Best Semi-Final Non Qualifiers– Over the last two weeks, hundreds of our readers have voted for their Top 5 Best Eurovision entries that did not make it to the final. Each voter had ten points to distribute: 5 to his favorite, 4 to the second place etc. Out of these points we calculated the ultimate Top 15 of your favorite Semi-Final non qualifiers! You can see the other places and our other rankings here! Your place 15 goes to Monaco!
In 2005 in Kiev, Monaco sent young French singer Lise Darly to Kiev. It was only Monaco’s second participation since their return (after a 25-year break) the previous year. Darly had come second in the casting process to find Monaco’s Eurovision entrant for 2004 and was thus chosen to represent the microstate in 2005. “Tout de Moi” (“All Of Me) is a dramatic ballad in which Darly tells her lover that she would give all of hers to be with him. She sings that “I would fight against tempests and storms” and “I would be your angle”. She would “give you all my time and lay down my weapons”.
Monaco received 10 points from France, 2 from newcomers Moldova and 10 from the Andorran jury thus coming second to last in the semi-final.
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Unfortunately this one leaves me cold…A rather generic , formulaic ballad sang by a female in French…Nice orchestration though…
In my opinion there are better non qualifiers to fill in this top 15
I don’t think it’s that good overall but it’s among the better of the rather low 2005 contest and therefore it mising the finale was a huge disappointment for little Monaco, probably helping them get out of the contest all together… It’s nice it makes the top 15 here and not the top 10. Good result!
I’m a sucker for power ballads.
I adore Monaco 2005. It’s not a fantastic song, but it’s a great song. It’s beautifully performed, enchanting, and has a gorgeous melody. It was a crime that this didn’t qualify.
My number 2 of best non qualifying entries. A great song and a great performance. The symponic arrangement lifts it up several levels and strikes right into me. I agree with Patrick, a crime was committed that year… no, two!
Two indeed.
Slovenia 2005 seems like the favorite of people who comment in here… but Sweden 2010 and Belgium 2006 will be fans favorite for sure!
I voted for Moldova 08 , San Marino 08 , Estonia 10 , Slovenia 05 and Slovakia 09 !
Sweden 10 was my 6th choice and I do find “This is my life” a quite honest and enchanting tune that did make some difference compared to the previous stuff Sweden has been sending since EVER.
On the other hand Belgium 06 was a big NO for me!
Slovakia 10 , Iceland 07 , Bulgaria 05 and Albania 11 complete my top 10 of best non qualifiers !
My votes were for Cyprus 2009, Belarus 2004, Slovenia 2005, Albania 2011, and San Marino 2008.
My 6th choice was Estonia 2010, which barely missed due to personal preferences.
I didn’t even consider either Sweden 2010 or Belgium 2006, although I’m 90% sure that you’re right and they’ll end up extremely high or even as the top of this list.
(Just for records: Macedonia 1996, Cyprus 2008, Monaco 2005, and Israel 2012 made up the remainder of my top 10 non-qualifiers.)
Cyprus 2009 was too weak vocally to rank it THAT high but still it was my 22nd choice !
Cyprus 2008 was my 20th and Israel 2012 was my 14th !
I do have the impression that Cyprus 2007 will be high on the list too !
I’d rather put Cyprus 2006!
Cyprus 2009, really? it’s probably in my bottom 50 of all time. Strange you’d fall for such a lame vocal voice, especially from a girl. Anyway, San Marino 2008 and Slovenia 2005 are the ones I saw most often nominated and I hope they’ll get really high. My personal best is Estonia 2010 and I’m glad you had it 6th. I hope it’ll be in the top 10…
You are correct, Morgan. However, there is something about that song that made me fall in love with it. It is the only entry in the history of the contest that I don’t care that the vocals were weak in the semi-final. Something about the song touches me in a way that I can’t explain.
“However, there is something about that song that made me fall in love with it.”
The fragility perhaps? I find that very charming too although I still give -3 for the live vocals.
The fragility is definitely a factor in why I find a charm and enjoy the performance, but that alone is not enough to explain why I feel that I can ignore a weak (although I don’t find it as weak as many others do) live. Another known part of the reason is that I enjoy her brother’s compositions. I know of his 2008 attempts, and I would not have been upset if either of them had been chosen over Evdokia.
Even still, there is something that pushes me to love this song over all other non-qualifiers despite the obvious live set-back. I’ve been wondering for a year or so now what that factor was, but I still cannot find it. That is one of the reasons that I only have a half-written “Dissecting the Lyrics” on it.
You are a very honest guy.
Btw, I love Evdokia live but not in studio version whereas I love Christina in studio version but not live. ‘Firefly’ is very enchanting though if I watch the live performance with sound turned off and listen to the studio version while watching. Then it is in my top 5 for 2009.
“Firefly” is my top for 2009, either way. Lol on the comparison though. I actually prefer Evdokia in studio, but that’s because her backing singers let her down live (at least to me). Evdokia herself was beautiful live.
Hi pat!!
You don’t follow anything from Olympics?
You didn’t like Cyprus 2006 in ESC?
On the Olympics: Not really, Marko. However, I have been reading your comments on how the games are going on. There are a lot of people here in the U.S. that are not happy with how NBC is handling the games, and most of my friends that follow the Olympics are focusing on that more than the results. I also hear a lot about it on the radio as I drive to work.
On Cyprus 2006: It’s a decent song, but I don’t find it particularly memorable. Annet Artani is a fine performer, and she looked very nice. However, the song never sticks out in my mind. It’s a decent effort, but they had a better minimalistic ballad in 2004. That being said, I’d rather listen to it than to, say, Belgium or Malta 2006.
Slovenia 2005 is the only one in your top 5 I really love, the other four are far down on my list. And I agree with Morgan, Cyprus 2009 is probably one of the weakest ESC songs ever imo.
On the other hand, those that were in your 6-10 place are all good or great.
Agreed and signed!
But then we all know that the results 2005 to 2008 were utterly ludicrous.
The All Time Favourite Eurovision Song Mega Poll Results Part 1: Albania are in!
http://www.eurovisionlatest.webeden.co.uk/#/latest-news/4550918411
Allow me agree with the two previous fans who said that Monaco 05′s failure to qualify was a crime. Ms. Darly simply makes it soar live. It has become my 2005 nº 1 song. It may not be the best song in the universe (it isn’t), but not sending it to the final did nothing to improve what many think about ESC.
Estonia 10 is my nº 1 song here.
Hi!!
I hope Portugal gets first medal in London soon!
Hi, Marko.
I hope so too, but that is unlikely. I am sure Serbia will do better.
What are Portugal’s main hopes for a medal?
It was heir flag barrier Telma Monteira, but she lost in the first round!
She is judoka!
Dulce Felix is European champion in 10 000 m, maybe she surprises Ethiopians and Kenyans somehow, who knows!
I was taking a shower. Marko has already answered your question. Bernardo Freitas and Francisco Andrade (sailing) seem to be doing very well. I am off to bed now; I want to be at the beach early in the morning. Good night, everyone.
Your flag barrier, judoka Telma Monteiro disappointed!
I see that Portuguese are competing in sailing every day, maybe they get some medal!
Dulce Felix is current European champion in 10 000 m, maybe she gets medal! I hope so!
We almost got bronze today, our shooter Zorana Arunovic was 3rd, but in 4h and last round she lost bronze!
Am I the only one who voted for Macedonia 2008?
I also voted for Slovenia and Monaco 2005, Andorra 2007 and Estonia 2010. I hope that at least the other 3 will be in the top 15 too. On the other hand, I have no hopes for Tamara and her boys …
Of course you are the only one who voted for Macedonia 2008!
erm….
That is our our joke, he knows what I mean…so please..
please wait a bit and you will understand the erm..
Does that mean that Tamara is in?
You probabaly won’t tell me at this point …
Marko is right. It is one of our inside jokes, just like the Ulan Bator project.
Hahahhaah yeah…today I watched shooting 25 m pistol because of our Zorana Arunovic, and I saw one Mongolian woman from Ulan Bator competing for Germany!
And we are still running out of songs near Smederevska Palanka … LOL
Hahahaha..I thought maybe that was you, that you disguised into Mongolian woman representing Germany in shooting because of that, because you know I watched that discipline on telly!
LOL 
No, I am not Munkhbayar Dorjsuren but I would certainly consider becoming her if it brought us nearer to Ulan Bator …
Good night!
Good night!
P.S. I have just found that Joao Costa from Portugal also has chances for medal in shooting, because his qualification results is one of the best!
And I do wonder if I’m the only one who voted for Estonia 1993.
Macedonia 2008 is not a favourite of me, but I love Slovenia and Monaco 2005, do really like Estonia 2010 and appreciate Andorra 2007, though as I’ve said, I do find the idea of doing an environment song to be a bit uninspired, when you do it right after Al Gore started to make a name out of himself talking about global warming.
But I’m pretty sure that all these three songs will be on the list.
I only like Macedonia 2008 in studio. Tamara let me down live.
Besides that in studio, the two entries by Kaliopi are the only Macedonian entries I like at all.
Many found thid old fashioned but I think this one is great and she can sing unlike many who have struggled vocally
Besides UK 2009 probably the only disneyish ballad in ESC that I do not detest.
However, music-wise it participated thirty years too late and also is very sugary so its score is not really astonishing (though a tad harsh).
PS: I did not know it has been confirmed that Andorra used a jury (sometimes they did, sometimes didn’t) but Moldova did so for sure.
ps: i like macedonia 08 and 09 and the new system prevented them from going through while they were SO much more deserving than the 05 and 06 craps that qualified these years :’(
Good to see “Tout de Moi” in the top 15 of this list. I didn’t vote for it in my top 5, but it probably would’ve made my personal top 15, so i’m pleased with that. Just 22 points, only from juries and their one neighbour says it all really – hugely underrated and should have qualified in 2005.