You may remember our original Best of the Bunch series, which aimed to find the best Eurovision entry from each nation from the years 2006 to 2015. From that series, we created the ‘Ultimate Eurovision’ which featured the winners of each of the poll, which you can read here. Over the past year, we aimed to find your Best of the Bunch from the last three years, 2016 through to 2018 so now it’s time to create another Ultimate Eurovision!
If you are still interested in voting, the polls will remain open, and for each nation a link will be added!
Denmark
Denmark had reached their most recent peak at Eurovision back in 2013, when Emmelie de Forest took out a win with her song Only Teardrops. Fast forwarding to 2016, the nation had struggled to qualify with the group Lighthouse X, who finished a disappointing 17th place in the semi-final. The following year, Anja represented Denmark with the song Where I Am, which although qualifying to the final, still finished in a disappointing 20th place. Danish representative Rasmussen redeemed Denmark with the Viking inspired entry, Higher Ground which was a huge hit with the televoters and finishing in 9th place overall. From the three entries, your current Best of the Bunch is… Rasmussen!
If you haven’t yet had your say in our Best of the Bunch Denmark poll, you can vote here.
Australia
After a strong debut the year prior, the pressure was on Dami Im to continue the success of Australia at Eurovision. She was loved by the fans, as was her song, and it seemed that she would be a threat to take out the contest overall. In the end, she finished in 2nd place which is still Australia’s best result to date. The year following, Isaiah was chosen to represent Australia with the song, Don’t Come Easy, and although the televote lacked, the jury helped the youngster to achieve 9th place overall. In 2018, we saw Jessica Mauboy return to the contest, this time as a competitor with the song We Got Love. It received mixed reviews, and in the end finished in 20th place. Somewhat unsurprisingly, your Best of the Bunch is Dami Im!
If you haven’t yet had your say in our Best of the Bunch Australia poll, you can vote here.
Italy
Italy has proven to be one of the fiercest competitors in recent Eurovision history, and a top 10 finish for the nation always proves to be likely. That wasn’t the case in 2016 however, when Francesca Michielin represented the nation with the bilingual entry, No Degree of Separation which finished in 16th place. In 2017, Italy returned as one of the hot favourites with Francesco Gabbani and his song, Occidentali’s Karma. Despite the hype, Italy finished in 6th place overall. In 2018, fan favourites Ermal Meta and Fabrizio Moro represented Italy with the song, Non Mi Avete Fatto Niente. Televotes boosted the entry up, and it finished in 5th place in the final. There is a clear favourite in our Best of the Bunch poll, and that’s Francesco Gabbani!
If you haven’t yet had your say in our Best of the Bunch Italy poll, you can vote here.
Israel
Israel have had a strong few years at the contest, culminating in a win at the 2018 contest with Netta and her song Toy. Prior to that, Hovi Star represented the nation with the ballad Made of Stars, which finished in 14th place in the final after a magical performance. In 2017, Israel was represented by IMRI who performed the upbeat entry, I Feel Alive. Despite qualifying into the final from 3rd position, Israel didn’t quite reach those heights in the final, finishing in 23rd place. That of course was then topped by Netta who was perhaps one of our most unique winners at Eurovision! Your Best of the Bunch winner is also Netta!
If you haven’t yet had your say in our Best of the Bunch Israel poll, you can vote here.
Sweden
Sweden is definitely one of the most successful Eurovision nation, especially in recent years. That continued in 2016, where Frans represented the nation on home soil with the song If I Were Sorry. It was a song different to what we had seen from Sweden, but yet it still finished in 5th place in the final. Sweden returned to an upbeat pop number for 2017 performed by Robin Bengtsson. I Can’t Go On was another hit with the fans, and it also finished in 5th place overall. Finally, Benjamin Ingrosso represented Sweden in 2018 with another bop, Dance You Off. It wasn’t as much of a hit with the fans, but the jury votes helped pull Sweden into the Top 10 once again, finishing in 7th place. It was a fairly close vote, but Benjamin Ingrosso is your Best of the Bunch!
If you haven’t yet had your say in our Best of the Bunch Sweden poll, you can vote here.
Portugal
Portugal only had two entries within the Best of the Bunch trials years as they did not participate in 2016. That’s ok though, because they returned in 2017 with Salvador Sobral who ended up winning the contest! This was the first time Portugal had won the contest, and it was with the moving song, Amar Pelos Dois. The following year, on home soil, Cláudia Pascoal represented Portugal with the song O Jardim. Unfortunately, they weren’t as lucky, finishing in 26th place in the final. Now this was a close result, but Salvador Sobral just beat their 2018 counterparts by only a few percent!
If you haven’t yet had your say in our Best of the Bunch Portugal poll, you can vote here.
Romania
As with Portugal, Romania only participated twice in our Best of the Bunch years, missing out on 2016. Despite that, we wanted to still include the otherwise consistent participator. In 2017, Romania returned with the duo Ilinca and Alex Forea who performed the catchy song, Yodel It! It was a hit, finishing in 7th place in the final. The following year, Romania was represented by the band The Humans who performed the rock inspired number, Goodbye. Unfortunately that was the case for Romania as they said goodbye to their final qualification, finishing in 11th place in the semi-final. Your current Best of the Bunch is The Humans after another extremely close poll!
If you haven’t yet had your say in our Best of the Bunch Romania poll, you can vote here.
Russia
Once again, we missed Russia at one of the contests meaning that we only had two entries in our Best of the Bunch years. The first was fan favourite Sergey Lazarev and his song You Are The Only One. After an incredible stage show, it was clear that Russia was a strong favourite and in the end, finished in 3rd place overall. In 2018, Russia returned to the contest with Julia Samoylova who performed the entry I Won’t Break. It was a shaky performance, and in fact it marked the first time that Russia had failed to qualify to the final, finishing in 15th place. Your Best of the Bunch is Sergey, by a landslide!
If you haven’t yet had your say in our Best of the Bunch Russia poll, you can vote here.
This is our final part of Ultimate Eurovision 2.0, but you can read the previous posts here:
Read Part 1 here.
Read Part 2 here.
Read Part 3 here.
Read Part 4 here.
Are your favourites in this list? Tell us who would make it to your Ultimate Eurovision in the comments below!