Top 250 2020

TOP 250 2020

ESC Top 250: facts and figures

After weeks of voting and waiting in suspense, everyone was able to hear on December 31 that Loreen was at the very top of the ESC Top 250 for the ninth consecutive time. Before we give you the full results, let’s give you some interesting facts and figures about this year’s edition.

To begin, we can proudly announce that the record amount of votes has been shattered for this edition. We received 6,345 lists sent by fans across the whole world, which combined ensured yet another more than successful edition. Which country has the most entries in the ESC Top 250 this year? Which decades did well? You will read all about it in this article.

Countries with the most entries

Italy and Sweden both have 14 entries, scoring the best in this ESC Top 250 per country. Mahmood’s Soldi is the highest ranked Italian entry at number seven. Loreen’s Euphoria, the undisputed number one, is of course the highest Swedish entry. Spain has 13 entries in the list with Quédate Conmigo from Pastora Soler placed highest, at number nine. Four countries have ten songs in the list: Germany, Greece, Portugal and Norway. Lena’s Satellite is the highest German entry at number 51. At number 27 we find the highest ranked Greek entry, My Number One by Helena Paparizou and the most voted Portuguese entry, Amar pelos dois by Salvador Sobral, is at number four. Just like last year, you find the best Norwegian entry Spirit in the Sky, which remains at number five.

We have another tie between Ukraine and Turkey with both countries represented nine times in this year’s ranking. Jamala’s 1944 at number six is ​​the best Ukrainian entry, Everyway That I Can by Sertab Erener ends 14th and is hence voted your favourite Turkish entry. Also making the top five of the highest scoring countries are Azerbaijan, Iceland and Israel, all with eight songs in the list. Cleopatra by Efendi from 2020 is in 75th place and that’s the highest ranking for Azerbaijan. The 2020 favourite Daði & Gagnamagnið made it to ​​16th place with Think About Things and scored the best result for Iceland in this year’s list. The 2018 winner, Netta, landed in number 22 with Toy, which is the highest ranking for Israel.

Furthermore, The Netherlands has six entries in the top 250, with Arcade by still reigning Eurovision champion Duncan Laurence doing best at number three, down one place from last year. Our own little country, Belgium, closes the year with four entries in the ESC Top 250. Loïc Nottet with Rhythm Inside didn’t make the top ten this year and came in 11th, as the best scoring Belgian entry.

Which decade is best represented?

We are happy to report that at least one song from every decade has made it to the ESC Top 250 this year. Let’s take a look decade by decade:

  • Only one song from the fifties made it to the list. Nel blu dipinto di blu by Domenico Modugno from 1958 rose four places this year to number 139.
  • Five songs from the sixties got enough votes to make it onto the list. The highest ranking is for Poupée de cire, poupée de son by France Gall from 1965, at number 66.
  • The seventies took in ten spots with the highest ranking yet again for the 1974 winner, Waterloo from ABBA, at number 19.
  • Sixteen songs from the eighties made it to the list with Céline Dion’s Ne partez pas sans moi as the most voted entry at number 60.
  • On to the nineties with 41 songs of this decade in the ESC Top 250. Ranked highest, and coming 12th in the list, is Nocturne by Secret Garden.
  • The zeroes have 40 entries, of which the the 2007 winner, Marija Šerifovic, scores best with Molitva.
  • Just like last year, the highest number of songs in the ESC Top 250 stems from the 2010s. No less than 117 songs made it to the list. It’s a surprise to literally no one that Euphoria by Loreen is the highest placed entry from the past decade.
  • We have of course entered a new decade this year, the new Roaring Twenties. It didn’t all go according to plan and although we didn’t have a Eurovision Song Contest this year, you voted massively for songs from 2020. No fewer than 20 songs, almost half of all 2020 entries, made the list. The highest ranking is for Diodato with Fai rumore, entering the top ten at number eight.

Riser, fallers and newcomers

Biggest riser this edition is the song Sufi by MFÖ. The 1988 Turkish entry rose from number 1131 to number 184, an increase of 947 places. Where an entry can rise enormously, there is of course also an entry that has made the biggest fall within the list. Forogj, világ! by NOX, the Hungarian entry from 2005, dropped 129 places, from number 98 to number 227. The highest newcomer, as mentioned earlier, is Diodato with Fai rumore entering the list at number eight.

Best scoring songs from the 21th century per year

  • 2000: Brainstorm – My Star – Latvia (164)
  • 2001: Antique – Die for You – Greece (45)
  • 2002: no song from 2002 made it into this year’s list.
  • 2003: Sertab Erener – Everyway That I Can – Turkey (14)
  • 2004: Željko Joksimovic – Lane moje – Serbia & Montenegro (37)
  • 2005: Helena Paparizou – My Number One – Greece (27)
  • 2006: Hari Mata Hari – Lejla – Bosnia & Herzegovina (48)
  • 2007: Marija Šerifovic – Molitva – Serbia (13)
  • 2008: Ani Lorak – Shady Lady – Ukraine (76)
  • 2009: Alexander Rybak – Fairytale – Norway  (22)
  • 2010: maNga – We Could Be the Same – Turkey (15)
  • 2011: Eric Saade – Popular – Sweden (90)
  • 2012: Loreen – Euphoria – Sweden (1)
  • 2013: Emmelie de Forest – Only Teardrops – Denemark (44)
  • 2014: Sanna Nielsen – Undo – Sweden (21)
  • 2015: Il Volo – Grande amore – Italy (10)
  • 2016: Jamala – 1944 – Ukraine (6)
  • 2017: Salvador Sobral- Amar pelos dois – Portugal (4)
  • 2018: Eleni Foureira – Fuego – Cyprus (2)
  • 2019: Duncan Laurence – Arcade – The Netherlands (3)
  • 2020: Diodato – Fai rumore – Italy (8)

Some other fun facts about the ESC Top 250 of 2020

  • There are 37 winners in the list, with eight of them making the top 20.
  • 49 different countries have at least one song in the top 250. Only three countries are not to be found this year: Andorra, Monaco and Morocco.
  • The only year from the 21st century without any song in the ESC Top 250 is 2002.
  • There was a tight race at the top; it has never been so close! There was only a seven points margin between the numbers four and five in the ranking. Notwithstanding this, the gap between Euphoria and Fuego was a staggering 3,312 points.

Looking forward to 2021!

We would like to thank you all for voting your favourite in this year’s top 250. This year for the ninth consecutive time Loreen tops the list, but who knows, 2021 might bring us a new massive hit entry, which may make it to number one in the next edition…