EUROVISION'S 150 MOST INFLUENTIAL SONGS. This post: 2011.  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.

2011

The first time Germany hosted the Eurovision Song Contest, the country was still divided into East and West by the Berlin Wall. In recent years, the structure had come down and the Germans were now living in a nation that was unified. For the 2011 Contest, Dusseldorf was selected to be the host city. The return of Austria, Hungary and San Marino and one more nation brought the number of participants to 43, equalling the record from the 2008 ESC. Italy’s boycott of the Contest came to an end. The country was immediately added to the pre-qualifying nations, making “the Big Four” now “the Big Five”.

 

RUNNING SCARED

Eli & Nikki

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan first competed at Eurovision in 2008. The country can usually be relied on for strong entries, as best exemplified in 2009 with “Always” which finished in third place. “Running Scared” was co-written by 2 of the Swedish composers of the country’s 2010 entry “Drip Drop”. Eli & Nikki came second in their semi-final but collected 221 points to comfortably win the Grand Final.

 

MADNESS OF LOVE

Raphael Gualazzi

Italy

Italy’s boycott of Eurovision finally ended in 2011. After more than a decade away, one of the Contest’s founding nations was back. It has participated every year since and has pre-qualified as one of “The Big Five” countries since 2011. Viewers and juries welcomed Italy back with an enthusiastic response. “Madness Of Love”, sung in Italian and English, gained 189 points and finished in the runner-up position.

 

 

POPULAR Eric Saade

Sweden

After failing to qualify in 2010, Sweden has been determined to avoid disaster again. It has been consistently represented by well-crafted pop songs, starting with Eric Saade’s “Popular”. The good looking Swedish pop star gave an energetic delivery and proved popular enough to finish in third place with a score of 185, just 4 points behind Italy’s entry.

 

 

LIPSTICK Jedward

Ireland

Ireland was still in the lead in terms of most ESC wins with its 7 victories. The country remained comfortably ahead, with its nearest rivals to the claim being France, United Kingdom and Luxembourg in second place with 5 wins. Of the 3, only the former 2 still participate in the Contest. Since the most recent Irish triumph in 1996, Ireland has had mixed success at Eurovision. There was a second place in 1997, but it missed out on a Grand Final slot in 2005 after finishing 14^th in a semi-final. Ireland was eliminated at the semi-final stage again in 2008 and 2009. The former entry was the baffling “Irelande Douze Points” performed by Dustin The Turkey! Jedward was a popular duo and reversed the fortunes of Ireland in 2011 with “Lipstick”. The song finished ranked eighth. Jedward returned to represent Ireland again in 2012 with “Waterline” which also progressed to the Grand Final. Sadly, Ireland has often struggled to qualify for the Grand Final in recent years.

 

SOGNU Amaury Vassili

France

The 2011 Contest was a far cry from the early years of Eurovision where French was the dominant language. As well as France, participants such as Monaco, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Belgium have been represented by entries performed in French. In 2011, none of the songs were sung in French (although Lithuania’s entry “C’est Ma Vie” did feature a few lines in French). Amaury Vassili represented France with the thrilling “Sognu”. The song marked the first time a Eurovision entry was sung in Corsican. It finished ranked in 15^th position.