Last weekend, Eurovoix held its annual Euro Jury, a yearly pre-show vote that incorporates not only a public vote, but the voting and opinions of previous Eurovision singers, backing vocalists, and national finalists.
The inclusion of a mock jury vote allows fans to get a better understanding of which Eurovision entries are likely to do well with the jury vote at the contest proper, and can also show us which of each year’s songs are potentially being slept on by Eurovision fans.
In previous years, the Euro Jury has predicted a top ten result for entries that were sitting at double digits in the odds with the bookmakers, only for them to end up taking a top ten spot at the competition.
For example, Cesar Sampson’s ‘Nobody but You’ for Austria in 2018 came 4th in the Euro Jury’s jury vote that year, despite being 20th in the odds with the bookmakers. At the contest, it won the jury vote and came third overall behind Israel and Cyprus.
That same year, Mikolas Josef’s ‘Lie to Me’ for the Czech Republic placed 2nd in the Euro Jury’s jury vote, and then came 6th at the contest proper, despite being slated at 14th in the betting odds.
The juries and the fans at Eurovision have been known to have differing opinions, sometimes drastically so (insert casual reminder that the jury put KEiiNO’s ‘Spirit in the Sky’ eighteenth here). However, sometimes the jury can see something in a song that fans may not realise until they see it being performed live.
So, when we take a look at where the juries in the Euro Jury places entries for this year’s contest, who are the potential dark horses that fans might not be paying as much attention to, but that the juries have taken a shine to?
Spain
When it comes to Spanish entry ‘Voy a quedarme’, there is no doubt that this is not a favourite amongst the fans.
Fan site polls often see the song towards the bottom of the leaderboard, My Eurovision Scoreboard sees the entry only just break into the top thirty, and bookmakers have given the entry 501 to 1 odds of winning, putting it 39th in a field of 39 songs.
However, the professional vote in the Euro Jury saw ‘Voy a quedarme’ receive a total of 49 points and place in 21st position amongst them.
While not necessarily the best result that Spain could hope for, it does mean that the juries are seeing something that the fans aren’t, and they believe that the song has some potential.
The public portion of the Euro Jury vote saw the entry place 31st, receiving a total of 26 points, showing a ten place difference in the opinions of the professionals and the public.
Spain could possibly be an entry where the live performance resonates with fans more than the studio version (an opinion many in the Aussievision team hold about Danish entry ‘Øve os på hinanden’), or could have staging that simply blows the fans away.
Estonia
Estonian entry ‘The Lucky One’ often feels like a middling song that gets lost in the crowd, which can often lead to it falling lower than expected in public fan votes.
In the My Eurovision Scoreboard app, the song comes in the bottom ten, while in comes into the bottom five in the odds, with bookmakers giving the entry 501 to 1 chance of winning, with the entry coming 36th in a field of 39 songs.
The professional jurors in the Euro Jury, however, placed ‘The Lucky One’ in 20th position, receiving a total of 51 points, while the public portion of the vote placed the entry 35th, with a total of 13 points, fifteen positions below the juries.
This may not be the case of a song that the public is not a fan of, but rather a song that falls into the “mid-range of death”. While in other years this might see the results of the entry be slightly higher, this year’s contest does have a larger than usual number of entries that feel as adequate as each other, leading to Estonia’s entry possibly placing lower than expected.
Slovenia
Slovenian entry ‘Amen’ is another of the lower-ranking entries when it comes to Eurovision fans, ranking near the bottom of many fans top 39 lists.
Another of the bottom ten entries on the My Eurovision Scoreboard app, the entry is also amongst the lowest songs with bookmakers, with 501 to 1 odds of winning the competition, coming 35th in a field of 39 songs.
The professional juries in the Euro Jury have a different opinion from the bookmakers, however, placing ‘Amen’ in 16th position with a total of 59 points.
The public portion of the vote placed the entry 32nd overall, with a total of 25 points.
‘Amen’ is an entry designed to showcase Ana Soklić’s near-flawless vocals, the difficulty and impressiveness of which will undoubtedly resonate with the jurors at the competition, while the ballad that the song is has the ability to fall behind more upbeat entries for the public.
Germany
Germany’s entry to this year’s contest, ‘I Don’t Feel Hate’, is a ukulele-driven song that’s a little bit out of the box and is an entry that divides fans down the line of “fun and quirky” or “ridiculous and stupid”.
The “love it or hate it” vibe of the entry means that, depending on the poll (who is participating, or even who is conducting it), the results for the entry can vary greatly, from a top ten entry, to a middle-range result, to bottom-rung territory. The entry places 30th on the My Eurovision Scoreboard app, and 27th in the betting odds, with 201 to 1 chances of winning.
The professional jury as a part of the Euro Jury placed the entry higher, putting Germany in 14th position with a total of 68 points, thirteen places higher than the bookmakers.
Meanwhile, the public portion of the Euro Jury vote placed the entry in roughly the same position as the bookmakers, giving it 28th place with a total of 31 points.
While Germany’s entry can be seen as a fun and quirky song, it does have the ability to be divisive amongst fans of the contest, where too much of a split can easily bring down the number of points in can receive from the televote, while the jury is more likely to have a firmer stance and position on the entry.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom’s ‘Embers’ is believed by fans and professionals alike to be one of the best entries that the nation has sent to the Eurovision Song Contest in years.
The song currently sits 26th on the My Eurovision Scoreboard app, and 23rd in the odds, with bookmakers giving the entry a 201 to 1 chance of winning.
The professional jury as a part of the Euro Jury definitely thought more of the song, though, placing it in 12th position with a total of 76 points, eleven positions higher than the bookmakers.
The public results of the Euro Jury were less enthused with the entry, however, putting it in 27th place with a total of 37 points, fifteen places lower than the jury.
‘Embers’ could be a song that’s just more likely to get votes from jury members, but it could also be an entry that gains public attention with its staging or just with its live performance in general.
Israel
‘Set Me Free’ is Israel’s returning Eurovision entry after winning the contest in Lisbon in 2018 and hosting the contest in Tel Aviv in 2019.
The entry, which showcases Eden Alene’s impressive vocal capabilities, currently sits at 20th on the My Eurovision Scoreboard app, and at 17th position with the bookmakers, who give the song 151 to 1 odds on it winning the competition.
Fans who voted in the public portion of the Euro Jury put the Israeli entry in 21st position, giving it a total of 61 points.
However, it was the Euro Jury’s professionals put ‘Set Me Free’ incredibly high. Receiving a total of 210 points, Israel placed fourth, behind Malta (‘Je me casse’), Switzerland (‘Tout l’Univers’), and France (‘Voila’).
Is there something in ‘Set Me Free’ that the fans aren’t seeing? Does the entry have the potential to be the dark horse of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest and take out the competition in the same way Conchita Wurst’s ‘Rise Like a Phoenix’ became a sudden fan favourite and rose in the odds the week before Eurovision in 2014? We’ll have to wait and see!
So will these Euro Jury results throw up a surprise like a 'Don't Come Easy' or a 'Proud' with the jury results this year? We will know in just over a week!
*Please note, betting odds were accurate at the time of writing, and are currently ever-changing due to the ongoing rehearsals*
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