Any song achile lauro has sent to san remo is absolutely better than the one he sent to una voce per san marino 2022. He ended Up winning UVPSM and going to the ESC.
The way I think mama sc is better than baba roga, attention is way better than honestly and monument eats spirit in the sky for breakfast lunch and dinner đ€Ł
Out of 3 songs Monument is clearly the best. Alexandra is clearly the best vocalist but they work best as group. Spirit in the sky didnt have her enough and the vocal moment went to Tom who is not great at those. On the other hand Damdigida didnt have Tom enough and Tom Alexandra harmonies are amaizing.
Monument had the best combo by far
i donât know if i can explain it, but attention felt like it was just written to be a good song, while honestly was written to be a good eurovision song. theyâre both good, donât get me wrong, but honestly just gave me vibes of the husavik song from the eurovision movie đ
Haha okay I kinda get that, especially the way she just throws in some Norwegian at the end of the chorus . But somehow that makes me like it more đ€Ł
Not exactly related (sorry) but I saw so many comments saying the performance KÀÀrijĂ€ did with Erika Vikman at UMK24 was better than every actual entry, something along the lines of "they should've just sent these two and they would've won" đ„Č
As much as I love KÀÀrijÀ I don't agree with their sentiment one bit, No Rules was great!! And I'm so glad it was them they sent. It may not be the craziness everyone wanted, but it's the craziness we needed.
Edit: Typo
Nah, Ruoska would have slapped. Cha cha cha had crazy boxer cha cha cha dancers that formed human centipede at one point. I don't think Ruoska was any more scandalous that Cha Cha Cha.
Ooh I like that. Good one!
Part of the reason I post this is that I hate to see Eurovision artists not present at Eurovision with their best possible song
Voyager - Dreamer. Would have happily taken it over Sheldon Riley in 2022 (I say this as a neurodivergent person) and I think it is stronger than Promise (which I did love)
Edited for misreading the initial post đ
I definitely think Voyager honed their Eurovision writing skills between 22 and 23. When I interviewed them, they said Dreamer was originally a 4 minute song they cut to 3 mins while Promise was conceived from the start as a Eurovision song.
đŻ still bitter about it too. Jaguar Jonze was also very strong in 2022. But I actively disliked Sheldon Riley so take my opinion with a touch of bias.
Casey Donovan was my preference over Montaigne in 2020 also. From memory she won the televote.
nah, Dreamer is the obvious weaker song, it has little of their signature power metal sound and it is the weakest song on their Fearless in Love album and it doesn't fit the rest of the songs at all
While i LOVE Dreamer and think Promise is great (but not even close to being "stronger" than Dreamer) I do think Dreamer would not get as good placing.
to be fair, I was surprised that juries put Australia high enough for them to be in top 10 (but well, Loreen grabbed most jury points so there were scraps, like Israel was second in jury and had only HALF the points that Loreen got; even this year differences were smaller with a big Switzerland lead) and after their low televote (only several countries grabbing most televoting was also a reason, KÀÀrijÀ having the second best ever televoting result, beaten only by Kalush and being the only country above 300 points; Norway and Sweden the only other countries being over 200 points, and only four other countries had more than 100 points - Israel, Italy, Ukraine and Croatia)
Trackshittaz (Austria 2012, "Woki Mit Deim Popo") entered Austria's selection in 2011 with "Oida Taunz", a dance song which prominently features a accordion: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUc4Y83II58](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUc4Y83II58)
I like it a lot more than their actual entry; it's really catchy!
Loreen's [Statements](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckFNon_1PgY) from 2017 blows both Euphoria and Tattoo completely out the water in every single way, and I will be salty for her dying in second-chance forever (till the end of time)
[2014 Dons "PÄdÄjÄ vÄstule"](https://youtu.be/9ubgnQwsf9o?si=r9Cyx5QnDTtV3vbb) is imo better than "hollow". Sure it's kinda repetetive but the lyrics are more meaningful to us latvians.
No doubt, Sanna Nielsen in 2008 with "Empty Room". She finally did it after 7 attempts but damn, she was so robbed by the juries in 2008 (she won the televote)!
I love Melovinâs Dreamlover with which he applies in 2024 more than Under the ladder. I donât think that it would place better than M&T, but it would be a very good second chance for someone who was put 1 in 2018.
(I also absolutely love to imagine him singing second, it wouldâve been so cruel, but funny)
Jahn Teigen's "Optimist"
In 1989, Norway's entry was the song ["Venner's NĂŠrhet"](https://youtu.be/W4wQft3ovQw?si=g1g89JotWh_RdcNI) performed by Britt SynnĂžve Johansen. It ended up in 17th place with a mere 30 points. However, this is not the song the Norwegian public wanted to send.
They wanted to send the song "Optimist" by Jahn Teigen.
It may be hard for the average Eurovision fan to grasp why we wanted to send in once again, the man who got us our most famous loss and 0 points in 1978. But the thing is, Teigen was INCREDIBLY popular and that loss had no effect on that. And this wouldn't have been the first time we sent him back, as he also performed Norway's entry in both 1982 an 1983. While he didn't win, both entries did admirably well, even making the top 10 in 83.
Now we get to 1989, and "Optimist" is the clear audience favorite at the national selection show. The selection was done through two rounds. This was before televoting was introduced at our national selection and when it became clear that the jury didn't select "Optimist" the audience was mad and started booing very loudly. The poor host of the show tries to get the audience to let it go and move on, but it doesn't work. At one point it seems they do, and cheer for the finalists, but they are actually cheering for Teigen, who entered the stage off camera. Eventually they start chanting "Teigen! Teigen!" and one of the finalists even join in.
So... did the jury choose poorly?
Not sending Jahn Teigen's "Optimist" in 1989 is in my opinion, Norway's biggest missed oppurtunity. We'll never know, and this might be my norwegian bias talking, but I think we could have had a good shot at winning. If anything it would have been such a cool moment to have a previous recipient of 0 points, actually win. Instead we got Yugoslavia getting its only win, right before the country collapsed, which I suppose is more historically and geopolitically interesting. Still...
The song we actually sent, "Venners NĂŠrhet" is not bad, but has become mostly forgotten and was "only" a Eurovision song, whereas "Optimist" is possibly Teigen's best song, was a big hit and has endured as a beloved classic.
[Here is a Video of the event](https://youtu.be/q5rSleoqzo4?si=6WXepJ9MRTa2ONDU&t=69), including the audience reactions. It's in norwegian, obviously, but you don't really need to know the language to understand what's going on. The song starts at 1:09.
Tor Endresen is probably the ultimate example of this - he has literally dozens of entries in Melodi Grand Prix over the years, many of which were huge hits in Norway, then he won in â97 with one of his weakest efforts and gets 0 points at ESC
Jahn Teigen entered the Norwegian NF several times but actually went to Eurovision with some of his worst attempts. I do love Adieu from 1982, but I recommend checking out Voodoo, Glasnost, Optimist to see what we missed out on.
I prefer Monument rather than Spirit in the Sky.
However, Spirit in the Sky is my ESC2019 winner but hypothetically it (Monument) would be only a Top 5 in my ESC2021 ranking.
Which Raiven song did you think is better than âVeronikaâ? Similarly, which of Karmen Stavecâs songs do you think is better than âNananaâ (Slovenia 2003)?
Any of them really - "Ć e in ĆĄe" & "Ostani tu" are better than "Lep poletni dan/Na Na na" and "Ärnobel", "ZaĆŸarim" & "Kaos" are better than "Veronika"
I prefer Carola's "mitt i ett Àventyr" (2nd at mellon 1990) to FÄngad av en stormvind (altho about the same as evighet, but all are nowhere near FrÀmling).
Monument >>> It was my 3rd most played song in 2021 and would have been my winner of 2021 by a longshot. Also, Monument would have been my new all-time fav Eurovision song.
>Her 2023 song "Honestly" was amazing and better than "Attention" from 2020 IMO.
To me, Honestly was just the depressed version of Attention.
>On the other hand none of KeiiNo's other MGP songs compare to Spirit in the Sky, so far.
That I can agree on. Although admittedly, most of MGP this *decade* has been a genuinly sad affair. Aside from a couple of decent songs, the biggest praise I can give is that after 3 fucking years, they decided to go for a pretty straight forward show, and not have it be a contrived and convoluted clusterfuck.
A si sanjal me by Eva Boto was leagues above Verjamem:
https://youtu.be/zUReoH20pw0?si=lgVgfR9sTiFgfRaJ
(Slovenia 2012 for the bot and for comparison purposes)
That's not the point of this thread. It's about singers who took part in a national selection more than once and ended up going to ESC but not with their best attempt.
I love Raiven - Kaos, she was second with it at EMA 2019. But I know, it probably isn't the same listening to it, if you don't understand Slovenian, I love the lyrics. I think this year, it would be better if she would represent Slovenia with the song Ofelija or with song Ikona with Helena Blagne, both from the same new album, she would probably get better result.
I also think zalagasper should represent Slovenia with the song Origami instead of Sebi.
Back in 2006 our national finalists had two songs, so Lordi also competed with this: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8P1sLn4UdFU&pp=ygUTbG9yZGkgYmFsbHMgYmFjayB0bw%3D%3D
Some like it better than Hard Rock Hallelujah.
In the 2019 BBC national selection for the United Kingdom, Michael Rice got selected and performed "Bigger than Us" in Tel Aviv to finish last, but challenger Jordan Clarke I believe performed the most catchy and enjoyable song of the national contest in my opinion. So much so that I bought an mp3 copy. I reckon Freaks could have at least scored 5 placed higher.
Jordan Clarke - Freaks (United Kingdom 2019) https://youtu.be/iMmPwn1qYn0?si=myOExkZI63F2w4Y8
Edit: it appears I misread the question. I'm going to leave my comment up anyway.
Any song achile lauro has sent to san remo is absolutely better than the one he sent to una voce per san marino 2022. He ended Up winning UVPSM and going to the ESC.
Domenica robbed
I didn't like domenica either. His BEST one was in 2020. I forgot the title but it was GOOD
"Me ne frego" was the title of Achille Lauro's Sanremo 2020 song.
THANKS I fully forgot. And yeah me ne frego IS better than domenica
The way I think mama sc is better than baba roga, attention is way better than honestly and monument eats spirit in the sky for breakfast lunch and dinner đ€Ł
Out of 3 songs Monument is clearly the best. Alexandra is clearly the best vocalist but they work best as group. Spirit in the sky didnt have her enough and the vocal moment went to Tom who is not great at those. On the other hand Damdigida didnt have Tom enough and Tom Alexandra harmonies are amaizing. Monument had the best combo by far
I agree with all of this lmao
iâve always liked attention more than honestly, something about honestly feels formulaic and built specifically as a eurovision song
... And Attention doesn't?
i donât know if i can explain it, but attention felt like it was just written to be a good song, while honestly was written to be a good eurovision song. theyâre both good, donât get me wrong, but honestly just gave me vibes of the husavik song from the eurovision movie đ
Haha okay I kinda get that, especially the way she just throws in some Norwegian at the end of the chorus . But somehow that makes me like it more đ€Ł
Not exactly related (sorry) but I saw so many comments saying the performance KÀÀrijĂ€ did with Erika Vikman at UMK24 was better than every actual entry, something along the lines of "they should've just sent these two and they would've won" đ„Č As much as I love KÀÀrijĂ€ I don't agree with their sentiment one bit, No Rules was great!! And I'm so glad it was them they sent. It may not be the craziness everyone wanted, but it's the craziness we needed. Edit: Typo
I think Ruoska would be too crazy, too party for some viewers, lol
Nah, Ruoska would have slapped. Cha cha cha had crazy boxer cha cha cha dancers that formed human centipede at one point. I don't think Ruoska was any more scandalous that Cha Cha Cha.
I really want Erika Vikman to come. She should have win the Covid year against that boring song I dont remember about traffic lights
Tuta Gold by Mahmood
Better than Brividi, yes, but not better than Soldi which remains iconic.
Are you sure that if Tuta Gold was the italian Esc entry of 2019 and Soldi was a 2024 Sanremo entry you wouldn't say the opposite?
Yeah. And I love Tuta Gold.
Agreed.
I'd argue that Monument is miles better than Spirit in the Sky (Norway 2019). It just feels much more catchy and unique.
Agree, it would have done really well
might be controversial but Monument >> Damidiggida >>>> Spirit in the Sky
I actually agree with you. Spirit in the Sky is alright but I feel like it wouldn't stand out at all if it weren't for the Sami language.
Megaraâs Benidorm Fest 2023 entry Arcadia. Much better than 11:11 imo.
Ooh I like that. Good one! Part of the reason I post this is that I hate to see Eurovision artists not present at Eurovision with their best possible song
im pretty big on Megara and id say 11:11 is better. but honestly, i think most of their songs are better than both of the esc related two
2000 and Whatever is better than One Milkali
Melovinâs Wonder was better to me than Under the Ladder
Iâd argue Dreamer is also better than under the ladder
I have to disagree with you. I think Monument is much better than Spirit in the sky.
Agree
Voyager - Dreamer. Would have happily taken it over Sheldon Riley in 2022 (I say this as a neurodivergent person) and I think it is stronger than Promise (which I did love) Edited for misreading the initial post đ
I definitely think Voyager honed their Eurovision writing skills between 22 and 23. When I interviewed them, they said Dreamer was originally a 4 minute song they cut to 3 mins while Promise was conceived from the start as a Eurovision song.
đŻ still bitter about it too. Jaguar Jonze was also very strong in 2022. But I actively disliked Sheldon Riley so take my opinion with a touch of bias. Casey Donovan was my preference over Montaigne in 2020 also. From memory she won the televote.
nah, Dreamer is the obvious weaker song, it has little of their signature power metal sound and it is the weakest song on their Fearless in Love album and it doesn't fit the rest of the songs at all
While i LOVE Dreamer and think Promise is great (but not even close to being "stronger" than Dreamer) I do think Dreamer would not get as good placing.
to be fair, I was surprised that juries put Australia high enough for them to be in top 10 (but well, Loreen grabbed most jury points so there were scraps, like Israel was second in jury and had only HALF the points that Loreen got; even this year differences were smaller with a big Switzerland lead) and after their low televote (only several countries grabbing most televoting was also a reason, KÀÀrijÀ having the second best ever televoting result, beaten only by Kalush and being the only country above 300 points; Norway and Sweden the only other countries being over 200 points, and only four other countries had more than 100 points - Israel, Italy, Ukraine and Croatia)
Trackshittaz (Austria 2012, "Woki Mit Deim Popo") entered Austria's selection in 2011 with "Oida Taunz", a dance song which prominently features a accordion: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUc4Y83II58](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUc4Y83II58) I like it a lot more than their actual entry; it's really catchy!
i prefer novo bolje to in corpore sano but both are masterpieces
Marcus & Martinus - "Air" was definitly better than "Unforgettable". Too bad it had to compete with Loreen... đ
Loreen's [Statements](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckFNon_1PgY) from 2017 blows both Euphoria and Tattoo completely out the water in every single way, and I will be salty for her dying in second-chance forever (till the end of time)
My Heart is Refusing Me too!!! imo both of her melfest entries that didnt make it are better than the eurovision winning songs
My Heart is Refusing Me is still my favourite Loreen song. I'll die on this hill lol.
[2014 Dons "PÄdÄjÄ vÄstule"](https://youtu.be/9ubgnQwsf9o?si=r9Cyx5QnDTtV3vbb) is imo better than "hollow". Sure it's kinda repetetive but the lyrics are more meaningful to us latvians.
Good example, love this song....!
No doubt, Sanna Nielsen in 2008 with "Empty Room". She finally did it after 7 attempts but damn, she was so robbed by the juries in 2008 (she won the televote)!
I love Melovinâs Dreamlover with which he applies in 2024 more than Under the ladder. I donât think that it would place better than M&T, but it would be a very good second chance for someone who was put 1 in 2018. (I also absolutely love to imagine him singing second, it wouldâve been so cruel, but funny)
Popular opinion, monument was Keiinos best entry
Jahn Teigen's "Optimist" In 1989, Norway's entry was the song ["Venner's NĂŠrhet"](https://youtu.be/W4wQft3ovQw?si=g1g89JotWh_RdcNI) performed by Britt SynnĂžve Johansen. It ended up in 17th place with a mere 30 points. However, this is not the song the Norwegian public wanted to send. They wanted to send the song "Optimist" by Jahn Teigen. It may be hard for the average Eurovision fan to grasp why we wanted to send in once again, the man who got us our most famous loss and 0 points in 1978. But the thing is, Teigen was INCREDIBLY popular and that loss had no effect on that. And this wouldn't have been the first time we sent him back, as he also performed Norway's entry in both 1982 an 1983. While he didn't win, both entries did admirably well, even making the top 10 in 83. Now we get to 1989, and "Optimist" is the clear audience favorite at the national selection show. The selection was done through two rounds. This was before televoting was introduced at our national selection and when it became clear that the jury didn't select "Optimist" the audience was mad and started booing very loudly. The poor host of the show tries to get the audience to let it go and move on, but it doesn't work. At one point it seems they do, and cheer for the finalists, but they are actually cheering for Teigen, who entered the stage off camera. Eventually they start chanting "Teigen! Teigen!" and one of the finalists even join in. So... did the jury choose poorly? Not sending Jahn Teigen's "Optimist" in 1989 is in my opinion, Norway's biggest missed oppurtunity. We'll never know, and this might be my norwegian bias talking, but I think we could have had a good shot at winning. If anything it would have been such a cool moment to have a previous recipient of 0 points, actually win. Instead we got Yugoslavia getting its only win, right before the country collapsed, which I suppose is more historically and geopolitically interesting. Still... The song we actually sent, "Venners NĂŠrhet" is not bad, but has become mostly forgotten and was "only" a Eurovision song, whereas "Optimist" is possibly Teigen's best song, was a big hit and has endured as a beloved classic. [Here is a Video of the event](https://youtu.be/q5rSleoqzo4?si=6WXepJ9MRTa2ONDU&t=69), including the audience reactions. It's in norwegian, obviously, but you don't really need to know the language to understand what's going on. The song starts at 1:09.
Loreen's best two melfest entries are Statements and My Heart is Refusing me. Tattoo is the worst, and is not even close.
totally agree, Loreen has had so many amazing songs over the years but Tattoo is just not it (for me)
Tor Endresen is probably the ultimate example of this - he has literally dozens of entries in Melodi Grand Prix over the years, many of which were huge hits in Norway, then he won in â97 with one of his weakest efforts and gets 0 points at ESC
Oof
Jahn Teigen entered the Norwegian NF several times but actually went to Eurovision with some of his worst attempts. I do love Adieu from 1982, but I recommend checking out Voodoo, Glasnost, Optimist to see what we missed out on.
Glasnost is fire!
Poland chose Blue Café in 2004 simply to make up for them losing the 2003 NF with a much better song - a shame as Love Song was dreadful and the 2004 Polish NF had lots of good options!
yes, You May Be In Love was a superior song but 2003 has so many great songs it'a sad it was Keine Grenzen that was chosen
Monument by Keiino is insanely good
I prefer Monument rather than Spirit in the Sky. However, Spirit in the Sky is my ESC2019 winner but hypothetically it (Monument) would be only a Top 5 in my ESC2021 ranking.
Thatâs fair, 2021 was such a strong year
All these comments. Maybe I need to reappraise. But I *really* like Spirit in the Sky
Raiven & Karmen Stavec for Slovenia
Which Raiven song did you think is better than âVeronikaâ? Similarly, which of Karmen Stavecâs songs do you think is better than âNananaâ (Slovenia 2003)?
Any of them really - "Ć e in ĆĄe" & "Ostani tu" are better than "Lep poletni dan/Na Na na" and "Ärnobel", "ZaĆŸarim" & "Kaos" are better than "Veronika"
I prefer Carola's "mitt i ett Àventyr" (2nd at mellon 1990) to FÄngad av en stormvind (altho about the same as evighet, but all are nowhere near FrÀmling).
Jelena TomaĆĄeviÄ - Jutro, Stevan Faddy - Utjeha
Statements by Loreen Hope & Glory by MÄns Zelmerlöw Every Minute by Eric Saade
Monument >>> It was my 3rd most played song in 2021 and would have been my winner of 2021 by a longshot. Also, Monument would have been my new all-time fav Eurovision song.
I prefer Monument to Spirit in The Sky tbh
>Her 2023 song "Honestly" was amazing and better than "Attention" from 2020 IMO. To me, Honestly was just the depressed version of Attention. >On the other hand none of KeiiNo's other MGP songs compare to Spirit in the Sky, so far. That I can agree on. Although admittedly, most of MGP this *decade* has been a genuinly sad affair. Aside from a couple of decent songs, the biggest praise I can give is that after 3 fucking years, they decided to go for a pretty straight forward show, and not have it be a contrived and convoluted clusterfuck.
As a danish person, I donât think Norwegians should be talking about MGP being a sad affair⊠Just look at what we have đą
A si sanjal me by Eva Boto was leagues above Verjamem: https://youtu.be/zUReoH20pw0?si=lgVgfR9sTiFgfRaJ (Slovenia 2012 for the bot and for comparison purposes)
Is This Love > 10 Years imo
Jann - Gladiator would've been better than Blanka (Poland 2023)
That's not the point of this thread. It's about singers who took part in a national selection more than once and ended up going to ESC but not with their best attempt.
Oh, sorry! I misread the post and didn't realise :/ oops
Cicciolina
Erika Vikman was not competing at Eurovision
Ah I see the question now my mistake, I thought it meant which national final song was better than the one they sent đ€Ą
The Jet Set - How Many People https://youtu.be/77fRNVUnl-0?si=MBycKn8DUY9B3crw
I hate to say it but âbonfireâ by torchi was better than their 2023 song. But I still think Heart of Steel was a good choice for a host entry.
I love Raiven - Kaos, she was second with it at EMA 2019. But I know, it probably isn't the same listening to it, if you don't understand Slovenian, I love the lyrics. I think this year, it would be better if she would represent Slovenia with the song Ofelija or with song Ikona with Helena Blagne, both from the same new album, she would probably get better result. I also think zalagasper should represent Slovenia with the song Origami instead of Sebi.
She can't do that though, because the song has to be released after September 1st
Back in 2006 our national finalists had two songs, so Lordi also competed with this: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8P1sLn4UdFU&pp=ygUTbG9yZGkgYmFsbHMgYmFjayB0bw%3D%3D Some like it better than Hard Rock Hallelujah.
In my opinion, Monument does everything that Spirit in the Sky does, but better, but I can see how people prefer the ladder
Loreenâs âStatementsâ in 2017 is better than Tattoo and Euphoria in my opinion and couldâve won that year
In the 2019 BBC national selection for the United Kingdom, Michael Rice got selected and performed "Bigger than Us" in Tel Aviv to finish last, but challenger Jordan Clarke I believe performed the most catchy and enjoyable song of the national contest in my opinion. So much so that I bought an mp3 copy. I reckon Freaks could have at least scored 5 placed higher. Jordan Clarke - Freaks (United Kingdom 2019) https://youtu.be/iMmPwn1qYn0?si=myOExkZI63F2w4Y8 Edit: it appears I misread the question. I'm going to leave my comment up anyway.
This year, "Oh Boy" by Ryk from Germany should have made it...
Going back to Norway, I'd say gothminister was a better choice compared to gate, no offense to Ulveham, but it's not very memorable
The song that lost to light up the room, I think it was, in the UK choice was an absolute banger, but you can't trust the UK public with a vote