What’s the best way to win the Eurovision Song Contest, the world’s most watched cultural event?
Should you enter a disco track about a long-forgotten military conflict (like Abba once did)? A French-language workout song (like Celine Dion’s 1988 winner)? Maybe some swaggering rock about marching to the beat of your own drum (like Maneskin)?
We analyzed the music, lyrics and onstage performances of every winning act since 2000 to learn the secrets of a perfect Eurovision song.
NO. 1
Sing about personal liberation
A good start is to have a track about believing in yourself, owning your own destiny, or not caring what society thinks.
Take Conchita Wurst, a bearded drag queen who represented Austria in 2014 with the epic song “Rise Like a Phoenix.” The self-help bona fides were clear from the title: Wurst was emerging from the ashes of past troubles, and nobody could stop her.
In 2008, Dima Bilan won for Russia with “Believe,” in which he sings that nobody can impede his dreams. “Even when the world tries to pull me down,” he bellows: “I won’t let them put my fire out.” And Mans Zelmerlow, Sweden’s winner in 2015, sang in “Heroes” that everyone could be “the heroes of our time.”
A feminist twist on empowerment helped secure Netta victory for Israel in 2018 with “Toy.” That song begins with Netta clucking like a chicken, but by the chorus she’s defiant, singing: “I’m not your toy / You stupid boy.”
NO. 2
Sing in English
Eurovision’s rules once required contestants to sing in an official language of their country. Then, in 1999, the rules changed; ever since, most winners have sung in English. Our data shows that 18 of the past 24 winners sang entirely in the language of Shakespeare, with two others using English alongside their national tongue.
Take Ruslana, who won for Ukraine in 2004 with “Wild Dances.” She sang in English for the first two verses of her high energy track (“I want you to want me as I dance / Round and round and round”). Then, once her dance-positive message was clear — helped by some frantic moves — she switched to Ukrainian.
Obviously it’s impossible to know how important language choice really is. “Fairytale,” a violin-led stomper that triumphed in 2009, might still have won if Alexander Rybak had sung the catchy melody in the language of his country, Norway. But it’s doubtful as many people would have sung along at home.
NO. 3
Allude to folk music.
(But don’t send a folk song.)
It’s a Eurovision cliché to blend a country’s traditional music with an exhilarating pop chorus: There has to be an accordion player somewhere — anywhere! — onstage, like in “Trenuletul,” Moldova’s entry in 2007.
Indeed, this can pay dividends: Seven winners since 2000 have used folk instruments or traditional melodies. Sertab Erener, for instance, won the 2003 contest for Turkey with “Everyway That I Can,” a song that included Middle Eastern rhythms and belly dancers onstage.
Two years later, Helena Paparizou, representing Greece, won with “My Number One,” a Britney Spears-esque pop number that included solos played on the Cretan lyra, a three-stringed Greek instrument similar to a violin.
More recently, Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra won in 2022 with “Stefania,” a track that included a catchy melody played on the telenka, a Ukrainian flute.
A warning: Don’t take things too far and submit an actual folk song. Eurovision is a pop contest, and while it’s nice to have some folk flavor, no pure folk act has won this century.
NO. 4
Forget dramatic key changes
A key change near the end was once essential for a Eurovision winner. Just listen to the Olsen Brothers’ “Fly on the Wings of Love,” which won for Denmark in 2000. About two-thirds of the way through, the siblings paused dramatically, reached skyward, then belted out the chorus a tone higher.
Nowadays, though, a key change is best avoided.
Since Marija Serifovic won for Serbia in 2007 with “Molitva,” a lovesick ballad that featured not one, but two, key changes, those dramatic tone shifts have not featured in a single winning entry. Their disappearance is so pronounced that, in 2023, Eurovision’s organizers published a blog post lamenting the demise of the “beloved pop gimmick.”
NO. 5
Go all-out on the staging
A great song won’t win Eurovision on its own. You also need a performance or outfit that makes viewers sit up and ask, “What the hell was that?”
Take Nemo, who won for Switzerland last year by performing “The Code” while perilously balanced on a giant spinning disc. Or Dima Bilan, Russia’s winner in 2008, whose setup included a mini-ice rink, on which Bilan sang while an ice dancer twirled around him.
Eurovision has rules that prevent performers doing anything too crazy. (There can be no live animals onstage, for instance.) And a memorable performances does not have to be high-tech. In 2012, Loreen, representing Sweden, just used a few wind machines to dramatic effect in her winning dance hit “Euphoria.”
Acts have to be careful, though, that their onstage gimmicks aren’t too silly. In 2014, Donatan & Cleo of Poland sang “My Slowianie,” a celebration of their Slavic heritage, while a woman dressed in a folk costume seductively churned butter. They came 14th.
NO. 6
Set things on fire.
(Just don’t burn a piano.)
Whatever happens onstage, one thing will always help: fire. Eight recent winners have made ample use of flames or pyrotechnics.
Take Emmelie de Forest’s “Only Teardrops,” which triumphed for Denmark in 2013. Given the title, de Forest should perhaps have ended her performance with water cascading from the ceiling. Fire rained down instead.
The flames don’t even need to be real. Ruslana, who won for Ukraine in 2004, performed in front of screens showing a digital inferno. Perhaps the production budget did not stretch to real ones.
One thing you must never do, though, is burn a piano. In 2015, halfway through a performance of “I am Yours” by the Austrian indie band the Makemakes, the singer Dominic Muhrer splayed his fingers like a wizard and the strings of his instrument burst into flames.
The Makemakes came joint last with zero points.
NO. 7
Don’t send a novelty act
Bands and singers with a jokey central conceit often appear at Eurovision, but only one novelty act has won since 2000: Lordi, a heavy metal band from Finland that won in 2006 with “Hard Rock Hallelujah.” Its members wore monster outfits and, at one point, the lead singer, Mr. Lordi, unfurled bat wings and waved a huge ax at the crowd.
Although novelty acts struggle to win, they can easily become part of Eurovision folklore. Who could forget Subwoolfer, Norway’s entry in 2022 with “Give That Wolf a Banana”? Or Verka Serduchka, a sci-fi drag queen who represented Ukraine in 2007 with “Dancing Lasha Tumbai”?
She came in second, but, hard-core Eurovision fans still remember her high-camp anthem.
Videos: European Broadcasting Union
Alex Marshall is a Times reporter covering European culture. He is based in London.
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