Over the last few months, Eurovision Union has been going back in time to discover the best of the songs that didn’t quite make it to the final. With only a small group of songs lucky enough to perform again for the Eurovision trophy, it’s not uncommon that some of our favourites will be left behind. This of course doesn’t mean they’re not good songs, and that’s what we will be discussing today with Eurovision 2006 in mind! Here are our Top 5 non-qualifiers of 2006!
5. Annet Artani – Why Angels Cry
With Greece hosting the 2006 contest, you’d think Cyprus would get as many votes as there was cheers before Annet began singing her entry, but it just didn’t happen for Cyprus. “Friendly” voting aside, I do think Cyprus sent a fairly strong entry in 2006. Why Angels Cry is a fairly standard ballad – it’s inoffensive and it’s performed well. Unfortunately I think its inoffensiveness makes it slightly forgettable, and that in itself is a fair explanation of why it didn’t qualify. There was nothing wrong with it, but there was no real special moment. She definitely has a good set of pipes, but sometimes that isn’t enough. In a sense, it was quite similar to Greece’s 2006 entry, but in the end there was place for only one big ballad.
4. Treble – Amambanda
It’s been a while since we’ve seen imaginary language at Eurovision, and I still can’t work out if it’s incredibly creative, or if it’s laziness preventing real lyrics to be written, but regardless, I do quite like this entry. The song has a sort of Safari style to it, and it’s something we haven’t really seen at Eurovision, or at least not that I can recall. At points the song does get quite repetitive with the chorus, especially towards the end, but having the cheesy English lyrics break up the imaginary language works well. This is the type of song you can totally see why it didn’t qualify, but it’s still a bit of a guilty pleasure!
3. Silvia Night – Congratulations
It held the status of the most controversial of Eurovision 2006, but we just can’t not include this in our Top 5. It’s just so iconic! It’s egotistical, ridiculous and completely random, but all for comedic effect. At the core of the performance is the song itself, and I’ll admit I do love it. The music is basic and generic, but I can’t help but singing along with the crazy lyrics. You also have to appreciate the over the top costumes and props, and the hilarious choreography. We don’t see as many joke style entries in Eurovision, so when you watch back on previous years, you just have to laugh at what the early to mid-2000’s offered us!
2. Mariana Popova – Let Me Cry
This entry was the 2nd from Bulgaria, and I think both their 2005 and this entry deserved a bit more love than what was reflected in the results. I think this song is a really strong entry from Bulgaria. The song opens with this ethnic sound that immediately catches my attention, and then the first verse, well, it doesn’t give the greatest impression of the song. The first verse might be flat, but once you hit that chorus, you give this song a second chance. After that first chorus, I think it lifts to another level, and Mariana really puts in the vocal effort. The stage performance at times is a bit chaotic, but overall I don’t think it’s bad at all, so the overall package, I believe, definitely deserved more than 17th place in the semi-final.
1. Kate Ryan – Je t’adore
I think most Eurovision fans would be in agreeance with this number 1, as it’s probably one of the most shock non-qualifiers in recent history. This performance has it all. The song itself is a really catchy pop entry that fits in with what Eurovision was all about in the mid-2000’s. It has the drama building through the verses which leads to that insanely addictive chorus. To support the song and the vocal performance is the staging of the song, which creatively uses the light up microphone stands as props. This is the type of song that has such a great overall performance that you would expect it to not only qualify to the final, but you’d expect it to make a big impact and at least crack the top 10 in the final. It had incredible potential, and that’s why it’s our number 1 non-qualifier of 2006!
So there are our Top 5 Non-Qualifying entries from 2006, and we’re going to assume that your Top 5 isn’t the same as ours, so make sure to tell us your Top 5 on Twitter or Facebook!
Read our previous posts about our Top 5 Non-Qualifiers here:
– Top 5 Non-Qualifiers of 2016
– Top 5 Non-Qualifiers of 2015
– Top 5 Non-Qualifiers of 2014
– Top 5 Non-Qualifiers of 2013
– Top 5 Non-Qualifiers of 2012
– Top 5 Non-Qualifiers of 2011
– Top 5 Non-Qualifiers of 2010
– Top 5 Non-Qualifiers of 2009
– Top 5 Non-Qualifiers of 2008
– Top 5 Non-Qualifiers of 2007