As the 2023 installment of the Eurovision Song Contest imminently approaches, 12 members of the Aussievision team have ranked their all-time favourite Eurovision entries from last year’s winners and this year’s co-host, Ukraine.
Ukraine has been a Eurovision powerhouse since their debut in 2003. They have made the final every year that they have contested with wins in 2004, 2016 and 2022 and have finished in the top 5 in five other appearances. On two other occasions they finished in the top 10.
Here are the team’s results:
10. 2020: Go_A - ‘Solovey’ (36 points)
Highs: 7 points from Kyriakos and Fleur.
Lows: 1 point from Josh and Liv. 0 points from Zhi, Dale and Craig.
9. 2014: Mariya Yaremchuk - ‘Tick-Tock’ (37 points)
Highs: 10 points from Olivia. 8 points from Hugo and Zhi.
Lows: 4 points from Emma. 0 points from Kyriakos, Josh, Liv, Dale, Fleur, Justin and Craig.
“The chorus is insanely catchy, not to mention the iconic staging with a man in a hamster wheel.” ~ Olivia
8. 2009: Svetlana Loboda - ‘Be My Valentine! (Anti-Crisis Girl)’ (42 points)
Highs: 12 points from Fleur. 10 points from Justin.
Lows: 2 points from Dale and Craig. 0 points from Hugo, Kyriakos, Steven, Emma and Olivia.
“Absolute banger. I love everything about this song. The staging and the performance makes it one of the most memorable Eurovision entries ever. It truly had everything. I always felt that it deserved better than 12th place. I still watch it on YouTube. How can you not? It's a classic.” ~ Fleur
“Be My Valentine has a soft spot in my heart as my first Eurovision entry, and I’m glad it was! I’m still in awe that Loboda sang that she’s the “anti-crisis girl” in Moscow, to be honest.” ~ Justin
7. 2016: Jamala - ‘1944’ (43 points)
Highs: 12 points from Craig. 10 points from Hugo.
Lows: 3 points from Dale. 0 points from Zhi, Steven, Josh, Liv, Emma and Fleur.
“This has aged like a fine wine - Jamala is a terrific vocalist and the composition is so distinctive that it barely dates. Powerful and moving.” ~ Craig
“I didn’t like this at the time but now I love and appreciate the message and musicality here. Jamala's voice is out of this world and conveys such emotion.” ~ Hugo
6. 2022: Kalush Orchestra - ‘Stefania’ (58 points)
Highs: 10 points from Dale. 7 points from Liv, Emma and Olivia.
Lows: 3 points from Josh. 0 points from Zhi and Fleur.
“A fantastic song and performance full stop. Doing traditional Ukrainian folk with modern elements is what this nation does better than anyone. The staging was impactful and I was stoked to see them win.” ~ Dale
5. 2004: Ruslana - ‘Wild Dances’ (62 points)
Highs: 12 points from Olivia. 10 points from Josh.
Lows: 2 points from Hugo. 1 point from Zhi. 0 points from Steven.
“This song can always fill me with energy, the passion within this song is contagious.” ~ Olivia
“What a trailblazing legendary song and winner. A huge fan favourite which deserves all the praise in the world. Ruslana is still performing it live to this day with the original choreography. Iconic.” ~ Josh
4. 2013: Zlata Ognevich- ‘Gravity’ (63 points)
Highs: 12 points from Steven, Liv and Dale. 8 points from Fleur.
Lows: 2 points from Emma. 1 point from Olivia. 0 points from Craig.
“On paper, 'Gravity' should make no sense, and - to be honest - it’s still nonsensical live. However, Zlata is charming and delivers a great vocal, the melody is as captivating as the best Disney tracks, and it’s a genuine Eurovision earworm (“batterflies” and all!).” ~ Steven
“Talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before, unafraid to reference or not reference, put it in a blender, sh*t on it, vomit on it, eat it, give birth to it.” ~ Liv
“Nonsensical lyrics sung by a gorgeous Ukrainian woman with odd staging? It was so 2013 and I loved it! She put in an incredible performance and there is something about the song and staging I just love.” ~ Dale
3. 2007: Verka Serduchka - ‘Dancing Lasha Tumbai’ (75 points)
Highs: 12 points from Kyriakos. 10 points from Steven.
Lows: 3 points from Fleur, Justin and Craig.
“Dancing Lasha Mumbai' is one of the most epic performances to ever take place on a Eurovision stage! It will forever be one of my favourite entries ever!! Verka and her mother are Eurovision stars!!” ~ Kyriakos
“Certain Eurovision entries just achieve iconic status. 'Dancing Lasha Tumbai' is one such entry: endlessly iconic, super catchy and delivering a well-deserved two-finger salute to a certain country. Brava, Verka!” ~ Steven
2. 2008: Ani Lorak - ‘Shady Lady’ (77 points)
Highs: 12 points from Zhi. 10 points from Liv and Emma.
Lows: 2 points from Fleur. 0 points from Olivia and Justin.
“This performance is iconic and was robbed – there is no other way of putting it. If there weren’t so many other fantastic up-tempo female pop numbers from other eastern European countries in 2008, I’m certain it would have beaten Russia. This act literally had everything: gorgeous lady, amazing vocals, fantastic dress, handsome backing dancers, clever staging and addictive music. Ani Lorak is not just a Shady Lady, she is the best lady Ukraine has ever sent.” ~ Zhi
“This performance was so out of this world and amazing that I'm pretty sure Belgrade had to funnel all the electricity in the city to the stadium to stage it” ~ Liv
“This banger was the original 'Fuego' and should arguably should have won in 2008. Lorak's stage presence has so much energy...I never get tired of watching or dancing to this!” ~ Emma
1. 2021: Go_A - ‘Shum’ (106 points)
Highs: 12 points from Hugo, Josh, Emma and Justin. 10 points from Kyriakos, Fleur and Craig.
Lows: 6 points from Steven and Dale. 0 points from Zhi.
“Epic. Awesome. Entrancing. Can’t take your eyes off it. Builds and builds then goes bang with that final instrumentation. Love that flute sound! Just amazing.” ~ Hugo
“One the most unique songs to ever be in the contest and it’s quintessential Ukraine. Perfection.” ~ Josh
“I love Go_A's style of fusing Ukrainian folk music with electronic beats. Kateryna has such a captivating presence in this performance and even though the song is referring to a region best known for Chernobyl, it comes across as uplifting rather than depressing. “ ~ Emma
“I think Shum helped re-usher in the “catchy song in a national language,” and proved that music transcends language with the general audience.” ~ Justin
“Shum' is one of the best stagings to ever be witnessed on the Eurovision stage, the song is also amazing!! OBSESSED!!!” ~ Kyriakos
“One of my favourite songs in the modern era. The fusion between folk and EDM works so well. it is a standard for Eurovision parties now and I totally love that. Again another memorable entry from Ukraine.” ~ Fleur
“Do I even need to say anything? This almost single-handedly transformed the Contest in 2021 and remains iconic today. Fantastic.” ~ Craig
The rest of the team’s votes:
11. 2018: Mélovin - ‘Under the Ladder’ (34 points)
12. 2023: TVORCHI - ‘Heart of Steel’ (17 points)
13. 2012: Gaitana - ‘Be My Guest’ (15 points)
14. 2011: Mika Newton - ‘Angel’ (10 points)
“I was in love with the angelic, haunting pop melody on its own before the Dusseldorf contest. But obviously the sand art staging took this act to the next level. It was so fresh and original at the time. Mika herself looked like an angel and delivered absolute vocal perfection – especially that last note. In a year with such a dull winner and runners-up, still befuddled how this didn’t do even better.” ~ Zhi
15. 2006: Tina Karol - ‘Show Me Your Love’ (8 points)
16. 2010: Alyosha - ‘Sweet People’ (7 points)
17. 2017: O.Torvald - ‘Time’ (6 points)
= 19. 2003: Oleksandr Ponomariov - ‘Hasta la vista’ (0 points)
= 19. 2005: GreenJolly - ‘Razom nas bahato’ (Разом нас багато) (0 points)
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