It has been another fantastic year of new music from Eurovision and National Final stars, so in our Eurovision Union Awards, we celebrate the best new music of the year with the help of you, the fans! Over the last few weeks, you have been able to vote in 13 different categories and now is the time to start revealing the winners! In Part 1 we will reveal six of the winners, and in Part 2 we will reveal the final seven winners of this year’s awards! Once again, thank you to everyone who voted, and without further ado, here are the winners!
Best Scandinavian Single
This was a new category in this year’s awards, but definitely a necessity after all the incredible tunes released by some of our favourite Scandinavian artists. From the youthful pop tracks of Benjamin Ingrosso, Felix Sandman and Oscar Enestad to the culturally inspired tunes of Omar Rudberg and Basim, there really was something for everybody this year. Who could forget the two national final bops from Aleksander Walmann and Ida Maria – both fantastic songs! Both Swedish Robin’s, Stjernberg and Bengtsson also made the cut with two great singles, as did Molly Hammar with her hot and heavy single, Blossom. All fantastic songs, but which has won the award for Best Scandinavian single?
Dance You Off – Benjamin Ingrosso
Perhaps one of the closest results of the Awards series this year, Benjamin Ingrosso has topped the vote with his Eurovision single, Dance You Off. Also one of our personal favourites, the fans have spoken with Benjamin just beating out friend and fellow performer Felix Sandman who came in second with his song Every Single Day.
Top 3:
- Dance You Off – Benjamin Ingrosso
- Every Single Day – Felix Sandman
- I Don’t – Robin Stjernberg
Best Wildcard Song
This award is dedicated to some of our favourite artists who have released songs with under 100,000 streams on Spotify. These nominees certainly deserve more love on these songs, as they are some of the best releases of the year. This category featured a range of music styles, and a range of artists from across Europe, making it difficult to select just one winner, but with the help of you, the fans, we do have a winner!
Killer – Nathan Trent
Released later on in 2018, this was just one of Nathan’s catchy releases of this year. There’s something so infectious about the way the melodies mix with his vocals, and that’s why we love Nathan! This was another close vote with Aleksander Walmann not far behind!
Top 3:
- Killer – Nathan Trent
- Waiting For Your Love – Aleksander Walmann
- Don’t Talk About It – Aminata
Best Collaboration
It’s not uncommon to see Eurovision artists collaborate after the contest, whether that’s two representatives from the same country, or perhaps two representatives from the same year, but different countries. There have been a handful of Eurovision collabs this year, plus we have featured some other great collaborations between a Eurovision or national final artist with another artist, including those from Gromee, Anton Ewald, Friðik Dór and Guy Sebastian.
In this category, we did end up with a tie in percentages, however based on votes alone, we do have one winner!
Tror Du Att Han Bryr Sig – Benjamin Ingrosso and Felix Sandman
This Swedish language rerelease of Benjamin’s previous song Do You Think About Me captured a whole new audience with it having over 12 million streams on Spotify, double the original, just going to show that two Swedish pop stars is better than one! Yes, the original was good, but the addition of Felix Sandman, who in his own right is having a serious moment in the Swedish music scene was a great move along with the change to the Swedish language.
The song finished in equal percentages with the song Wild Eyes which was a collaboration between Kasia Mos and Norma John, however just two votes separated the Swedish duo from the second place getters.
Top 3:
- Tror Du Att Han Bryr Sig – Benjamin Ingrosso and Felix Sandman
- Wild Eyes – Kasia Mos and Norma John
- Tocame – Timebelle and Sunstroke Project
Best Follow Up Single
This award goes to the artist from Eurovision 2018 who released the best single after their Eurovision appearance. Many if not most of the competing artists this year released singles or albums after Eurovision, and they were all a joy to listen to, but there can only be one winner. Winning his third award this year so far is…
I Wouldn’t Know – Benjamin Ingrosso
He may not have been the biggest hit with the Eurovision televoters, but he has certainly come through in our Eurovision Union Awards, this time for Best Follow Up Single for his song I Wouldn’t Know. It was a bit of a change from his Eurovision track Dance You off, but I Wouldn’t know shared a personal message with a summery backing track and clearly it was a hit!
Top 3:
- I Wouldn’t Know – Benjamin Ingrosso
- Caramela – Eleni Foureira
- Never Let You Down – Michael Schulte
Best Alternative Act
This award is designed for the artists or groups who create their own rules and their own styles. Not defined by genres and labels, these nominees have their own unique styles that continue to shine through their music. Even within this category is a diverse range making it hard to select just one act, but there must be a winner, and that winner is…
Loïc Nottet
Winning this for the second year in a row, Loïc continues to impress with his own unique style. The star single of 2018 was On Fire which was accompanied with an incredible music video and a whole new look for Loïc. He won the category beating out fellow Belgian artist Blanche who finished in 2nd place.
Top 3:
- Loïc Nottet
- Blanche
- Triana Park
Best Rock Act
This year we’ve seen quite a few rock bands and artists take centre stage in the Eurovision world, whether they participated at this year’s contest or national finals, or whether they are old favourites impressing with new releases. Featured from this year’s contest were AWS, Eugent Bushpepa and Waylon but they were in good company with the remainder of our nominees for this category. There was a very clear winner in this category, and that is…
AWS
Hungarian rockers AWS have taken out the award for Best Rock Act with a very significant margin, and it’s easy to see why! The group have had a fantastic year, first winning A Dal then participating at Eurovision. They have since released and album and toured, gaining fans across Europe and internationally. Coming in second was Eugent Bushpepa who represented Albania at Eurovision this year.
Top 3:
- AWS
- Eugent Bushpepa
- Minus One
Stay tuned for Part 2, but for now listen to all the nominees in our Eurovision Awards Playlist: