Playlist of the Week: Eurovision Stagings for the Uninitiated
Hello Dear Readers!
Trying to pull together more playlists (and potentially updating old ones). This playlist was inspired by one of my favorite podcasts, Hella in Your Thirties; the hosts advertised EO and promised to release playlists of their favorite Eurovision stagings. Interestingly enough, this will also be the first playlist to have a corresponding Spotify song list.
These will be twenty of the songs with the most dynamic, impactful, mesmerizing, and/or effective stagings (in my opinion, duh). A few things to note, because I anticipate this post seeing traffic mostly from the US, all songs will be 1998-2015 since the EBU started geoblocking the Contest in the Western Hemisphere starting with 2016. Check out the honorable mentions for a bonus ten songs from 2016-2019. Also, because this might someone’s entry point to the Contest, I’m going to eschew some of the zaniest stuff because 1) the Contest is so much more than that and 2) it’s not really all that typical anymore.
Once again, all the songs come from the Televoting Era (post 1998) of the Eurovision Song Contest. Not every featured staging will be over-the-top; sometimes, less is more. Not every song is one that I like, but every staging is one that is memorable. Enjoy!
So, unexpectedly, lots of winners on the list (songs 1-6), runner-ups (7, 12, 26), and a slew of Top Tens songs (8, 10, 13, 15, 17, 18, 20-22, 25, 27, 28-30). You can also see the countries with lots of strong stagings – Sweden, Ukraine, Russia, Moldova – all legendary stage show makers. And yes, 2016 deserves four songs – and really deserves more – watch those three shows!
Latvia 2002 – I Wanna performed by Marie N
Ukraine 2004 – Wild Dances performed by Ruslana
Serbia 2007 – Molitva performed by Marija Šerifović
Russia 2008 – Believe performed by Dima Bilan
Sweden 2012 – Euphoria performed by Loreen
Sweden 2015 – Heroes performed by Måns Zelmerlöw
Azerbaijan 2013 – Hold Me performed by Farid Mammadov
Ukraine 2011 – Angel performed by Mika Newton
Moldova 2010 – Run Away performed by Sunstroke Project & Olia Tira
Belgium 2015 – Rhythm Inside performed by Loïc Nottet
Moldova 2013 – O Mie performed by Aliona Moon
Ukraine 2008 – Shady Lady performed by Ani Lorak
Belarus 2007 – Work Your Magic performed by Dmitry Koldun
Russia 2011 – Get You performed by Alexey Vorobyov
Sweden 2011 – Popular performed by Eric Saade
Croatia 2006 – Moja Štikla performed by Severina
Malta 2013 – Tomorrow performed by Gianluca
Bulgaria 2007 – Water performed by Elitsa Todorova & Stoyan Yankulov
Iceland 2010 – Je Ne Sais Quoi performed by Hera Björk
Spain 2014 – Dancing in the Rain performed by Ruth Lorenzo
Honorable Mention: MANY MANY SONGS! But, these ten specifically for those in the Eastern Hemisphere or with a VPN.
Switzerland 2019 – She Got Me performed by Luca Hänni
Russia 2016 – You Are the Only One performed by Sergey Lazarev
United Kingdom 2017 – Never Give Up on You performed by Lucie Jones
Czech Republic 2019 – Friend of a Friend performed by Lake Malawi
Armenia 2016 – LoveWave performed by Iveta Mukuchyan
Australia 2016 – Sound of Silence performed by Dami Im
Hungary 2017 – Origo performed by Joci Pápai
Belgium 2016 – What’s the Pressure performed by Laura Tesoro
Moldova 2018 – My Lucky Day performed by DoReDoS
Australia 2019 – Zero Gravity performed by Kate Miller-Heidke
What are some of your favorite stagings from the Contest’s recent history? What about from the early years, when almost every song was a person standing alone on a stage with a microphone? Should I do another list of insane and bizarre stagings?
Latvia 2002 – I Wanna performed by Marie N
Sweden 2015 – Heroes performed by Måns Zelmerlöw
Belarus 2007 – Work Your Magic performed by Dmitry Koldun
Bulgaria 2007 – Water performed by Elitsa Todorova & Stoyan Yankulov
Switzerland 2019 – She Got Me performed by Luca Hänni
Armenia 2016 – LoveWave performed by Iveta Mukuchyan
Moldova 2018 – My Lucky Day performed by DoReDoS
@escobsession 
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