Our Top Favourite Eurovision Songs of All Time

The Eurovision Song Contest is a popular musical event that happens each year. Bringing together the majority of the European countries (and Australia), this event is glitzy, glamorous and a little bit insane. It’s also all about singing and showing off new musical talent.

Beginning back in 1955, it’s grown bigger each year and now 66 countries take part. The voting has changed over time too. No longer is a song’s fate in the hands of experts, but the public gets to vote as well. All of this means it’s an epic feast for the eyes and ears that everyone can be a part of. But, if you’re wondering which are the best Eurovision songs overall, we’re about to tell you!

Which Are Some of the Best Entries From the Past Decade?

There are, of course, so many top songs from the ESC that choosing the absolute best Eurovision songs is a little hard. However, to make it easier, I’m just going to look at those from around the last decade or so.

From love ballads to dramatic rock and roll, here are some of the best entries that not only won but have enjoyed longevity in the public eye.

• “Only Teardrops” - This Danish entry from Emmelie de Forest came to Eurovision in 2013. The song gained a lot of popularity even before the contest. It went on to win the entire event for the year and has remained popular ever since. De Forest has continued a successful singing and songwriting career in her home country.
• “Euphoria” - Loreen from Sweden wowed everyone with this song and performance back in 2012. It’s so popular that the song is widely considered a defining moment in Eurovision history. Additionally, it topped the charts in many countries, not just her home one. What’s even more impressive is that she’s back for 2023 and aiming to win a second time.
• “Heroes” - Måns Zelmerlöw of Sweden took top place with this song in 2015. The song is notable for the fact that it’s one of the highest-scoring songs of all time. The following year he co-hosted the ESC in Stockholm. Prior to this win though, he’d done a lot, including coming fifth in Idol 2005 and winning season one of Let’s Dance.
• “Zitti E Buoni” - Italy’s Maneskin brought rock and roll to the forefront of the Eurovision Song Contest when they won with this song in 2021. It actually means ‘shut up and behave’, which is the opposite of this band and their behaviour. Since this win, the band has gone on to release a number of successful singles and even gone on tour with great success.
• “Snap” - Despite coming 20th in 2022’s Eurovision, this song from Armenia’s Rosa Linn has turned out to be a massive success a year later. The performance was great and it had already proved popular, going viral on Tik Tok in the runup. Though it didn’t do so well in the competition, it was the fastest ESC song to hit half a billion listens on Spotify.

Some Other Eurovision Favourites of All Time

Of course, the ESC has been around for decades, so there are many other best Eurovision songs to choose from as well. Here, I take a look at some of those classics or golden oldies that put some bands and singers on the map.

Sweden - Waterloo

No Eurovision list is complete without putting this song in it somewhere. Bringing the Eurovision Song Contest into the mainstream, Swedish band ABBA truly impressed back in the 1970s. The performance on the night was exceptional, and the song took the top spot. Following that, the band went on to record numerous successive hits. Arguably, this is the song most people think of when it comes to Eurovision.

Norway - Fairytale

Alexander Rybak won the Eurovision Song Contest with this song back in 2009. After this, he became a household name around the world. Rybak impressed on many levels as he wrote and performed the song himself. Of course, there was some glitz added to the performance with epic pink-dressed backing dancers to add a little bit of that Eurovision feel to the event.

Austria - Rise Like a Phoenix

Conchita Wurst, a bearded drag queen, took the competition by storm in 2014. Not only was her performance mind-blowing, the song was also a ballad of epic proportions. It really set the stage for the bigger spectacle of the ESC and raised the level of the best Eurovision songs. Since then, Conchita has gone on to become an international star, proving once again that you can make a name for yourself here. 

Which Is the Most Favourite Baltic Entry of All Time?

There’s only a small number of Baltic countries to pick from and only two - Estonia and Latvia have seen wins. As such, Lithuania is the only Baltic state to never win. Of course, that’s not to say they haven’t had good songs as LT United scored sixth place with ‘We Are The Winners’. 

Part of this is due to Lithuania withdrawing from the competition for many years. The other two countries have had moderate success with Brainstorm coming third for Latvia in 2000 before winning in 2002.

Estonia - Kaelakee hääl

Competing and coming fifth, this Estonian entry was performed by Maarja-Liis Ilus and Iva Linna. The duo had actually never performed together before. Part of the reason for this was that Ilus’ part was written for someone else. The first time these two performed together was on the stage at the contest itself. 

Finally, Estonia did win in 2001 with Everybody, by Tanel Padar, Dave Benton and Soul Militia, which was sung in English.

Which Is the Top Favourite Nordic Entry?

Without a doubt, the Nordic countries have one of the best track records when it comes to laying claim to some of the best Eurovision songs. In fact, two of my favourite Eurovision songs have come from this corner of the world. 

Denmark, Sweden and Norway have had repeated success with the likes of The Ark and Lena Johansson from Sweden, Wig Wam from Norway and Denmark’s Olsen Brothers. 

Iceland and Finland have also had a lot of success, the latter often showcasing their love of heavy metal with bands like Waldo’s People. Iceland even missed out on a sure-fire win due to the cancelled ESC during 2020’s pandemic. 

Sweden - Popular

Obviously, I couldn’t put Waterloo here again, but I did stick with Sweden for best Eurovision songs. Despite its name, ‘Popular’ from Eric Saade did not actually win in 2011. 

Many argue that it absolutely should have, but it does make the list here. It’s a strong entry though it was plagued with accusations of plagiarism, possibly part of the reason it only came third. Despite some of this controversy, Saade has gone on to be a popular artist releasing numerous songs over the years.

Which Is the Most Favourite Balkan Entry for the ESC?

As a whole, the Balkans are known for bringing beautiful ballads with soulful lyrics to the Eurovision Song Contest. While not being regular winners, there are a number of best Eurovision songs from Serbia including Ovo Je Balkans and Molitva that have had lasting popularity. 

Other Balkan countries offered up fantastic songs such as Mall from Albania and Ljubav Je and Lejla, both from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Serbia and Montenegro - Lane Moje

Performed by Željko Joksimović from Serbia and Montenegro, Lane Moje is a top Eurovision Song Contest entry that didn’t actually win. The singer was already well-established in the country, and as such, took the competition very seriously. As one of the best Eurovision songs this is an ethereal ballad that gained popularity long after the contest was over.

Our Top Favourite Non-European Entry

Surprisingly, there are five non-European countries on the list here - Australia, Armenia, Morocco, Cyprus and Israel. Despite such a small pool, they offer up some of the best Eurovision songs.

Israel - Toy

My top song is ‘Toy’ by Netta, a teenager. All about staying individual, this upbeat song actually scored the winning spot in 2018. It’s remained hugely popular ever since.

Which Entry Is the Most Favourite Song From the Big 5?

The ‘Big 5’ are the overall most popular Eurovision songs. Even though this is recent, ‘Space Man’ by Sam Ryder is unequivocally one of the best Eurovision songs from the Big 5. 

United Kingdom - Space Man

Coming off the back of many years of failure, Space Man was a redemption song for the United Kingdom. It earned a super high 466 points, but still, impressively, the song came second in the 2022 ESC only losing out to the hugely popular ‘Stefania’ by the Kalush Orchestra from Ukraine. Nevertheless, this marked a high point for the UK and the song is still played a lot today.