Worst Eurovision Winners Ever – Hundreds of people have voted for their personal Top 5 of the Worst Eurovision winners ever. The 5th place of each voter got one point, the 4th place 2 points and so on, the first place thus getting 5 points. The result is a ranking of all 60 Eurovision winners. In the coming days we will reveal the Top 15 of your voting. Today we continue with a monstrous Finnish victory after almost 40 years of failures.
After 40 unsuccessful attempts to claim the Eurovision crown and even 8 last place finishes, Finland finally won the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. The performance and song that won could not have been more spectacular and at the same time more controversial. Heavy metal band Lordi performed their “Hard Rock Hallelujah” in monster costumes and with lots of pyrotechnics. The lead singer Mr. Lordi wore a hat in the Finnish colors and at one point during the performance, bat-like wings unfurled at his back. The 292 points were the highest score ever at the time and the song became a hit in several European countries. Back at home, they were greeted by the Finnish president and 80.000 enthusiastic fans in Helsinki.
Here is their winning performance:
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No surprises there. And I strongly disagree, but people who voted for Ireland 1994 probably could not get this either… sad! Esc 2006 is my lowest ranked edition ever, saved only by “Lejla” which is also the 2000′s masterpiece! So in that respect, this is a decent winner which, in the course of Esc history, sure makes a different to Marie N, Sertab, Ruslana and Helena…
Reblogged this on Göerger.info and commented:
Wait. I like this one. Also, the costumes are fantastic.
WHAT!?!!? who voted on this list? This is one of the best winners of all time in my opinion…
I seem to remember I voted for it.
The song is not bad – but the live vocal performance was terrible – even hardly audible (not that it seemed to matter). If it were any other country but Finland (or perhaps Portugal, who also have decades of flops behind them, but keep trying nevertheless), I could never forgive them for sending an entry ridiculing all other participants. As it is Finland, who (I think) often placed worse than deserved, I’m inclined to let it go lightly
Well yes, the vocal performance wasn’t THAT good live however the song itself is still one of the best in my opinion. And the fact that they were dressed as monsters doesn’t really bother me because Eurovision isn’t such a serious competition anyway and there are many even less serious entries in the competition over the years anyway…Like these: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZJt6Gv4XPk&feature=g-like
*This one
Austria 2003 was a very witty act with a serious message. In fact, it is my favourite “joke entry”. (I hate this term btw, a song is either good or bad, and if it is bad it isn’t funny either. Imo ‘Weil der Mensch zählt’ is a good song.)
Yes, and I never said it was bad (infact I like songs like that) but it’s still not any more “serious” than Hard rock hallelujah, and the fact that it’s still a good song is the reason I mentioned it. Heres some more unserious Eurovision songs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfjHJneVonE&feature=fvst and from this year: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6S-FNLv2jQ
This one definitely belongs on the WEWE list imho. It comes pretty close to my definition of fake in every way possible. Moreover, I do not understand people criticising conventional ESC gimmicks and all other devices to distract from a song but lauding Lordi’s masks and pyros at the same time. Double standards imho. There is no difference between what Lordi and many other successful ESC acts like Sakis, Dima, Marie N, Yohanna etc. did. Irrespective of the musical style, they are all very generic songs that were mainly successful because they were extremely gimmicky … and therefore memorable.
I love rock music but there is no rock song to speak of here, only a lame eurovisionised pseudo-rock tune that is little more than a sing along ditty.
“Kindergarten metal” is the word I used for this song and performance back in 2006. It’s like a metal drag show, parodying typical metal elements. “Hard rock hallelujah” is a rather bland song. I don’t think it’s that bad though, just bland, as I said. Finnish people were requiring hard rock after Nightwish was prevented by the jury from going to ESC in 2000, and therefore they picked the first thing that popped up: this. I’m not sure whether Lordi are happy about this “ESC stamp” they have got, but actually, I think they were destined to end up here sooner or later.
Kindergarten metal
Thanks a lot. That is the perfect term to describe Finland 2006.
Yohanna? What gimmicks do you mean?
I think the focus there was mainly on her voice not much else..
I was referring to the background with the ship and the dolphin. I liked that a lot but it was a gimmick nevertheless. Sometimes I like a gimmick too.
god i hate that dolphin, HATE IT! and Hera in the backings is VERY distracting :p
actually their 2006 NF had many other rock songs and rock band, starting with Kilpi! Lordi was a phenomenon and their gimmick worked even there to beat actual rock
Do we think of the same Yohanna?
I actually consider this as pseudo-metal (I use the term my non-esc friends used to describe it that year); despite that, I sort of like it (in my top 10 for that weak year).
Of course I prefer “Missä miehet ratsastaa” from 2008 which is more genuine imo.
Suomi/Finland rules when it comes to rock and heavy metal in general. I love Apocalyptica f.e.
“Of course I prefer “Missä miehet ratsastaa” from 2008 which is more genuine imo.”
I totally agree.
I would have preferred less naked flesh though …
So true; but I guess that many metal bands have as a trade mark performing half naked
(I remember many of them especially during the 80′s)
i also prefer Finland 2008 (my third that year, behind Serbia and Portugal) but the very best is Lovex in Finland’s NF 2007
Greece should have won in 2006
Germany or BiH should have won that year
If we talk song quality only, 2006 was the worst ESC ever imo. BiH sent the only masterpiece and was miles above everything else. Next to BiH I only liked Norway, Germany and Russia. Andorra had a very atmospheric ballad which I love in studio version. Unfortunately, it was not very convincing when performed live.
I really liked Silvia Night’s witty act too, it was a very welcome comment onto the ludicrous 100 % televoting years … Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, and Albania were ok, I guess, and I do not hate Spain, Denmark and the UK either. France was very amateurish but totally void of charm.
The rest of the bunch qualifies as more or less harrowing cr*p in my book, in particular Belarus, Ireland and Monaco, which all have 0/12 on my list. Unfortunately, Armenia, Switzerland, Lithuania, Portugal, Netherlands, Poland, Macedonia and Malta weren’t much better (all 1/12).
Oh yes, and it was the year a song with incorrect lyrics came 4th … what a total disaster and terrible blow for the credibility of ESC that year was …
* but not totally void of charm.
Re: Silvia Night’s act, I will always be ashamed as a Greek myself for the reception it had by the Greek audience that night; such a bad mannered audience with a pure lack of sense of humour. Same goes for Lithuania 06 too.
I’m off to watch the Euro final now: Greece vs Spain! Αιντε Ελλαδάραααααα
Catch you later guys!
Enjoy the match!
I did enjoy it; although I would have enjoyed it even more in case we had won
LOL
Congratulations to Spain! Enhorabuena España!
MAy I remind you that you liked Pasha Parfeny this year… (concerning wrong lyrics that is)
You may.
Yes, I liked ‘Lautar’ but I always said that I liked it because of the 3 minutes of silly fun Moldova 2012 was. I never claimed it to be quality and don’t have the song in my top 10 either. I even pointed out the bad English on several occasions.
mm ok ^^ … So if you like the song, bad English isn’t too bad?
It is bad in every case but there are composition, live performance, vocals etc. too.
Btw, I have Romania 2006 in 14th place and Moldova 2012 in 13th place. LOL And I would have written exactly the same if Pasha Parfeny had come 4th this year.
Hari Mata Hari were miles ahead everyone else this year, even though the performace wasn’t perfect. “Lejla” is the best ESC song of the 00′s for me, and if they had sung “Starac i more” 1999, they would probably be the only ones beside Isabelle Aubret and Katja Ebstein who had done not only one but two perfect ESC songs. Other songs I like from this year is Croatia, Ukraine (great perfomance to a so-so song) and Germany. Sweden, Latvia, Norway and Ireland were good too.
Oh yes, Zeljko Joksimovic is there too among Katja and Isabelle.
Sibel Tuzun was a league of her own. She (and her dancers) lifted that mediocre song to something memorable, (like Ani Lorak two years later).
Lordi was completely fake of course. But who could be unhappy with a Finnish win after so many years. I guess we would be equally happy had Portugal won with last year.
I agree with Stomie I would love Portugal to win. As for Lordi? I liked this song it was a good tune. Yes not very ESC but i think this was the song that broke the ESC mould and made the general public notice ESC. I will admit I wouldn’t be very comfortable with some of its negative undertones, but that is a minor point.
Yes it was a joke entry similar in ways to Dustin the Turkey. The difference was that Dustin’s song was crap and negative about the ESC where as Lordi gave a good song and didn’t take it too seriously in dare I say a light hearted way.
Lordi = Lighthearted?????
Lordi made it easier for Lena to win by throwing the rule book out the window.
I like this song, but I really wish a rock song would win soon without a gimmick so this contest can no longer be seen as ‘it’s only for pop and ballads’ by many people.
How can this be ranked in the Best eurovision songs too? “J’aime la vie” was among the best in the last pool as well :p
they were cool and very different, and thats the reasons they won. They deserved their first place, I couldnt chose another song instead of Hard Rock Hallelujah
Even though,i didn’t vote for it,i agree that it is one of the worst winners ever.A gimmick act that won and hardly a hard rock(lol)song.
I don’t have much of an opinion on Lordi’s win. It’s an act full of crazy gimmicks and, as has been mentioned here already, can be classified as kindergarten metal. That being said, there wasn’t all that much to choose from in 2006.
My top 5 for the year:
1. Latvia
2. Andorra
3. Germany
4. Greece
5. Denmark
My sixth is Bosnia (I never got the fuss over Lejla), but it is a good song. Other songs I like are Poland, Iceland, Russia, Sweden, and Armenia. All the rest are below-average to bad, to me.
POLAND THE BEST!!
What do you prefer as country? Greece or Turkey? I can’t decide for vacation!! Please help me Pat! LOL
I’ve never been to either, so I can’t really give you a good estimate, but if I was to pick the one that interests me more, I’d say to go visit Turkey. It’s a hard choice though. When are you going, Marko?
I’m not sure yet, I’m planning for the second part of September because then it’s cheaper!
I have been to both many times, and I visited many places (I need more of Istanbul for sure though because it was too short for that giant city), this time I only go for seaside vacation!
So I’m not sure, Turkey has better accommodation than Greece (except several hotels at Rhodes and Crete)..I dunno, I will see.. 
Well, I hope you like wherever you pick. I’m excited to be going to Europe at all… a year from now. xD
Although it’s looking like I won’t be able to make ESC 2013 either. It’s a shame. One of these years though.
Pity you don’t come this year! We could go together to the seaside somewhere in Turkey (maybe Greece) when you come to Europe…I suppose you would be interested! i don’t have appropriate company for that this year so we could go together..
It’s a definite possibility, although it would have to be a weekend affair, as I’ll be spending most weekdays studying in Vienna. I’ll keep you updated as I know more details about my own trip. xD
I’d like to go to UAE – Dubai or Jordan – Akaba, but it’s too expensive!!!
And warm as hell! 
I don’t like it that much, costumes were good!
Needless to say, I disagree yet again, this is one of the best winners – fun, energetic, Eurovision as it meant to be
Who has the authority to define what Eurovision is meant to be? I think that it should all be about respecting and celebrating diversity …
I guess it’s a subjective thing what Eurovision or any other show is meant to be. But for me, this is it – and as far as diversity goes, there is not much diversity you can find, especially when some Swedish songwriters write entries for half of participating countries.
This is one of those “Love it or Hate it” songs.
I watched that year and I couldn’t understand why it won. Now, I do. It was -different-.
I’m going to defend something of this whole performance:
People call it “fake” that’s very far from the truth.
It would be “fake” if the band dressed like that only for just that occasion; obviously it’s not like that.
The band dresses like that because that’s their style, they have always used those costumes. It’s part of their identity. It wasn’t the first time they dressed like that and neither was the last.
It wasn’t some lame attempt to catch attention like others have done quite badly.
It was just them being them.
“The band dresses like that because that’s their style, they have always used those costumes. It’s part of their identity. It wasn’t the first time they dressed like that and neither was the last.”
Sakis Rouvas has been ripping off his shirts / wearing shirts 2 sizes too small many times before and after ESC too. Does that fact give more artistic credibility to his two ESC efforts?
Ripping off your shirt is showing off some masculinity and trying to appeal to certain public.
Seems quite different from using a costume that has a concept behind.
Sorry but I don’t see the difference. Anyway, I respect all opinions. Celebrate diversity!
I dunno…Probably an 8/12 ? That makes it a rather unworthy winner compared to BiH ( 12/12 ) ,
Norway ( 10/12 ) or Russia ( 10/12 ).
My country scored a 6/12 that year and I really don’t enjoy Cyprus 2006 at all…( 3/12 )
Imho an okayish song but I can see very well why this kind of music is too heavy for some members on this site. Turkey and Albania are my favourites in rather weak 2006.
This song can be described as anything but certainly not “too heavy”…
Exactly, “too camp” fits much better than “too heavy”.
Just because thou doth not like a song, it is not camp. Neither I said it is too heavy particulary for thy taste but it is an actuality that many Euro fans do not like rock music. Learn to respect other opinions and understand not ev’ry comment here is centring on thee.
Hi dear CC!!
Do you go somewhere to the seaside this year?
No, I did not intend to do so. Do you?
‘Camp’ is neither good nor bad. In fact, it is a neutral term of aesthetic theory, just like beautiful, sublime, grotesque, arabesque, absurd, disgusting (Elfriede Jellinek even won the Nobel Prize and most of her work is based on an aesthetics of disgust …), ugly etc. If camp is done competently, it is good, and if it is poorly executed, it is bad imho, just like everything else. I prefer things that are well-made irrespective their aesthetic programme.
But it does not apply to ‘Hard Rock Hallelujah’ in context of ESC standards. :/ A memorable rock song, nothing more or less. Their costumes were not even made for ESC.
*Nor
OMG Toggie and CC are the same person!!! :O
Oooops, CC replayed on his comment and corrected himself! oops LOL
Whut? xD I have not seen your replies on time else I would of replied earlier. Sometimes this site’ display does not work 100%.
*site’s display
I loved 2006 because I Love many songs: Poland, Sweden, Cyprus, UK, Greece, Switzerland, Estonia, Romania, Macedonia!
The worst songs in 2006 for me were Turkey, Armenia and Lithuania!
I doubt I will love Greece and Cyprus in one year again, before 2006 and after that, it never happens!
They totally rocked in 2011. Before that, it was somewhere in the nineties.
One could see this was going to win after its first performance. It’s a quite boring song based almost entirely on gimmicks. No way Jose! These are my top 06 songs:
1. Lejla, Hari Mata Hari, B&H
2. Alvedansen, Christine Guldbrandsen, Norway
3. No No Never, Texas Lightning, Germany
4. Zjarr e Ftohte, Luiz Ejlli, Albania
5. Sense tu, Jennifer, Andorra
ONE OF THE BEST WINNERS, and it was a big Hit in our school.
Oh! Come Oooon!!! This one among the worst winners while there’s no “Itch me I can’t sing” Olsen Brothers in the list!! Seriously!!!
By the way, how about making a list of the most underrated songs in ESC history mods? It will also vary from person to person in terms of opinions but I think songs like It’s For You (Ireland 2010), Crno i Belo (FYRoM 2012), Hey Nana (Belgum 1979), Bitaqat Khob (Morocco 1980) and Live It Up (Turkey 2011) will definitely lead the way if such a list is made!!