Aussievision's National Final Countdown sees fans from across the globe vote for their favourite songs that never made it to the Eurovision stage.
The countdown has been running since the end of the 2017 season with many a robbed queen appearing on the list.
Which artists have tried time and time again, never to be chosen to represent their countries at Eurovision? The Aussievision team has voted and we are counting down 10 of our favourite Robbed Queens of National Finals.
To be eligible for this list, an artist must have competed at least twice in a national selection for Eurovision or have had their national selection entry chart in at least one country.
Honourable mentions
Doinița Gherman (Moldova)
Ever since Doinița Gherman was 19 years old, she participated in the Moldovan national selection every year from 2009-2016, taking a break in 2017 to try to represent Moldova at Eurovision again in 2018. She has had nine national final entries including her debut entry 'Hei! Exploadează!', 'Meloterapia' in 2010, 'Welcome To Moldova' in 2012, and 'Energy' in 2014.
Her best result was her most recent appearance in 'O melodie pentru Europa' in 2018, where she teamed up with One Voice and came third with the entry 'Dance In Flames'. Will Doinița Gherman return to the Moldovan national selection and fly the Moldovan flag at Eurovision?
Eleanor Cassar (Malta)
Eleanor Cassar had a whopping 11 appearances in the Maltese national selection as a competing artist. Her best result came in 2009 when she finished runner-up with her song 'Someday'.
Aistė Pilvelytė (Lithuania)
Aistė Pilvelytė has participated in the Lithuanian national selection 12 times since 1999 but has never won the selection. Her best results were second-place finishes in 2007 with the song 'Emotional Crisis', 2008 with 'Troy On Fire', and 2017 with 'I'm Like A Wolf'.
Her determination to represent her country is strong – in an interview with Lithuanian media outlet DELFI in August 2022, she stated: "No matter how old I will be, 50, 60, or 93 – I will go to Eurovision."
The Top Ten!
10. Klara Hammarström (Sweden) - 4 votes
Klara Hammarström first appeared in the Swedish national selection 'Melodifestivalen' with the song 'Nobody' in 2020, when she experienced her first national final robbery. The song failed to qualify for the final from the semi-finals, but Klara was not about to give up hope! She returned the next year with the song 'Beat of Broken Hearts', her first entry to qualify for the Melodifestivalen final and her first top 10 hit in the Swedish charts.
Her most recent national selection entry was 2022's 'Run To The Hills', which came sixth in the final of Melodifestivalen and became her first number 1 hit in Sweden. In the 2022 National Final Countdown, 'Run To The Hills' reached #40.
=8. BESS (Finland) - 5 votes
BESS may have only participated in one national selection, with her song 'Ram pam pam' in 2022, but she achieved third place in the Finnish national selection UMK behind Cyan Kicks and The Rasmus. 'Ram pam pam' was still loved by Eurovision fans, making it to number six in the National Final Countdown 2022 and reaching number one on the Finnish charts.
=8. Markus Riva (Latvia) - 5 votes
Of course, no 'Robbed Queens' list would be complete without Markus Riva, who has competed in Latvia's national selection nine times (so far!), never missing a selection since 'Dziesma 2014' with his entry 'Lights On'. He achieved his best results in the Latvian national selection in 2015 with 'Take Me Down' and in 2019 with 'You Make Me So Crazy', finishing runner-up on both occasions. Will it be tenth time lucky for Markus Riva?
7. Wiktoria (Sweden) - 6 votes
Wiktoria's Melodifestivalen participations include three top-10 Swedish hits including 'Save Me' (#3), 'As I Lay Me Down' (#2), and 'Not With Me' (#5). Her most recent Melodifestivalen entry 'All My Life (Where Have You Been)' was her only entry not to reach the Melodifestivalen final.
=4. Elodie (Italy) - 7 votes
Elodie has participated in Sanremo three times with 'Tutta colpa mia' (2017), 'Andromeda' (2020), and 'Due' (2023). These songs achieved eighth place, seventh place, and ninth place at Sanremo respectively, but they still made a significant impact in Italy. 'Tutta colpa mia' reached number 12, 'Andromeda' hit the heights of number 6, and 'Due' peaked at number 7 on the Italian charts.
'Andromeda' remains beloved by Eurovision fans, reaching 18th place in last year's National Final Countdown, but will 'Due' become a new entry in the countdown this year? Stay tuned to find out!
=4. Ace Wilder (Sweden) - 7 votes
Ace Wilder made her breakthrough in the Swedish music industry after her Melodifestivalen 2014 entry 'Busy Doin' Nothin'' placed second in the final, just two points behind the eventual winner Sanna Nielsen's song 'Undo'. 'Busy Doin' Nothin'' became a number-one hit in Sweden, staying at the top of the charts for three consecutive weeks.
Ace Wilder would return to the Swedish national selection with 'Don't Worry' in 2016 and 'Wild Child' in 2017, which placed third and seventh in the Melodifestivalen final respectively. Two of her three Melodifestivalen entries made it to last year's National Final Countdown, with 'Busy Doin' Nothin'' appearing at number 62, and 'Don't Worry' reaching number 88.
=4. Jaguar Jonze (Australia) - 7 votes
Australia may have only had three editions of its national selection 'Australia Decides' in its history participating in Eurovision, but we have our very own robbed queen! Jaguar Jonze made a splash in the Australian music scene with her performance of 'Rabbit Hole' at 'Australia Decides 2020' and followed it up with the anthemic 'Little Fires' at 'Australia Decides 2022'.
Eurovision fans had her flaming dress burned in their memory as 'Little Fires' reached number 10 in last year's National Final Countdown, with 'Rabbit Hole' also landing inside the top 20 at number 19.
3. Margaret (Poland/Sweden) - 8 votes
Margaret rose to fame in her native Poland in 2013, but garnered international success with her song 'Cool Me Down', which came runner-up in the 2016 Polish national selection 'Krajowe Eliminacje', but became a hit in Germany, Romania, Poland, and Sweden. 'Cool Me Down' was Margaret's first song to reach top-5 on the Polish charts, peaking at #4. It was certified 2x platinum in Poland and certified Gold in Sweden. Six years later, Eurovision fans all around the world voted for this song in the 2022 National Final countdown, where it placed inside the top 20 at #20.
Margaret decided to try to go to Eurovision again, this time in Sweden's national selection 'Melodifestivalen', with her 2018 entry 'In My Cabana' placing 7th in the final, and 'Tempo' failing to qualify for the final, finishing 5th in the second semi-final.
2. Erika Vikman (Finland) - 9 votes
Erika Vikman's only national final entry to date was 'Cicciolina' in the 2020 edition of Finnish national selection 'Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu'. Despite winning the popular vote with 30.9% of votes to the 29.4% of votes belonging to the next most popular entry 'Looking Back' by Aksel Kankaanranta, 'Cicciolina' placed 3rd with the jury, and the eventual winner of the contest 'Looking Back' won the jury vote. This was regarded as a controversial result by fans, and in later years, the voting system in UMK was changed to be weighted more heavily towards the televote.
Erika Vikman still enjoyed the success of 'Cicciolina' as it became her first top 5 hit in Finland, and placed 5th in the National Final Countdown in its debut year of inclusion in 2020, 13th in 2021, and 13th in 2022.
1. Dotter (Sweden) - 10 votes
Dotter's debut in Melodifestivalen was with the song 'Cry', which placed sixth in the third semi-final of Melodifestivalen 2018. She ended up coming back to the national selection with a 'bang', as her Melodifestivalen 2020 entry 'Bulletproof' finished in second place, just one point below that year's winner, The Mamas.
Dotter returned to Melodifestivalen the following year with 'Little Tot', which finished in fourth place in the final with 105 points...missing the podium by just one point, below The Mamas again!
Even though she has not made it to the Eurovision stage yet, Dotter has still enjoyed Swedish chart success, where 'Bulletproof' was a #1 hit, and 'Little Tot' peaked at #3.
'Bulletproof' has been a mainstay in the National Final Countdown, remaining in the top 5 ever since it was first eligible to enter in 2020, where it came runner-up behind '2000 and Whatever' by Electric Fields. 'Little Tot' has also been in the top 30 of the Countdown for two consecutive years.
Will she top Aussievision's National Final Countdown? Tune into the broadcast of the results on 4 November 2023 to find out!
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