Which Eurovision Song Contest National Finals Got It Right in 2016?

The Eurovision National Finals always leaves a few classics on the floor, but do they find the best songs to send to the Song Contest? It’s time for our annual tradition of looking back with a lot of hindsight to point out who got it right for this year’s Eurovision.

Poland Was Right To Send ‘Color Of Your Life’

Let’s talk about Margaret for a second.

The debate about Poland’s choice to send Michał Szpak and ‘Colour Of Your Life‘ is going to be a point of eternal debate within the National Final community. There’s no doubt that Margaret’s ‘Cool Me Down‘ was one of the best ‘studio bangers’ of the season and if there is justice it will be the hit of the summer. Yet Margaret’s live performance during ‘Krajowe Eliminacje 2016‘ left a lot to be desired. Smiling would have been a nice start.

If you had asked TVP at the start of the season if the delegation would be happy with 8th place on Saturday night, I’m sure they would have said yes very quickly. Szpak was the best singer on the night in the National Final, he connected massively with the televoting audience in Stockholm, and while some fans might prefer the style of music from Margaret, Szpak delivered the goods every time it counted. You can’t ask for more in a performer.

Ukraine Was Right To Send ‘1944’

Putting aside the issue of politics and metaphors, Jamala won the Eurovision Song Contest and you can’t get much more right than that. So congratulations Ukraine, you made the right choice. Or at least the person who decided that in the event of a tie the public vote would decide the winner of the Ukrainian selection. Most, but not all, National Finals with two voting components will bias to the televote side, but not always. With eleven points each, The Hardkiss missed taking the ticket by the narrowest of margins.

I hope they get the chance to fly the flag in the near future. If Jamala does not do a title defence, then the progressive-pop band should be in pole position for 2017’s selection

Belgium Was Right To Send ‘What’s The Pressure’

Of the five songs in the National Final, there was only one that was ‘Eurovision ready’ (which makes it curious that the jury was asked to think about ‘the song they liked the best’ not ‘the song they thought would do well at Eurovision’). Pretty much everything that Laura Tesero was capable of was on show in the National Final and it was more than enough for that night, and for Stockholm. Polish the diamond as much as possible, don’t change what worked, and send it into musical combat.

A top ten result for VRT, after last year’s fourth place by RTBF is welcome news. The two Belgian broadcasters take turns to select a song so its good to see the odd years and the even years working.

Israel Was Right To Send ‘Made Of Stars’

‘HaKokhav HaBa L’Eirovizion‘ is one of the hardest National Finals out there, and puts each singer through a huge amount of stress and competition before it finds a winner. This year Hovi Star proved that he had the steely determination during the selection which would stand him in good stead in Stockholm. He’s won hearts all over Europe, and while the song might have been the weakest part of the package he worked every single emotion (and then a few more) out of the re-arrangement used for Eurovision.

Malta Was Right To Send Ira Losco

Specifically the singer here and not the song, because it says a lot about the delegation.

Malta has shown a ruthlessness at Eurovision this year, starting with the rule change that the Malta Eurovision Song Contest that allowed the winning performer to change the song. ‘Chameleon’ was solid, but the team wanted to be sure of the right song — after internal debate and external voting ‘Walk On Water‘ offered the better chance. So it was selected.

The investment in projection dresses, staging, and design? Thrown out once it was clear it wasn’t going to deliver one hundred percent. Even during the ‘all-up’ dress rehearsal of the Grand Final the Maltese delegation was experimenting with CGI overlays to find that little bit extra.

But at the heart of it was an experienced singer, with a lot of one from the fans, who made it easy for voters to connect with Malta. Much as Maxine’s ‘Young Love‘ got the foot tapping. PBS focused on finding the right combination of every element to benefit the whole entry.

Austria Were Right To Send ‘Loin D’ici’

This fan favourite shows the power of the online community to drive PR story lines forward. From an early rush on betting to standing ovations at the preview events, ‘Loin D’ici‘ was the perfect example of how to use PR to maximise the fan involvement and vote during the Semi Finals. Once it reached the Grand Final and the audience was much wider and less connected to the artists’ journey it became a little bit harder, but no matter. Austria made it to Saturday, and that was victory in itself.

Of course the Austrian delegation are convinced that if I predict (just once in the season) that one of its songs will not qualify, it will qualify. Therefore I’m under orders to say “the 2017 song is rubbish and is nowhere close to getting to Saturday night” once we get to Kyiv.

France Were Right To Send ‘J’ai Cherche’

A new Head of Delegation, a new approach to bring in a more ‘French Pop’ sound to the Contest, and a hope that a strong result will lead to more involvement from the French music industry. The pressure was on Edoardo Grassi, and going for an internal selection meant that there would be no place for the HoD to hide if Amir delivered a poor result.

Instead Grassi can take France’s best result since 2002’s ‘Il Faut Du Temps‘ back to the industry and show that the Song Contest is a global platform for popular French music. This is a foundation that can be easily built on.

Latvia Were Right To Send ‘Heartbeat’

Latvia were so close to getting it wrong. The format of Supernova may have brought Justs to the attention of the world, but it also told everyone voting who to vote for if they wanted to stop Aminata’s padawan. Doom-goth band Catalepsia was the only other song in Supernova’s Final that was there on the strength of the televote, and actually beat Justs in Latvia’s public televote. If it wasn’t for the international online vote, Justs would have been lost to Eurovision thanks to a poorly thought out National Final structure (Ben Robertson has more on this here on ESC Insight).

Yet Justs did go to Stockholm and made it to Saturday. Even thought the fifteenth place meant a right-hand side finish, it was still a Saturday night appearance with a song that took artistic risks and trusted the performer to not go over the top.

Bulgaria Were Right To Send ‘If Love Was A Crime’

Sometimes you just need a perfect storm to get a great results, and it should be obvious to anyone that Poli Genova’s fourth place is a great result not just for Bulgaria (scoring its highest ever placing as it returns to the Contest), but it’s also a great result for the Contest as a whole. A small country, with little diaspora, and a sensible budget, rocks up to the Contest and takes a fourth place.

Yes it was an internal selection, and yes Genova was a known quantity in the community after heartache in 2011 and the hosting of Junior Eurovision 2015, but the point is simple. Get all the right elements in place, and you have a winner — even if the official video is a bit underwhelming!

That’s it for National Finals (and the odd internal selection) which got it right. Now comes the flip side. Who got it wrong?

Originally published at escinsight.com on May 18, 2016.