EUROVISION'S 150 MOST INFLUENTIAL SONGS. This post: 2005-06.  More: tomorrow.

EUROVISION

1956-2022

THE MOST INFLUENTIAL SONGS

(in chronological order)

 

This year’s Contest will see the 70^th song declared a winner. Caffè Lattè lists all of the past winning entries and other songs that have had a lasting impact on the Eurovision Song Contest.

2005

The 2005 Eurovision Song Contest was held in Kyiv after the first Ukrainian win the previous year. As relations were better than in the present-day, Russia competed and finished in 15^th place among the 24 countries in the Grand Final, which featured Moldova for the first time.

Culled as a result of the Semi-Final were Poland, Slovenia, Monaco, Belarus, Andorra, Lithuania, Portugal, Finland, Netherlands, Ireland. Iceland, Bulgaria, Austria, Belgium and Estonia.

 

MY NUMBER ONE

Helena Paparizou

Greece

In 2004, Sakis Rouvas finished in third position with “Shake It”. The following year, Greece finally tasted victory. As Rouvas had done, Helena Paparizou sang “My Number One” in English. She had first competed representing Greece with “Die For You” in 2001 as part of the group Antique. Her catchy song proved irresistible to viewers and juries, accumulating 230 points.

 

 

IN MY DREAMS Wig Wam

Norway

In 2004, Norway had finished (again) in last position. For the 2005 Contest, Norway tried a novel approach: glam-metal. “In My Dreams” certainly raised some eyebrows. This was not like the usual Eurovision fare. The novelty paid off, giving the Norwegian entry a respectable ninth place. Finland must have taken note of this result…

 

2006

The Eurovision Song Contest moved to another new location: Athens. Serbia & Montenegro withdrew, but 37 countries competed in the Greek capital. Armenia qualified for the Grand Final for the first time.  

Eliminated at the Semi-Final stage were: Poland, Belgium, Iceland, Albania, Cyprus, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Monaco, Netherlands, Belarus, Andorra, Portugal and Estonia.

 

HARD ROCK HALLELUJAH

Lordi

Finland

Adorned with masks, Lordi shocked many viewers with the Finnish entry “Hard Rock Hallelujah”. Even more were taken aback when the scoreboard revealed that the heavy metal/ hard rock song had won. This was no fluke result either. Lordi had scooped up a record-breaking 292 points. The song was a smash hit across Europe. This result put an end to the long wait for Finland since it first competed on the ESC stage in 1961.