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‘Eurovision’ Winners Past and Future, As Told by Your Streams

May 17, 2019

Header photo credit: KAN

There’s nothing quite like Eurovision. What other TV music competition has featured Russian grandmothers who sing while baking, Finnish monsters jamming out a “Hard Rock Hallelujah,” or a hip-thrusting saxophone player from Moldova? The European song contest can hardly be compared even to itself in any given year—except in terms of streaming. In the run-up to this weekend’s final performances, fans around the world are already playing their favorite competitors’ song. Could these streams point to the country that will be the 2019 champion?

Eurovision is the world’s longest-running annual television contest, and at 186 million viewers in 2018, it often charts as the world’s biggest live-music event. Over the course of the competition, Eurovision brings musicians from upwards of 50 countries (mostly from Europe) together for a colorful, energy-filled celebration of diversity and unity.

With 41 countries competing this year, and a song time limit to three minutes, it’s crucial that your performance stands out. This could explain why one song often combines several elements. Mix a power ballad intro, rhythms particular to the country of origin, and a crowd-pleasing pop chorus with acrobatic dance and you’ve got yourself a Eurovision Cocktail.

In the weeks leading up to the highly televised final, each country presents its respective artist and song. So ahead of the final performances, we took a look at which country’s nominees are being streamed the most:   

  1.     Italy – Mahmood, “Soldi”
  2.     Sweden – John Lundvik, “Too Late for Love”
  3.     Netherlands – Duncan Laurence, “Arcade”
  4.     France – Bilal Hassani, “Roi”
  5.     Spain – Miki Núñez “La Venda”
  6.     Norway – Keiino, “Spirit in the Sky”
  7.     Switzerland – Luca Hänni, “She Got Me”
  8.     Cyprus – Tamta, “Replay”
  9.     Estonia – Victor Crone, “Storm”
  10.     Denmark – Leonora, “Love Is Forever”

When broken down by each participating country, it’s not surprising that most listeners favor their nation’s own nominated song and artist. Yet listeners in Romania, Lithuania, Austria, Poland, Malta, Ireland, Great Britain, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Luxembourg, and Germany have all been streaming Italy’s “Soldi.” At least in terms of streaming, Italian singer-songwriter Mahmood is the clear favorite.

Of course, what’s Eurovision without a little nostalgia? Below are the 10 top-streamed Eurovision winners of all time.

  1.     1974 – ABBA (Sweden) – “Waterloo”
  2.     2018 – Netta (Israel) – “Toy”
  3.     2015 – Måns Zelmerlöw (Sweden) – “Heroes”
  4.     2012 – Loreen (Sweden) – “Euphoria”
  5.     2010 – Lena (Germany) – “Satellite”
  6.     2009 – Alexander Rybak (Norway) – “Fairytale”
  7.     1965 – France Gall (Luxembourg) – “Poupée de cire, poupée de son”
  8.     2017 – Salvador Sobral (Portugal) – “Amar pelos Dois”
  9.     1995 – Petter Skavland, Rolf Løvland, Secret Garden (Norway) – “Nocturne”
  10.     1987 – Johnny Logan (Ireland) – “Hold Me Now”

Prepare for a week of Eurovision like never before—stream the official Eurovision 2019 playlist below.