We all know it. There has to be some Eurovision songs which we, for various reasons, just don’t like. It is songs, which we decide not to listen to. In the case, that we are exposed to them anyway, they remind us, that these songs, just aren’t for us.
Taste is different. Whenever we talk to other Eurovision fans we realise, that while we do agree on many things, and share a common love for many songs, there are bound to be some, where our taste is different.
We asked a group of fans one simple, yet difficult question: ‘Which song, is to you, the worst Eurovision entry?’.
The answers we got were of course very different. Finland’s 2015 entry was mentioned by several fans, a few also pointed out both Portugal as well Iceland from 2019. Aside from those we really saw a wide variety of songs fall into the category of being picked as worst Eurovision entry: Israel 2000, Latvia 2002, Norway 2011, Montenegro 2012, Poland 2016 and Spain 2017 for example.
13 fans and their worst Eurovision entry
We asked people from our dedicated Fan Panel which Eurovision entry, to them, is the worst one. The Fan Panel consists of fans from all over the world in various ages.
🇬🇧 Steve P. – For me, the worst song in the history of the contest, indeed one of the worst ever, regardless of where it’s from, has to be Norway’s 2011 ‘effort’, Haba, Haba, by Stella Mwangi. Even writing the words make me feel uuurrgh!!! There are absolutely no redeeming features about this ‘song.’ There is no discernable tune, at least, if there is one, Stella does her best to hide it! Her performance (if that isn’t a breach of trades descriptions) was totally flat throughout, and the lyrics (some of us care about them) are childish!
🇮🇪 Paul K. – This is a fairly hard question, and I had to think about it for a while! But the more I think about it, my mind goes back to 2017 and Spain. Just everything about it was actually cringe and hard to listen to, as well as watch! I can’t remember who it was but there was a better song that they could have sent but they went with that! I’m sorry but I can’t forgive them. They were my least favourite of 2017, as well as my least favourite ever! Sorry Spain, nul points.
🇬🇷 Giannis A. – It is very difficult to choose the worst song of the contest. The first entry that comes to my mind is Portugal 2019. I never understood the love of some people for this participation, they were even considered it among the favourites. A song, which had three different songs in it, with melodies that alternated, but without any coherence. The stage presentation was even worse, I never understood what the performer wanted to show, and I better not comment on the vocals. So Telemoveis is for sure one of the worst songs, in my opinion.
🇩🇰 Alberte B. – For me, the worst ESC entry is Telemoveis (Portugal 2019). I dislike everything about it, from the melody to the singing. I get that they tried to do something new, but new doesn’t always mean good.
🇬🇧 Michael O. – Wow, of course there have been some horrors, but what criteria would really make a song the worst? Sadly I’d describe one as a racket that really is quite unlistenable and although Denmark’s entry from the same year is quite sickly, I’m sorry to say the worst is Finland 2015 and I hate myself for saying it, as I have so much respect for the band, it yes I feel it’s the worst.
🇨🇴 🇫🇮 Alvaro S. – 63 years are a long period of time so I would rather comment on the songs from the 90s to this date. For me one of the worst eurovision entries of recent Eurovision years is Finland 2015. It is messy, the music is monotone and the vocals… just no comments. I considered that maybe it was just me that is not used to this genre, but then I see Hungary 2018 or Iceland 2019 and I can confirm the problem is not the genre. It is just them being awful. As a story of perseverance, they deserve some praise but as musicians they just are not very good.
🇨🇿 Josef Š – I am not big fan of fun songs or songs that are completely out of my genre preference. Therefore I really disliked Ireland 2008, Finland 2015, and partially also Hungary 2018, Iceland 2019 and even our own Czech entry from 2009. Every year there is something I dislike and it is put on this “shame list” with other songs from the past. As I still don’t know all past Eurovision songs, I cannot add more of the pre-millenium era entries. Those I mentioned are some I don’t like at all even after many listens and some years.
🇩🇰 Charlotte J. Now, I have a bad memory so it might be that there are even worse songs, I just simply don’t remember. Israel 2000 however is the one, I remember as being the worst. Ping Pong were extremely bad in my ears. Vocally, they sound bad, the performance is awful and the song really is the worst, I recall ever having heard on a Eurovision stage. I just went back to listen to it again, and was confirmed in that yes, it is as bad as I remember.
🇳🇱 Eric O. – Oh wow, this is such a difficult question, because my list of ‘bad’ songs in Eurovision is quite long! I think my worst one is Turkey 2012 (Can Bonomo – Love me back) because of the ‘goat’ sound the singer makes, but also Finland 2015 (Pertti Kurikan Nimipaivat – Aina mun pitaa), Albania 2012 (Rona Nishliu – Suus) and Bulgaria 2013 (Elitsa Todorova & Stoyan Yankulov – Samo shampioni) are definitely ear worms. My worst winning song would be Azerbeijan 2011 (Ell & Nikki – Running Scared), as their performance was really awful, so I don’t understand why they won at all.
🇬🇧 Ashleigh K. – I choose to focus on my own country here. One of the worst entries that the UK ever sent to Eurovision was Josh Dubovie’s That Sounds Good To Me. I think a lot of the time, the UK deserve more points than they are awarded. But in 2010 we placed exactly where we should have. It’s another example of how the UK pick a big name, in this case song writers Stock and Waterman with little thought to the fact they hadn’t had a hit in over a decade, probably longer. It was the same with Engelbert and Bonnie Tyler (I actually liked Bonnie’s entry) but their style of music was no longer popular and it’s the same with Stock and Waterman. A very disappointing entry and I feel sorry for Josh because he wasn’t a bad singer and deserved something better.
🇩🇪 Pascal W. – For me, this one is a tie between Poland 2016 and Iceland 2019. Michał‘s song is way too kitschy for my taste and I‘m totally on the side of the juries here. Hatari‘s song is very creepy. I didn’t like it from the beginning and I still don‘t like it now. I usually don‘t want to refer to songs as “bad”, because mostly it‘s just a question of taste, but in this case, these two were just totally overrated and I can’t understand why people like them.
🇹🇷 Gunec G. – In my opinion, Montenegro’s 2012 entry Euro Nero was literally disturbing. I think it was not even a song. He might be a good entertainer but he should stay away from music and Eurovision.
🇫🇮 Martti I. – A question so easy to answer? Honestly there is definitely hundreds I like the least for various reasons, but to nominate one is hard. Maybe, the 2002 winner I wanna for being such a bad song that it won for it’s show. There are other reasons too, but I think it’s best to skip those.
