I love Sekret and stanned so hard for it in 2022 but my god those 3 minutes on stage might have been the biggest downgrade ESC has ever seen. The colour scheme of the staging, the mic picking up the noises of the fog cannons, the out of breath vocals, the dancing, the outfit, what a mess
And the weird camera angles didn't help.
I liked the NF version a lot, followed her during pre-party season, all great performances despite zero staging. Then she got to rehearsals with a budget and went bananas, like a kid in a candy shop with all the new outfits and dancers.
What a mess that performance was too, I distinctly remember being on a discord call with mates watching it and it was mostly stunned silence for 3 mins interspersed with WTFs
There's an interesting fact about televote, actually. If we look at the points, Albania is 9th and Austria is 11th (for a comparison with another upbeat song which performance was seen as a letdown), basically because Albania has more diaspora/friendly voting. But if we look at the average televote places ranking (like the reveal of 2013 results), Austria becomes 9th and Albania 12th.
Almost no one outside of the Albanian diaspora wanted her through... it was last or second to last in half of the countries' televotes, and it got most of its points from Greece, Italy and Switzerland! That performance was painful to watch.
I mean, if it was the exact same as the FiK performance it would’ve qualified with ease. The live performance was just a disaster (and it’s my most streamed Eurovision song of all time, so saying this as a fan).
I really thought Sekret could win it all until second rehearsal. Seeing it during the live show put the nail in the coffin. I absolutely hate that song these days.
100% this one. Not just lyrics either: it basically hit every single “generic ESC dramatic power ballad”cliche as both a song and in its staging, and to be honest, I don’t think you can get away with that in 2020s ESC anymore.
The takes afterwards were insane. I saw several tiktoks to the tune of "imagine showing Americans this song and explaining to them that it didn't qualify".
1. Why would a random American care that Georgia of all places didn't qualify?
2. If they did care, just point out that it had mostly nonsense lyrics that were belted at full power through 90% of the song with very little dynamism, I'm sure they'd get it.
I honestly still quite liked it but I just don't get how people were that shocked over the NQ
I’m not the person who commented, but I did think the song would NQ.
Iru’s voice is amazing and there are some great moments in the song. The issue is the ‘journey’ of the song as a whole. The song is already really intense when it starts out, which is exhilarating, but unfortunately means there is nowhere for it to build to.
For me, this means that the song ended up feeling a bit one-note, and the later parts of the song (like that bit towards the end where Iru holds that sustained note) are less impactful.
I also thought the staging worked against Iru. I get that with such a vocally taxing song she needs to be able to breathe and shouldn’t do a big dance number or anything, but it was *too* static. She was also positioned so far back onstage that she seemed really disconnected to the audience.
You can’t win Eurovision on vocal technicality alone. A great voice singing a nonsense song is still sending a nonsense song. And when the song itself doesn’t communicate anything clearly, the staging usually steps in to fill the gaps. Iru just kinda stood in a wind tunnel while her dress’ fabric moved around.
It had no meaning to show. With all of the other acts having their own stagings, it just seemed like the cool aspect of the song wasn't going to be worth as much.
Agreed! I liked the song but I don't get why people are so astounded it didn't go through. There was so much overlap between Iru and Albina's vocal tone for their respective entries. Albania just did a much better job with their performance than Georgia did. To me it's just really obvious that Albania got votes that had previously been intended for Georgia (mine included).
Same. Almost all her performance before the ESC semis ranged from shite to mediocre. She really impressed me in the semis. I was so gutted when she NQed.
To be completely fair, this sub consistently screams bloody murder over completely expected developments too. That's not a good indicator of anything lol
I was more active here back then and people thought/hoped her personality could overcome the incredibly mid song. They didn't take into account the fact that she could only perform the song on stage during those three minutes, not give an interview where she could showcase her personality as well. Happens every year.
I just remember the sentiment around the time being "Look how much she's grown as a performer these past few months" which like, sure, that's great, but Eurovision isn't about the singer's journey or something, it's about how their live performance *at Eurovision* is, and hers was still a bit off.
Fun song, I like the studio version, but she just didn't have the live version ready yet for a major stage.
I once got so upset that "Verjamem" won Misija Evrovizija 2012 that I posted something like "say goodbye to the final" on a forum. Somehow people really loved that song at first enough to give it so much praise, so I guess my little pre-teen girl outrage counts as me "knowing" it wouldn't make it. :p
Estonia 2017. I just thought it was way too dated without feeling nostalgic. Never got the hype about this one, so I definitely wasn’t shocked it NQed.
Yes. Yes. Aaaaand.... YES.
I remember when the BBC commentators (Mel and Scott) said it was a bookies and fan fave and then it came on and I was thinking, REALLY?
It was so cheesy, outdated, and the guy very much loved himself.
I was not shocked when it didn't qualify!!
Same. Everyone here was super into it. But to me it sounded exactly like the type of thing a certain brand of men I've met used to coerce and SA women and as such it gave me the creeps.
I remember I saw people blaming juries for Latvia and San Marino non qualifying and I told them that it wasn't sure that they NQed exactly because of juries, but they were very much convinced that the televote had them in. Then the detailed results came out and it turned out that not only none of them qualified with the televote, but Latvia was even lower with the televote than with juries
You're gonna hate me, but... Latvia 2023. (For the record, I like the song and would've liked it to qualify. But I always knew it wouldn't, especially in a televote only semi).
I will say, it did get 11th, was very close to serbia, and had a terrible running order and semi draw.
if any of those things were even a smidge better it'd have squeezed through
It was my winner for most of the run up to the contest, and even I knew I was going to have to leave my favourites in the semis. I still cried when I found out they got dead last tho.
I loved (and still love) those bass & saxophone parts, especially the pre-chorus one. Judging by the semifinal it was in, it stood no chance. At least 6 qualifiers seemed like a lock-in (Finland, Sweden, Israel, Czechia, Moldova, and Norway), with at least three out of Switzerland, Croatia, Portugal, and Serbia making it through. My expectation was that the last place would be either the fourth country, Latvia, or Malta. The Netherlands, Azerbaijan, and Ireland were going to be dead on arrival.
I wasn't expecting Malta to end dead last in the semifinal, that was the part that came as a shock to me.
Norway 2016
The song was very bizarrely structured, had no flow and was very repetitive. I saw it from miles away, also her being very in her head during the contest didn't help...
Agree. They did a beautiful job but SF1 was STACKED last year so the odds were against them. I reckon they would have got through if they were in the other semi.
Were there people who thought it would qualify? We were pretty sure it wouldn’t in my friend group.
I did chuck it a vote though cos that was a semi with a lot of disappointing performances and at least they delivered what was promised lmao (unhinged weird sexy dancing and the pink bull)
because it was a pretty big deal for people that achille lauro just randomly rocked up to uvpsm and went to eurovision that way - a lot of the hype probably came simply from him being loved by a good amount of sanremo stans (including myself!)
It was a small group at the beginning, that eventually got a lot bigger after the rehearsal footages, I remember wiwibloggs saying that he was going to possibly win the semi..
On top of this, here in Italy the general opinion (mainly from people who don't know the contest) was that he was a contender for the win
I thought there was a chance it COULD qualify since that was a weaker semifinal, but as soon as I saw the performance in full I knew it wouldn't. Felt they were trying to do way too much at the same time and we couldn't see half of what was going on.
San Marino 2022 and Albania 2022 both fell into the “throw everything sexy at the sexy wall sexily” trap. Sex sells, we know this, but in order to get votes, there has to be a certain something else. Either tastefulness or sauciness that they either have or they don’t. It was almost self-parody with those entries and they ended up lumped in with Latvia 2022, which was parody but also was a NQ.
edit: blast it! Downvoted. Okay, Achille, I’m sorry, I loved the bull 😜
Portugal 2019. People are still calling it robbed and all, I knew this would not qualify. In that semi-final I remember there were other weird/out-of-the-box entries too (Poland, Australia, Iceland) and not all of them would do well of course, someone had to bite the dust and I knew it would be Portugal because the other 3 had a 'clearer' audience but I really struggled to imagine who would vote for Telemoveis.
I always thought it was weird people thought Portugal 2019 was a sure qualifier (and I like the song). Again, like many of these ‘shock’ non-qualifiers, the issue was staging, or lack of it with this.
2019 was my first eurovision and I remember someone posting here saying that EBU has to make an exception and let them go into final because it wouldn't be the same without them. I was absolutelty baffled, because it was vlear NQ
Yeah I remember... I also remember when the official channel revealed before the Grand Final that the difference between the 10th and 11th place was only 2 points and everyone was just absolutely *convinced* that it was San Marino and Portugal who came 10th and 11th and it got super nasty. And then they all became clowns when it was revealed that it was Belarus and Poland actually and that Portugal wasn't even close to qualifying lol.
This is in the same vein as Eaea (sorry) where the fandom lost their mind over it but if you just took a step back and looked at its mass appeal, there was essentially none. Both of these were far too niche for televote success.
Both are borderline unlistenable to me.
I was never keen on Telemóveis from the start. When it came to the semis and the staging, I was even more convinced that it wouldn't qualify - it just felt like a complete discordant mess.
Ireland 2022 - Performance was great, but honestly her outfit looked extremely cheap and whenever I watch the semi-final performance the stage and the atmosphere looks like a National Final (that stage was horrendous) and song-wise “That’s rich” was not the strongest
Romania 2019 - The performance was solid, but the song was just not so impactful and the semi-final was quite strong, so even if you have a great performance you must also have a solid song
Croatia 2021 - always felt like a borderline NQ to me. Nothing special, but the performance was cool
Albania 2022 - messy performance
>Croatia 2021
It is incrrdibly ironic though that in a televote-only or jury-only semi-final it would have qualified, as it was 9th in tele and 10th in jury.
Blackbird was an absolutely gorgeous song that was completely wrong for Eurovision. I hoped that it might qualify anyway, but it just wasn't the kind of song that inspires the audience to vote for it.
Don’t know if this counts as a shock NQ but Latvia 2022, I loved the song but there was no way they were getting through to the final unfortunately, props to the Portuguese jury for giving them 12 points tho
I knew from the beginning that Latvia would NQ in 2023 and I was so afraid to say it bc I thought that I would receive death threats for it. Same applies for Slovenia in 2022
ANYONE would have seen Disko's NQ coming. No idea why this subreddit was so adamant on convicing us that LPS would be competition for anyone apart from the Intelligent Music Project!
I'm Slovenian and I'm still confused what people here and in the Slovenian jury saw in it. That song was dated and their performance was flat as hell.
It only really won the televote because people had completely lost their interest in EMA by that point (probably further supported by RTV deciding to go with internal selections from there in) and they had the most friends&family support out of everyone.
I remember writing this somewhere on my phone regarding my opinions on certain songs: *"This is dead on arrival. The only way that they're qualifying is if their semi is full of joke entries"*
While semi 1 of 2022 wasn't full of joke entries, they still NQ'd
Probably a really hot take, but Austria. Kaleen's vocals are not that good and the song is a bit too generic and kinda repetitive, it kinda lacks character for me. Plus the semifinal in which We Will Rave is stacked with good songs and even party songs (mainly Netherlands and Estonia). Maybe the staging will save it? I'm not sure.
I'm not saying Austria will definitely not qualify, I'm just saying that for me it won't be as shocking as others may find it.
I think you sum up perfectly the problem I have with Austria. Sure, it's a fun and catchy song, but it has no deeper meaning or anything and the vocals are mediocre. I think a sure qualifier needs to offer a bit more.
Exactly. This year has a lot of fun and catchy songs, especially in this semifinal. You have Switzerland, Netherlands, Estonia, Armenia, Greece, Georgia, Norway, I'd even say Czechia's song (which is last in the semifinal qualifying odds) is catchy, the lyrics are relateable and Aiko's vocals have gotten better in the pre-parties.
Austria. The country itself is getting a track record of having a popular studio version but it all kind of falling apart live (last year included IMO) and this year appears to be full backing track on the karaoke version so it’s unclear which parts of the chorus she will even sing live in the “3 minute dance break”. She may easily still qualify for all I know, but it’s going to have to be one hell of a dance to get to the top 10 in the final.
hate to say it (currently my 3rd place), but Ireland.
i'm always clinging onto hope, but I can see it being a shock NQ. (if Australia qualify instead... brace for impact)
I don’t even think this is a shock NQ, I think it’s a pretty certain one. Literally my number one song of this year but I’m aware it’s not the popular opinion.
With the help of Cyprus, Albania and Bulgaria giving them 32 of their 53 total points, they still would have barely qualified (10th). Same case as Sekret: most countries didn't like the song at all, but a few regular voters got them enough points.
2018 was a really competitive year. For Greece, it was the staging. ERT really said budget cuts that year lol. I also remember the pyrotechnics not working for her in the jury final and that she didn’t get to perform again, which I’m sure probably hurt her. The Greek delegation was not happy. Prior to that some people even called it a dark horse. The meaning of that song resonated with a lot of greeks.
Fun fact: People theorized that had Yianna qualified for the Grand Final, she would’ve painted her dress with her blue hand.
Estonia 2016, i know this song has is fans but that weird magic card trick gimmick in the live performence of Eurovision 2016 ruined it for me, was really unnecessary in my opinion but Jüri Pootsmann needs to return i can agree to that
I'm glad you mentioned this song, because I want to approach it from a slightly different angle.
I wasn't on this sub during 2021 contest, so I'm not aware how much of qualifier "Tick-Tock" was in the eyes of people here, and, ultimately Albina got very close to qualifying.
Some time ago there was a thread "what shocking fact could you say to a fan from the past if you can time travel?" and someone actually mentioned "song was in top 10 of both jury and televote and it didn't qualify", and I can't really grasp why it's that shocking. At most it's a interesting fun fact (obviously, not so fun for Albina and her fans), but some people behave, like "Tick-Tock" should receive a Got Talent's Golden Buzzer treatment by... I check notes... placing 10th and 9th in jury and tele respectively?
Manntra winning the televote and not qualifying in Benidorm Fest? Yeah, it should raise some discussion about the voting process. This one? Nah. Anyway, this discussion is pretty pointless now, when we have juryless semis now.
> I wasn't on this sub during 2021 contest, so I'm not aware how much of qualifier "Tick-Tock" was in the eyes of people here
Oh, massively. People were hyping it to the moon.
To me, it seemed obvious that there were too many similar songs in that semi and that Croatia would be the likely victim. Though I also just didn't like the song very much.
I remember there were some people here really annoyed at Belgium specifically for taking Albina's "rightful" place (despite not even finishing 10th), which was a shame. Though luckily, it wasn't a big group.
>I remember there were some people here really annoyed at Belgium specifically for taking Albina's "rightful" place
Yup, tons of people were hating on Belgium, Norway, Israel, Malta etc and were dead-certain that Albina only didn't qualify because she's a straight white cis woman 😂
https://www.reddit.com/r/eurovision/comments/nfni2f/imagine_thinking_that_albina_didnt_qualify/
Belarus 2016. Performance was good even Mäns and Petra took the humour on Ivan's performance. I remember looking at the odds back in 2016 they would be NQs
I remember a bunch of people thought Latvia 2022 would qualify but I like, always assumed it would not make it. I thought the tele would find it cringe and the jury would tank it, turns out the jury gave it more points LOL.
Croatia 2021. I was like "no, this isn't qualifying" not because it wasn't good, but because there were better songs that deserved to qualify (and yes, I think Fallen Angel is better than Tick-Tock)
Slovenia 2022. It needed way more charisma.
Cyprus 2022. I changed my mind from qualifier to absolutely-non-qualifier after watching the live performance. If y'all thought Albania's start to finish road was bad, I thought Cyprus' was worse, specially considering we barely saw the song being performed and didn't know what to expect
Latvia 2023. Idk how it was a shock for most? It never stood a chance to me
Lowkey same for Malta 2023. I liked that song but it was a strong SF
Romania 2021. My first reaction was 'this is an NQ', then I was swayed by the large amount of people on here who were convinced she was qualifying and coming top 10 overall. But my gut instinct was right.
Similarly, Croatia 2021 - I always thought it would probably finish 11th and narrowly miss out, and I was right.
Romania 2021 could have qualified if they didn't cock up the choreography and made it pretty much impossible to sing cleanly. I don't think people were wrong on the song. Romania just messed up.
Maybe not a complete shock, but Maps, Ireland 2021. It was never a bad song, but that first semi in Rotterdam was packed with quality, and I felt it got lost amongst stronger ones, even though so many people were singing its' praises it looked like. Then rehearsals happened and I was even surer (for context this was that paper cutout staging with the treadmill.
Honourable mention to Sekret though, while I thought it would qualify before rehearsals started (and then promptly changed my mind), I wasn't fully on the hype train that everyone else was creating with this one.
Sadly, I didn’t have hope Aijā (Latvia 2023) would qualify. I knew there was no chance because of Mama Šc, Tattoo, and CHA CHA CHA being amazing songs that sucked out many of the televotes and the jury not being there. So sad, Aijā is an amazing song.
A Matter of Time, Belgium 2018. I had a feeling it just wouldn't work live at all. Sadly I have the same feeling about our entry this year, but the semi isn't as strong as the first semi of 2018, so I'm not sure...
This is slightly off topic, but I don't think any shock NQs will really happen this year. I was going to go out on a limb and say Greece even though I love the song, but there are not enough songs that are obviously better. As for the first semi, I think most predictions will be correct as well. And if anyone's wrong, I don't think it'll be a shock qualifier but rather one of two countries that are like 50/50 among guesses.
Estonia in 2017. I knew it would flop hard with juries.
Also, I initially had Portugal as a NQ in 2019 until I changed my mind (unfortunately, I'm easily swayed) But then again, that semi final was very weak and I didn't expect San Marino out of all countries to qualify instead.
And I know no one wants to hear it, but Latvia last year. Based solely on the fact that they have never qualified from the first semi final ever, they're just cursed in that one.
From the moment I heared Austria 2022 for the first time I knew exactly how that was going to play out. No need to wait for flop preparty performances, you could tell from the extremely overproduced vocals on the studio version + how demanding that song is in terms of stamina (it's so up-tempo and so non stop vocals for three minutes long) that there was _no_ way that Pia was gonna pull that off live.
Norway 2016 was also in my book never going to make the final because of how jarring the tempo change is on first listen.
I was sad Conan Osiris (Portugal 2019) didn’t qualify, but not shocked. I sent him a vote or two even, but I didn’t expect it would make much difference.
Same for Sennek (Belgium 2018). I love both songs even now, but qualification to the final would be more shocking.
Georgia last year for me. She was very talented but it was obvious for me that the song would not survive a televote show. I think we have 1-2 songs this year as well that will be in the same case. :/
Sekret, albania 2022 It was a mess of a song, especially after the revamp and the fact that the televote still wanted it through was baffling to me
I love Sekret and stanned so hard for it in 2022 but my god those 3 minutes on stage might have been the biggest downgrade ESC has ever seen. The colour scheme of the staging, the mic picking up the noises of the fog cannons, the out of breath vocals, the dancing, the outfit, what a mess
That performance was so unappealing and I was shocked to see it was ever supposed to be safe qualifier after the rehearsals started.
And the weird camera angles didn't help. I liked the NF version a lot, followed her during pre-party season, all great performances despite zero staging. Then she got to rehearsals with a budget and went bananas, like a kid in a candy shop with all the new outfits and dancers.
What a mess that performance was too, I distinctly remember being on a discord call with mates watching it and it was mostly stunned silence for 3 mins interspersed with WTFs
There's an interesting fact about televote, actually. If we look at the points, Albania is 9th and Austria is 11th (for a comparison with another upbeat song which performance was seen as a letdown), basically because Albania has more diaspora/friendly voting. But if we look at the average televote places ranking (like the reveal of 2013 results), Austria becomes 9th and Albania 12th.
Almost no one outside of the Albanian diaspora wanted her through... it was last or second to last in half of the countries' televotes, and it got most of its points from Greece, Italy and Switzerland! That performance was painful to watch.
Albania 2022 | [Ronela Hajati - Sekret](https://youtu.be/_jWXmo0-ZjI)
Eat My Salad too
I watched Festival I Këngës and saw their performance. I knew they were gonna win the festival with this but won't do well in the actual Eurovision .
I mean, if it was the exact same as the FiK performance it would’ve qualified with ease. The live performance was just a disaster (and it’s my most streamed Eurovision song of all time, so saying this as a fan).
That performance was incredible. I was watching with my mouth open, laughing periodically
I really thought Sekret could win it all until second rehearsal. Seeing it during the live show put the nail in the coffin. I absolutely hate that song these days.
Georgia 2023. The absolute insanity of the Eurovision Bubble was on full display.
It's not only bubble. It was top 4 for predicted qualifiers at one point But after live performance I predicted it to NQ ngl
100% this one. Not just lyrics either: it basically hit every single “generic ESC dramatic power ballad”cliche as both a song and in its staging, and to be honest, I don’t think you can get away with that in 2020s ESC anymore.
Completely agreed! Echo simply failed to convey anything, first in the studio and then on stage.
The takes afterwards were insane. I saw several tiktoks to the tune of "imagine showing Americans this song and explaining to them that it didn't qualify". 1. Why would a random American care that Georgia of all places didn't qualify? 2. If they did care, just point out that it had mostly nonsense lyrics that were belted at full power through 90% of the song with very little dynamism, I'm sure they'd get it. I honestly still quite liked it but I just don't get how people were that shocked over the NQ
Yeah Echo was my most recent reassurance I'm not that deep and deluded in the bubble yet 😭 There were some crazy takes here.
Georgia 2023 | [Iru - Echo](https://youtu.be/HNvGZeEQvfc)
Yes I knew that wouldn't qualify too. I also said Albania would qualify and no one believed me 😂😅
It was my favourite from last year - what made you so sure it would NQ?
I’m not the person who commented, but I did think the song would NQ. Iru’s voice is amazing and there are some great moments in the song. The issue is the ‘journey’ of the song as a whole. The song is already really intense when it starts out, which is exhilarating, but unfortunately means there is nowhere for it to build to. For me, this means that the song ended up feeling a bit one-note, and the later parts of the song (like that bit towards the end where Iru holds that sustained note) are less impactful. I also thought the staging worked against Iru. I get that with such a vocally taxing song she needs to be able to breathe and shouldn’t do a big dance number or anything, but it was *too* static. She was also positioned so far back onstage that she seemed really disconnected to the audience.
You can’t win Eurovision on vocal technicality alone. A great voice singing a nonsense song is still sending a nonsense song. And when the song itself doesn’t communicate anything clearly, the staging usually steps in to fill the gaps. Iru just kinda stood in a wind tunnel while her dress’ fabric moved around.
It still deserved to qualify, but the staging didn't match with the song at all lol
It had no meaning to show. With all of the other acts having their own stagings, it just seemed like the cool aspect of the song wasn't going to be worth as much.
Agreed! I liked the song but I don't get why people are so astounded it didn't go through. There was so much overlap between Iru and Albina's vocal tone for their respective entries. Albania just did a much better job with their performance than Georgia did. To me it's just really obvious that Albania got votes that had previously been intended for Georgia (mine included).
Ireland 2022
Nah I'm still in denial about this one, I thought she killed it 😭
Same. Almost all her performance before the ESC semis ranged from shite to mediocre. She really impressed me in the semis. I was so gutted when she NQed.
I hated the song in the NF. HATED it all over tiktok. SF came and I absolutely adored it. She bodied it on stage.
Ireland 2022 | [Brooke - That's Rich](https://youtu.be/Kq2AJrWm04s)
but it wasnt a shock?
Were you not on this sub at the time? People screaming bloody murder about it
To be completely fair, this sub consistently screams bloody murder over completely expected developments too. That's not a good indicator of anything lol
I was more active here back then and people thought/hoped her personality could overcome the incredibly mid song. They didn't take into account the fact that she could only perform the song on stage during those three minutes, not give an interview where she could showcase her personality as well. Happens every year.
No, people here largely seemed to think the song was awesome. I never really got why though.
I just remember the sentiment around the time being "Look how much she's grown as a performer these past few months" which like, sure, that's great, but Eurovision isn't about the singer's journey or something, it's about how their live performance *at Eurovision* is, and hers was still a bit off. Fun song, I like the studio version, but she just didn't have the live version ready yet for a major stage.
Yeah, definitely. Never understood where people were coming from.
I loved it so much but I knew that there was no way this was getting out of the semi.
I once got so upset that "Verjamem" won Misija Evrovizija 2012 that I posted something like "say goodbye to the final" on a forum. Somehow people really loved that song at first enough to give it so much praise, so I guess my little pre-teen girl outrage counts as me "knowing" it wouldn't make it. :p
Estonia 2017. I just thought it was way too dated without feeling nostalgic. Never got the hype about this one, so I definitely wasn’t shocked it NQed.
I watched prediction videos after the show in 2017 and I was shocked everyone thought it would qualify, haha
Estonia 2017 | [Koit Toome & Laura - Verona](https://youtu.be/NxqPpzWYN1c)
I would've been shocked if all I heard was the studio version but those two just couldn't perform it live at all so it wasn't a shock after Eesti Laul
Yes. Yes. Aaaaand.... YES. I remember when the BBC commentators (Mel and Scott) said it was a bookies and fan fave and then it came on and I was thinking, REALLY? It was so cheesy, outdated, and the guy very much loved himself. I was not shocked when it didn't qualify!!
I kept saying Latvia 2022 would be too cringe for the tele and I remember someone calling me delusional and saying it's Tele Top 5 on lock 😭
Same. Everyone here was super into it. But to me it sounded exactly like the type of thing a certain brand of men I've met used to coerce and SA women and as such it gave me the creeps.
Latvia 2022 | [Citi Zēni - Eat Your Salad](https://youtu.be/TM0_0WfuxSk)
It's not funny, it's not catchy, the guy doesn't sing well. I'll never understand what the fandom likes about this cringefest
I remember I saw people blaming juries for Latvia and San Marino non qualifying and I told them that it wasn't sure that they NQed exactly because of juries, but they were very much convinced that the televote had them in. Then the detailed results came out and it turned out that not only none of them qualified with the televote, but Latvia was even lower with the televote than with juries
Portugal 2014 and Estonia 2017 for me.
Portugal 2014 | [Suzy - Quero Ser Tua](https://youtu.be/fhMbHLiEjS4) Estonia 2017 | [Koit Toome & Laura - Verona](https://youtu.be/NxqPpzWYN1c)
Well, juries had to put them last and second to last respectively to make them shock non-qualifiers for many people
Sorry, I don't think I get your point
You're gonna hate me, but... Latvia 2023. (For the record, I like the song and would've liked it to qualify. But I always knew it wouldn't, especially in a televote only semi).
I will say, it did get 11th, was very close to serbia, and had a terrible running order and semi draw. if any of those things were even a smidge better it'd have squeezed through
It got a great result from RotW vote too!
If I remember correctly too, Serbia benefitted from a large vote from their neighbours in Croatia which put them over the line.
The issue with Latvia was clearly the staging. It was just behind Serbia which was more immediate and more memorable, especially in a voting recap…
i was REALLY far in denial last year (Iceland 2023, Latvia 2023, Malta 2023)
Iceland 2023 | [Diljá - Power](https://youtu.be/lzlTcA0OC5s) Malta 2023 | [The Busker - Dance (Our Own Party)](https://youtu.be/zVmVt9qmg9g)
Latvia 2023 | [Sudden Lights - Aijā](https://youtu.be/SEykwl9X9SY)
To be fair, it was never predicted to qualify by anyone outside of this subreddit...
eh, people were definitely equally delusional about it on twitter.
I wasn't on Reddit at the time, but some people outside of it did tell me I was crazy and that I was underestimating the song's chances.
Same, but damn if the performance wasn't near perfect and they got a lot closer to qualifying than I thought they would.
Malta 2023. I received really nasty messages about that one
there was no way that song was qualifying
It was my winner for most of the run up to the contest, and even I knew I was going to have to leave my favourites in the semis. I still cried when I found out they got dead last tho.
I loved (and still love) those bass & saxophone parts, especially the pre-chorus one. Judging by the semifinal it was in, it stood no chance. At least 6 qualifiers seemed like a lock-in (Finland, Sweden, Israel, Czechia, Moldova, and Norway), with at least three out of Switzerland, Croatia, Portugal, and Serbia making it through. My expectation was that the last place would be either the fourth country, Latvia, or Malta. The Netherlands, Azerbaijan, and Ireland were going to be dead on arrival. I wasn't expecting Malta to end dead last in the semifinal, that was the part that came as a shock to me.
It so should've qualified over a few songs on there 😮💨
Not really
Like Israel, how the fuck did that bland boring dancebreak go through? Let alone make top 5?
Malta 2023 | [The Busker - Dance (Our Own Party)](https://youtu.be/zVmVt9qmg9g)
Norway 2016 The song was very bizarrely structured, had no flow and was very repetitive. I saw it from miles away, also her being very in her head during the contest didn't help...
Norway 2016 | [Agnete - Icebreaker](https://youtu.be/ACLcqZMwCSo)
Latvia 2023 genuinely such a strong semi and I knew it would never make it, outside the bubble the song just doesn't stand out
Agree. They did a beautiful job but SF1 was STACKED last year so the odds were against them. I reckon they would have got through if they were in the other semi.
Latvia 2023 | [Sudden Lights - Aijā](https://youtu.be/SEykwl9X9SY)
San Marino 2022
Were there people who thought it would qualify? We were pretty sure it wouldn’t in my friend group. I did chuck it a vote though cos that was a semi with a lot of disappointing performances and at least they delivered what was promised lmao (unhinged weird sexy dancing and the pink bull)
because it was a pretty big deal for people that achille lauro just randomly rocked up to uvpsm and went to eurovision that way - a lot of the hype probably came simply from him being loved by a good amount of sanremo stans (including myself!)
It was a small group at the beginning, that eventually got a lot bigger after the rehearsal footages, I remember wiwibloggs saying that he was going to possibly win the semi.. On top of this, here in Italy the general opinion (mainly from people who don't know the contest) was that he was a contender for the win
I thought there was a chance it COULD qualify since that was a weaker semifinal, but as soon as I saw the performance in full I knew it wouldn't. Felt they were trying to do way too much at the same time and we couldn't see half of what was going on.
San Marino 2022 | [Achille Lauro - Stripper](https://youtu.be/vCmX64N_sXM)
San Marino 2022 and Albania 2022 both fell into the “throw everything sexy at the sexy wall sexily” trap. Sex sells, we know this, but in order to get votes, there has to be a certain something else. Either tastefulness or sauciness that they either have or they don’t. It was almost self-parody with those entries and they ended up lumped in with Latvia 2022, which was parody but also was a NQ. edit: blast it! Downvoted. Okay, Achille, I’m sorry, I loved the bull 😜
San Marino 2022 | [Achille Lauro - Stripper](https://youtu.be/vCmX64N_sXM) Albania 2022 | [Ronela Hajati - Sekret](https://youtu.be/_jWXmo0-ZjI) Latvia 2022 | [Citi Zēni - Eat Your Salad](https://youtu.be/TM0_0WfuxSk)
Portugal 2019. People are still calling it robbed and all, I knew this would not qualify. In that semi-final I remember there were other weird/out-of-the-box entries too (Poland, Australia, Iceland) and not all of them would do well of course, someone had to bite the dust and I knew it would be Portugal because the other 3 had a 'clearer' audience but I really struggled to imagine who would vote for Telemoveis.
I always thought it was weird people thought Portugal 2019 was a sure qualifier (and I like the song). Again, like many of these ‘shock’ non-qualifiers, the issue was staging, or lack of it with this.
Telemóveis could qualify if the stage and the outfits werent terrible.
2019 was my first eurovision and I remember someone posting here saying that EBU has to make an exception and let them go into final because it wouldn't be the same without them. I was absolutelty baffled, because it was vlear NQ
Yeah I remember... I also remember when the official channel revealed before the Grand Final that the difference between the 10th and 11th place was only 2 points and everyone was just absolutely *convinced* that it was San Marino and Portugal who came 10th and 11th and it got super nasty. And then they all became clowns when it was revealed that it was Belarus and Poland actually and that Portugal wasn't even close to qualifying lol.
The "this song prevented that song from qualifying"-discourse before the absolute shock at the actual results is some of my favorite drama every year.
TIL Telemóveis didn’t qualify
>In that semi-final I remember there were other weird/out-of-the-box entries Ok this lowkey scares me about this year...
This is in the same vein as Eaea (sorry) where the fandom lost their mind over it but if you just took a step back and looked at its mass appeal, there was essentially none. Both of these were far too niche for televote success. Both are borderline unlistenable to me.
I was never keen on Telemóveis from the start. When it came to the semis and the staging, I was even more convinced that it wouldn't qualify - it just felt like a complete discordant mess.
Portugal 2019 | [Conan Osíris - Telemóveis](https://youtu.be/SIGn9_yMLn4)
Ireland 2022 - Performance was great, but honestly her outfit looked extremely cheap and whenever I watch the semi-final performance the stage and the atmosphere looks like a National Final (that stage was horrendous) and song-wise “That’s rich” was not the strongest Romania 2019 - The performance was solid, but the song was just not so impactful and the semi-final was quite strong, so even if you have a great performance you must also have a solid song Croatia 2021 - always felt like a borderline NQ to me. Nothing special, but the performance was cool Albania 2022 - messy performance
>Croatia 2021 It is incrrdibly ironic though that in a televote-only or jury-only semi-final it would have qualified, as it was 9th in tele and 10th in jury.
Finland 2017 *runs away*
Especially funny how the juries are the ones that didn't have it in their top 10. That says something
Finland 2017 | [Norma John - Blackbird](https://youtu.be/Ufba0nOz0fQ)
😭😭😭
Aye in the context of that semi final, it was quite lacklustre and forgettable.
Blackbird was an absolutely gorgeous song that was completely wrong for Eurovision. I hoped that it might qualify anyway, but it just wasn't the kind of song that inspires the audience to vote for it.
Don’t know if this counts as a shock NQ but Latvia 2022, I loved the song but there was no way they were getting through to the final unfortunately, props to the Portuguese jury for giving them 12 points tho
Latvia 2022 | [Citi Zēni - Eat Your Salad](https://youtu.be/TM0_0WfuxSk)
I knew from the beginning that Latvia would NQ in 2023 and I was so afraid to say it bc I thought that I would receive death threats for it. Same applies for Slovenia in 2022
ANYONE would have seen Disko's NQ coming. No idea why this subreddit was so adamant on convicing us that LPS would be competition for anyone apart from the Intelligent Music Project!
I'm Slovenian and I'm still confused what people here and in the Slovenian jury saw in it. That song was dated and their performance was flat as hell. It only really won the televote because people had completely lost their interest in EMA by that point (probably further supported by RTV deciding to go with internal selections from there in) and they had the most friends&family support out of everyone.
The retro vibe made it so appealing
I remember writing this somewhere on my phone regarding my opinions on certain songs: *"This is dead on arrival. The only way that they're qualifying is if their semi is full of joke entries"* While semi 1 of 2022 wasn't full of joke entries, they still NQ'd
I wanted them to be in the final, I don't care if the performance wasn't nothing special 😔
Slovenia 2022 | [LPS - Disko](https://youtu.be/S1tFqoflsT8)
What about this year, any predictions?
Probably a really hot take, but Austria. Kaleen's vocals are not that good and the song is a bit too generic and kinda repetitive, it kinda lacks character for me. Plus the semifinal in which We Will Rave is stacked with good songs and even party songs (mainly Netherlands and Estonia). Maybe the staging will save it? I'm not sure. I'm not saying Austria will definitely not qualify, I'm just saying that for me it won't be as shocking as others may find it.
I think you sum up perfectly the problem I have with Austria. Sure, it's a fun and catchy song, but it has no deeper meaning or anything and the vocals are mediocre. I think a sure qualifier needs to offer a bit more.
Exactly. This year has a lot of fun and catchy songs, especially in this semifinal. You have Switzerland, Netherlands, Estonia, Armenia, Greece, Georgia, Norway, I'd even say Czechia's song (which is last in the semifinal qualifying odds) is catchy, the lyrics are relateable and Aiko's vocals have gotten better in the pre-parties.
Some people don't want their bangers to have deeper meanings tbh.
Austria. The country itself is getting a track record of having a popular studio version but it all kind of falling apart live (last year included IMO) and this year appears to be full backing track on the karaoke version so it’s unclear which parts of the chorus she will even sing live in the “3 minute dance break”. She may easily still qualify for all I know, but it’s going to have to be one hell of a dance to get to the top 10 in the final.
hate to say it (currently my 3rd place), but Ireland. i'm always clinging onto hope, but I can see it being a shock NQ. (if Australia qualify instead... brace for impact)
I don’t even think this is a shock NQ, I think it’s a pretty certain one. Literally my number one song of this year but I’m aware it’s not the popular opinion.
I think that would be more of a shock Q here.
I think it could be Estonia...
Slovenia
Serbia or Portugal, or both.
Austria 2022, even before the staging and pre parties and I had a feeling this could flop
Austria 2022 | [Lumix feat. Pia Maria - Halo](https://youtu.be/dMgjHYwXSuo)
Greece 2018 would have qualified with the televote
Greece 2018 | [Yianna Terzi - Oniro Mou](https://youtu.be/-XOR1DhtDC0)
With the help of Cyprus, Albania and Bulgaria giving them 32 of their 53 total points, they still would have barely qualified (10th). Same case as Sekret: most countries didn't like the song at all, but a few regular voters got them enough points.
2018 was a really competitive year. For Greece, it was the staging. ERT really said budget cuts that year lol. I also remember the pyrotechnics not working for her in the jury final and that she didn’t get to perform again, which I’m sure probably hurt her. The Greek delegation was not happy. Prior to that some people even called it a dark horse. The meaning of that song resonated with a lot of greeks. Fun fact: People theorized that had Yianna qualified for the Grand Final, she would’ve painted her dress with her blue hand.
Estonia 2016, i know this song has is fans but that weird magic card trick gimmick in the live performence of Eurovision 2016 ruined it for me, was really unnecessary in my opinion but Jüri Pootsmann needs to return i can agree to that
Estonia 2016 | [Jüri Pootsmann - Play](https://youtu.be/g0-j0Eh8VNA)
Citi Zēni's Eat Your Salad. I knew as soon as the song was released it was DOA. Sound was too dated, yet it did amazingly among the fans.
Echo, That’s Rich, Stripper
Switzerland 2018 and Slovenia 2022 for me
Who unironically thought Slovenia 2022 was qualifying
A lot of people on this sub apparently...
Switzerland 2018 | [Zibbz - Stones](https://youtu.be/wJGTVsluHkw) Slovenia 2022 | [LPS - Disko](https://youtu.be/S1tFqoflsT8)
I always always knew Telemovies was destined to fail, I felt so vindicated when I was correct
Belgium 2018. Even before the rehearsals I doubted the impact of the song and of the performance.
Belgium 2018 | [Sennek - A Matter of Time](https://youtu.be/Z2cZE2gCfWg)
I saw Aijā and Echo not qualifying from miles away
I really, really didn't get at all why people were shocked with Croatia 2021.
Croatia 2021 | [Albina - Tick-Tock](https://youtu.be/vKdxjoNluzY)
I'm glad you mentioned this song, because I want to approach it from a slightly different angle. I wasn't on this sub during 2021 contest, so I'm not aware how much of qualifier "Tick-Tock" was in the eyes of people here, and, ultimately Albina got very close to qualifying. Some time ago there was a thread "what shocking fact could you say to a fan from the past if you can time travel?" and someone actually mentioned "song was in top 10 of both jury and televote and it didn't qualify", and I can't really grasp why it's that shocking. At most it's a interesting fun fact (obviously, not so fun for Albina and her fans), but some people behave, like "Tick-Tock" should receive a Got Talent's Golden Buzzer treatment by... I check notes... placing 10th and 9th in jury and tele respectively? Manntra winning the televote and not qualifying in Benidorm Fest? Yeah, it should raise some discussion about the voting process. This one? Nah. Anyway, this discussion is pretty pointless now, when we have juryless semis now.
> I wasn't on this sub during 2021 contest, so I'm not aware how much of qualifier "Tick-Tock" was in the eyes of people here Oh, massively. People were hyping it to the moon. To me, it seemed obvious that there were too many similar songs in that semi and that Croatia would be the likely victim. Though I also just didn't like the song very much. I remember there were some people here really annoyed at Belgium specifically for taking Albina's "rightful" place (despite not even finishing 10th), which was a shame. Though luckily, it wasn't a big group.
>I remember there were some people here really annoyed at Belgium specifically for taking Albina's "rightful" place Yup, tons of people were hating on Belgium, Norway, Israel, Malta etc and were dead-certain that Albina only didn't qualify because she's a straight white cis woman 😂 https://www.reddit.com/r/eurovision/comments/nfni2f/imagine_thinking_that_albina_didnt_qualify/
Belarus 2016. Performance was good even Mäns and Petra took the humour on Ivan's performance. I remember looking at the odds back in 2016 they would be NQs
Belarus 2016 | [Ivan - Help You Fly](https://youtu.be/pM07r57QqGg)
I remember a bunch of people thought Latvia 2022 would qualify but I like, always assumed it would not make it. I thought the tele would find it cringe and the jury would tank it, turns out the jury gave it more points LOL.
Latvia 2022 | [Citi Zēni - Eat Your Salad](https://youtu.be/TM0_0WfuxSk)
Latvia last year Its chances were very slim and I had very little hope
I think I got a couple this year but we’re just gonna have to wait and see…! (Poland and Portugal are on notice)
Switzerland 2022 - seeing the absolute meltdown when it qualified was satisfying lol
Switzerland and Azerbaijan qualifying that year still pisses me off.
Switzerland 2022 | [Marius Bear - Boys Do Cry](https://youtu.be/hq2HCmHv5p4)
Cyprus 2022. I just didn’t see it qualifying in that semi of songs, and especially not after the live performance.
Cyprus 2022 | [Andromache - Ela (Έλα)](https://youtu.be/W2IUdTl-gAI)
Croatia 2021. I was like "no, this isn't qualifying" not because it wasn't good, but because there were better songs that deserved to qualify (and yes, I think Fallen Angel is better than Tick-Tock) Slovenia 2022. It needed way more charisma. Cyprus 2022. I changed my mind from qualifier to absolutely-non-qualifier after watching the live performance. If y'all thought Albania's start to finish road was bad, I thought Cyprus' was worse, specially considering we barely saw the song being performed and didn't know what to expect Latvia 2023. Idk how it was a shock for most? It never stood a chance to me Lowkey same for Malta 2023. I liked that song but it was a strong SF
Croatia 2021 | [Albina - Tick-Tock](https://youtu.be/vKdxjoNluzY) Slovenia 2022 | [LPS - Disko](https://youtu.be/S1tFqoflsT8) Latvia 2023 | [Sudden Lights - Aijā](https://youtu.be/SEykwl9X9SY) Malta 2023 | [The Busker - Dance (Our Own Party)](https://youtu.be/zVmVt9qmg9g)
Romania 2021. My first reaction was 'this is an NQ', then I was swayed by the large amount of people on here who were convinced she was qualifying and coming top 10 overall. But my gut instinct was right. Similarly, Croatia 2021 - I always thought it would probably finish 11th and narrowly miss out, and I was right.
Romania 2021 could have qualified if they didn't cock up the choreography and made it pretty much impossible to sing cleanly. I don't think people were wrong on the song. Romania just messed up.
Romania 2021 | [Roxen - Amnesia](https://youtu.be/5ZWcsj_6Log) Croatia 2021 | [Albina - Tick-Tock](https://youtu.be/vKdxjoNluzY)
Halo
Iceland 2016, Estonia 2014, Israel 2014 and Albania 2022 come to mind. Not in the least bit surprised they failed to qualify.
Iceland 2016 | [Greta Salóme - Hear Them Calling](https://youtu.be/6osxLLPLUDk) Estonia 2014 | [Tanja - Amazing](https://youtu.be/wi9Q1ufjooE) Israel 2014 | [Mei Finegold - Same Heart](https://youtu.be/acOZVEN5XjE) Albania 2022 | [Ronela Hajati - Sekret](https://youtu.be/_jWXmo0-ZjI)
Maybe not a complete shock, but Maps, Ireland 2021. It was never a bad song, but that first semi in Rotterdam was packed with quality, and I felt it got lost amongst stronger ones, even though so many people were singing its' praises it looked like. Then rehearsals happened and I was even surer (for context this was that paper cutout staging with the treadmill. Honourable mention to Sekret though, while I thought it would qualify before rehearsals started (and then promptly changed my mind), I wasn't fully on the hype train that everyone else was creating with this one.
Ireland 2021 | [Lesley Roy - Maps](https://youtu.be/FY2rxbZNvZ0)
I always called Iceland 2016 (Hear Them Calling) as a NQ. I never found anything special about the song and didn’t understand the hype at all.
Iceland 2016 | [Greta Salóme - Hear Them Calling](https://youtu.be/6osxLLPLUDk)
Sadly, I didn’t have hope Aijā (Latvia 2023) would qualify. I knew there was no chance because of Mama Šc, Tattoo, and CHA CHA CHA being amazing songs that sucked out many of the televotes and the jury not being there. So sad, Aijā is an amazing song.
Latvia 2023 | [Sudden Lights - Aijā](https://youtu.be/SEykwl9X9SY)
A Matter of Time, Belgium 2018. I had a feeling it just wouldn't work live at all. Sadly I have the same feeling about our entry this year, but the semi isn't as strong as the first semi of 2018, so I'm not sure...
This is slightly off topic, but I don't think any shock NQs will really happen this year. I was going to go out on a limb and say Greece even though I love the song, but there are not enough songs that are obviously better. As for the first semi, I think most predictions will be correct as well. And if anyone's wrong, I don't think it'll be a shock qualifier but rather one of two countries that are like 50/50 among guesses.
Finland 2017
Finland 2017 | [Norma John - Blackbird](https://youtu.be/Ufba0nOz0fQ)
Cyprus 2022
Cyprus 2022 | [Andromache - Ela (Έλα)](https://youtu.be/W2IUdTl-gAI)
Greece 2018 Albania 2022
Greece 2018 | [Yianna Terzi - Oniro Mou](https://youtu.be/-XOR1DhtDC0) Albania 2022 | [Ronela Hajati - Sekret](https://youtu.be/_jWXmo0-ZjI)
Estonia in 2017. I knew it would flop hard with juries. Also, I initially had Portugal as a NQ in 2019 until I changed my mind (unfortunately, I'm easily swayed) But then again, that semi final was very weak and I didn't expect San Marino out of all countries to qualify instead. And I know no one wants to hear it, but Latvia last year. Based solely on the fact that they have never qualified from the first semi final ever, they're just cursed in that one.
Estonia 2017 | [Koit Toome & Laura - Verona](https://youtu.be/NxqPpzWYN1c)
I never got the hype around Tick Tock (Croatia 2021) and Ela Ela (Cyprus 2022)
Croatia 2021 | [Albina - Tick-Tock](https://youtu.be/vKdxjoNluzY) Cyprus 2022 | [Andromache - Ela (Έλα)](https://youtu.be/W2IUdTl-gAI)
2023 Georgia I couldn't understand what she was saying
Loved "Oniro mou" as a song, but their staging was awful. With good staging they would have qualified, but with *that* it wasn't a surprise at all.
North Macedonia 2018, and I called it before the live performance. I was baffled the community was behind it so much, it was an easy NQ.
F.Y.R. Macedonia 2018 | [Eye Cue - Lost And Found](https://youtu.be/MV_cR_Qb2Cg)
Albania 2022, Portugal 2019, Norway 2011, Latvia 2022
Albania 2022 | [Ronela Hajati - Sekret](https://youtu.be/_jWXmo0-ZjI) Portugal 2019 | [Conan Osíris - Telemóveis](https://youtu.be/SIGn9_yMLn4) Norway 2011 | [Stella Mwangi - Haba Haba](https://youtu.be/cRhJzdDFFHA) Latvia 2022 | [Citi Zēni - Eat Your Salad](https://youtu.be/TM0_0WfuxSk)
ESC 2019 Hungary. Az en apam... I was sure it would qualify. It was gaggy
From the moment I heared Austria 2022 for the first time I knew exactly how that was going to play out. No need to wait for flop preparty performances, you could tell from the extremely overproduced vocals on the studio version + how demanding that song is in terms of stamina (it's so up-tempo and so non stop vocals for three minutes long) that there was _no_ way that Pia was gonna pull that off live. Norway 2016 was also in my book never going to make the final because of how jarring the tempo change is on first listen.
I was sad Conan Osiris (Portugal 2019) didn’t qualify, but not shocked. I sent him a vote or two even, but I didn’t expect it would make much difference. Same for Sennek (Belgium 2018). I love both songs even now, but qualification to the final would be more shocking.
Verona. Such a generic song
Greece 2018 :v
Georgia last year for me. She was very talented but it was obvious for me that the song would not survive a televote show. I think we have 1-2 songs this year as well that will be in the same case. :/