few pictures of the sheet music titled "Ouverture" (Overture) written by the then musical director of the Metropole Orkest for the show, Rogier Van Otterloo, played to open and end the 1980 contest. This made me realise, maybe the sheet music exists. I wanted to try and transcribe the few pages of this - the whole score is available online from EUROVISIE SONGFESTIVAL 1980, OUVERTURE | Muziekschatten but I'd need to pay 22.50EUR to access it, and I was considering it until I realised this next point - the score was messily written in pencil, and I can't really make out any of Van Otterloo's obscure markings, so there was no point buying the whole score if I can't read it. I know the music could be written more cleanly - see the first picture in this post, taken from the 1974 contest. I know some fan arrangements exist on MuseScore and other websites but they're not the real deal I'm looking for.

My question now is, does anyone know if any of this original sheet music could be found anywhere on the internet? Are these arrangements protected by licensing and copyright? (I hope this doesn't sound like a stupid question but I would've thought the songs as a whole are protected, not the orchestral arrangements) I was thinking of asking a few broadcasters (BBC, NOS, RTÉ in particular) about this but I wanted to ask if you guys knew anything.

Happy ESC off-season!

This may be a bit of a "weird" post considering Sweden’s been doing amazingly well this decade, but hear me out.

Eurovision has become much more competitive lately, and I’m personally in the opinion that Loreen (Tattoo), Cornelia and Kaj were much stronger entries than the (still very good) entries they sent in between 2016 and 2019 after Mans won. I think their entries in the latter half the last decade would’ve struggled to get the same placements in this decade of Eurovision.

Tusse, and dare I even say by extension Marcus and Martinus, have proven that also Sweden is "vulnerable" at this point and not necessarily guaranteed to do amazingly well with such entries.

I think they’ve pulled some incredible entries out of the bag so far with Loreen, Cornelia and Kaj, but I question if they’re gonna be able to keep it up this decade, or if the "male pop formula" is gonna continue and leave them at risk of not doing well (outside the top 10).

So as many of you know, Wales competed in Junior Eurovision for a couple of years. I was wondering, if Belgium wanted to return, could Flanders and/or Wallonia compete seperately like Wales did?

After finishing off the 2021-2025 edition of my Eurovision Subway Map, I was on a high and decided to do another top 50 but instead being from the start to 2020 (I did join Eurovision quite recently, so have had less time to absorb each individual contest. As I knew less about them, I did a sample listening of most songs and rounded it to my personal top 50.

As the range of songs spanned 64 years, I split them up into scores (50's and 60's, 70's and 80's, 90's and 2000's, 2010's and 2020) (score = 20 year groups/2 decades). I have also included "Funnest Song" for each group and added this to the 2021-2025 map.

some notes:

• It’s in dark mode to not flashbang you
• It’s inspired by Vignelli’s NYC map
• The country is written either in the national language, or the language used in the song (Austriche (Austria) for Loin d'ici, Norwei (Norway) for Haba Haba))
• The geography is odd, so for example, the Baltic Sea coast and Iraq Australia are not in the right position/detailed enough
• I couldn't use Arabic, so Morocco is Al-Maghreb
• Yes, the 2010/20's have 4 first placers, all equally tied
• The further away a song is from Luxembourg within its country, the higher it ranks for me personally (Oliver > Mata Hari > Haba Haba..., Sound of Silence > Zero Gravity) (In Luxembourg (the centre), Poupée de cire, poupée de son is higher)

PLEASE PROVIDE FEEDBACK (in case I did something wrong/you liked it)

reasonings for the top 3 each score + funnest song award:

2010/20's (year order backwards):

• 🇦🇺 Australia 2016 | Sound of Silence by Dami Im. I chose this as I am almost certain this was the second Eurovision song I'd ever heard (after Waterloo, of course). I vaguely remember hearing my mother play this as well as having a Dami Im poster on a cabinet circa 2016/17. Dami Im also has amazing vocals and I'm sorry to whoever will be offended, but I think it should've won in 2016.
• 🇩🇰 Denmark 2013 | Only Teardrops by Emmelie de Forest. I love this song. As a recent winner, I learnt about it and Euphoria quite quickly through my "Switzerland 2025" through the contests, but it has stuck as a clear favourite of mine.
• 🇸🇪 Sweden 2012 | Euphoria by Loreen. Need I say anymore? It is such a wonderful song, although it is overplayed (which is why it is tied with so many others).
• 🇫🇷 France 2012 | Écho (You and I) by Anggun. A great song. It feels like ( like it would fit perfectly into ABBA's "The Visitors" album (despite being mostly in French, and having different, but still amazing vocals), which is my personal favourite album of them all. Indonesia also has a special place in my heart and Anggun is also of Indonesian background.
• 🇷🇺 Russia 2012 | Party For Everybody by Buranovskiye Babushki. It is a very fun song and definitely has the most memorable staging of this era in my opinion. It also has the word "party", AQ to the funnest song award.

1990-2000's (1st, 2nd, 3rd + funnest song award):

• ⍰ Yugoslavia 1990 | Hajde da ludujemo by Tajči. It is a BANGER, and I prefer it to Yugoslavia's winning Rock Me. AFAIK, it is also remembered fondly in ex-Yugoslav countries
• 🇳🇴 Norway 1995 | Nocturne by Secret Garden. I wish that orchestras/live instruments can return because we'll have more beautiful songs like this. I love the flow and movement of the song!
• 🇹🇷 Türkiye 2009 | Düm Tek Tek by Hadise. Fairytale is good. Düm Tek Tek is better. This was a big hit for me and one I enjoy listening to!
• 🇮🇸 Iceland 2006 | Congratulations by Silvia Night. Perfect troll song, she was born in Reykjavik in a different league, she was no Eurotrash-freak. She'll freaking win— SHE DIDN'T QUALIFY? biggest robbery of the century.

1970/80's:

• 🇸🇪 Sweden 1974 | Waterloo by ABBA. As I said before, this was the first Eurovision song I'd ever heard, and as one who grew up listening to every ABBA song, this has to be up here. btw, Wer Im Wartesaal Der Liebe Steht is my favourite ABBA song of all time.
• 🇳🇴 Norway 1979 | Oliver by Anita Skorgan. If not for ABBA, Oliver would win this era by miles. Sampling through the songs, Oliver unusually stuck out. It's a banger and her performance was simple, yet perfect. "Dans med henne, Oliver, Oliver"
• 🇲🇨 Monaco 1971 | Un banc, un arbre, une rue by Séverine. The 70's and 80's were the decades of bangers. When seeing many people talking about it, I had a listen, and now love it.
• 🇳🇴 Norway 1976 | Mata Hari by Anne Karine-Strøm. I liked Mata Hari 2021, Anne Karine-Strøm sunglasses blinded me and now I can't hear or see Efendi's song without having a hallucination of them. Besides that, this song did not deserve last place, it's such an ear worm.

1950/60's:

• 🇱🇺 Luxembourg 1965 | Poupée de cire, poupée de son by France Gall. I discovered this song before LPMLS was released and enjoyed it. Then with LPMLS, it has transformed into an amazing character arc for the doll. Plus, I learnt the lyrics purely from listening, I can't speak conversational French, and my Francophone friend said I pronounced it amazingly.
• 🇨🇭 Switzerland 1956 | Das alte Karussell by Lys Assia. I like Refrain, but Das alte Karussell has a charm to it that Refrain can't match. A nice song about the old carousel was not a song I'd expect to be on this list, but it's amazing. Thanks to its' charm
• 🇳🇱 Netherlands 1964 | Jij bent mijn leven by Anneke Grönloh. Very catchy song that I love, you just got to listen to it!

Thanks & sorry if you read all of that!

Eurovision Song Contest 2024 is the first time ever that stage performances are filmed and broadcasted in 25 frames per second in a technique called "Progressive Segmented Frames". In short, it is shot in 25 frames per second and broadcasted with double the frame rate. This differs from the one shot and broadcasted in native 50 frames per second like in 2023 and before. Notice short fade between title card and the actual performances

According to the organizing committee in SVT (Swedish Television), this kind of technique will give the perception of music videos, but it still have a feel of live TV show. This has been tried in Melodifestivalen months prior.

This kind of technique then used again by SRG SSR the next year. And if I have to be frank, some of the 2025 songs are "okay" to be shot and broadcasted these way.

What are your thoughts? Shall ORF keep this technique for 2026, or should they go back to 50 frames per second?

Edit: wrong title

Source - https://www.ruv.is/songvakeppnin

Sometimes I see a donkey or a horse, sometimes I see the shoulders and chest and neck of a statue, what is it?

Hey friends!
I’ve got an upper secondary school project in social sciences, where I need to present a song and make a political analysis, as in looking for indications of political messages or ideologies, of the song. I thought this was the perfect opportunity for me to pick a Eurovision song, as it is among my favourite things in the world.

These are the exact instructions if you really care (but honestly I doubt you need to read them to save your kind soul some time):

“* IN-DEPTH ASSIGNMENT: IDEOLOGIES and ROCK ’N’ ROLL

Your task is to activate your knowledge of political ideologies and try to find traces of the ideologies and their political ideas in some song lyrics, which you choose yourself. Keep in mind that the lyrics are rarely obviously linked to an ideology, without you having to look for, for example, social criticism – which can be both woven into talk about a lot of other things and also in many cases perhaps implied or ironic. You therefore have to interpret the lyrics yourself and explain what you think the lyricist means. Also keep in mind that interpretations are precisely interpretations, i.e. There are rarely any completely correct answers, instead it is important that you can explain what connections you think you can see to some set of political ideas (which do not necessarily have to be the same as the author of the text intended from the beginning. A text can contain examples of several different ideologies, which may be contradictory, without the author of the text thinking about it himself.) As long as you can present reasonable justifications for why you think that the social criticism (e.g.) that you think you can distinguish can actually be reasonably connected to some political idea(s) (which in turn are part of one of the ideologies we have gone through) – then you can't go wrong. Keep in mind that pacifism, racism, feminism, etc. are not ideologies in their own right, but are part of the overall ideologies.*”

(I used Google translate and I don’t think you can blame me for not translating all of that myself, so sorry if the grammar is shit)

That being said, what song should I pick. I really like the pre-2000s Eurovision, so that would be preferable although not necessary. I had thoughts about picking Dancing Lasha Tumbai, but the lyrics are really not too much to discuss, so I’d have to discuss the context around it which I don’t know if my teacher wants, at least not as a focus.

TL;DR: School project. Political analysis. What song? Preferably, although not necessarily, pre-2000. Preferably lyrical depth.

Thanks for your help!

I know he became quite famous in Poland after gladiator. What do you think his chances are to try to go to ESC again?

New Music Friday is our weekly thread dedicated to new music releases by past Eurovision and National Final contestants.

This is a place to share, discuss and celebrate these artists' latest releases following their time in the contest.

Feel free to share singles, albums, collaborations, or covers, as well as any opinions and thoughts you may have about them.

Please remember to include the year that the artist participated in ESC and the country they represented.

Happy listening!

Based on tracks like Apartment and Saint, Bobi Andonov’s soulful and cinematic vibe could be a game-changer for North Macedonia’s image at Eurovision 2026. What do you guys think?

Was bored and decided to recreate some of the iconic outfits from this year in dress to impress 😋

Note: these aren't meant to look exactly the same as the original outfit nor person, i simply tried to capture the same essence and vibe within the game

She had amazing vocals (and power). No way Poland qualified over this. This really deserved that final spot, and probably the most underrated song that Iceland sent in recent years. I think it would’ve qualified if they had a different draw, but it’s still what it is. Iceland 2023 for the bot

I decided to post this song for this week's Throwback Thursday since I thought the greenscreen effects were interesting. Stefania is a Greek-Dutch singer who represented the Netherlands at JESC 2016 as part of the girl group Kisses with the song "Kisses and Dancin" (8th place).

In 2020, she was selected by ERT to represent Greece at ESC with the song "Supergirl" (Greece 2020). "Last Dance" was her second song to represent Greece at ESC due to ESC rules requiring new songs for ESC 2021, and she finished in 10th place in the grand final with that song. Ever since then, Stefania has hosted Junior Songfestival (the selection show for Netherlands at JESC).

Now that we're officially going back to Vienna in 2026, the official Eurovision YouTube channel posted the opening of the 2015 contest, the last time it was held there. It was pretty cool to have a vocal theme for the contest, and maybe this is a sign that we'll have another one this year...

This is one of those national final entries that were ahead of their time in Eurovision terms.

Sure, ESC Gabe can tell you about the endeavours of Winny Puhh, however, their predecessors from Germany should no go unnoticed because they left quite a mark in Eurovision history.

Even though "Wadde Hadde Dudde Da" is a pretty good entry, this is up there with the best guilty pleasure songs in the history of Eurovision national finals.

Also there is quite a lot to digest in terms of the actual message...

Bhutan's "Eurovision Asia" videos were already in "private" or deleted. I can't find them anymore in their official Facebook and YouTube accounts.

After Eleni Foureira's Sto Theo Me Paei, we got another sample of Israeli 2015 entry

19th - 25 points. Daz won the UK NF of this year ‘Making Your Mind Up’ with 121 points beating Anthony Costa who had 96 points ‘It’s a Beautiful Thing’. Kym Marsh who is a known actor in the UK was fourth ‘whisper to me’. The supporting performers that joined Daz Sampson for the performance were Ashlee, Emily Reed, Gabriella, Holly and Leeanne Simister. Emily Reed was the runner up to the infamous Gemini who got the UK the first nil points after a horrible performance in 2003. She was a replacement for a dancer called Jessica who was in the original dancers from the UK as she was sixteen & BBC decided to pull her from the show due to licensing rules as the other dancers were old enough. Daz still bought Jessica a ticket to Greece to experience Eurovision as shown in his documentary on his journey with Eurovision.

This was the one of the better entries in the UK’s dark era in the 2000’s.

Well, here is my personal take on the Eurovision Song Contest logo for 2026 and beyond, which I believe is much better than the typical iconic design from the real ones. It's designed to be flatter and more minimalistic, while still resonances the strong Eurovision identity. It's timeless, minimal, and sleek, while the heart symbol I created is a more modernized version. It really feels like a brand identity refresh or a rebranding effort for Eurovision as we celebrate its 70th anniversary!

I was an Italy fan this entire season, and Volevo Essere Un Duro is for me the best staged Italian entry along with Maneskin

The little Toy Story tribute, then Tommaso joining Lucio and they share the mic, and the harmonica handoff at the end where they do a little nod to each other - all just small moments that made me completely fall in love with the performance (and song) even more

And nobody’s mentioned Tommaso’s killer outfit - imo Eurovision’s best dressed man this year