It’s been over a year since we revealed some potentially unpopular ESC opinions, so why not do more?
We can’t all agree on everything to do with Eurovision. As of 2025, over 1,700 individual songs have been performed, including many thousands of performers, composers, backups, and dancers. Chances are you are going to like things that we don’t, and we are going to like things you don’t. That’s part of what makes the history of the contest so intricate, that we’ve all experienced it in different ways.
However, there are some things that we realize are thoughts well outside the ESC fan mainstream. Today, we will go into five more of them. If you agree, great – we might be in the minority, but at least we have company.
Five More Potentially Unpopular ESC Opinions
1.) Dustin the Turkey was not the worst Eurovision act ever.
Once the dominant force of the contest, Ireland hit such a rough patch in the 2000s, they even failed at failing. Dustin the Turkey’s intentional flop at Eurovision 2008 was not even the worst song of the decade.
Was it bad? Oh God, yes. It’s one of the worst, but not the worst. If you are asking yourself, what could possibly be worse, I present to you Israel’s entry in 2000, “Sameach.”
I am aware of their story and the circumstances of the song. However, so noisome was it that I must briefly bend our unwritten rule not to be too disparaging and point out that it was legitimately one of the worst songs I have ever heard in my life. At least Dustin’s backup singers were good. That Israeli song was an utter disaster from start to finish, and in all directions. Devoid of all redeeming qualities, if I didn’t have to watch it, I would have put that YouTube video out of its misery about 30 seconds in.
2.) I didn’t like “Tomorrow” (Malta 2013) at all.
I could tell that people ate it up from the beginning. Yet, despite being a charming individual, this did nothing for me. The singing was about what one would expect from a non-professional. The song’s composition was maybe okay.
What irked me the most was the staging. In the modern Eurovision era, I despise when singers put the lyrics of the song behind them on the screen. I find it the laziest way to stage a song. This one had the full lyrics trailing behind him like it was karaoke night in Sweden.
3.) I feel like I was supposed to enjoy “We Are the Winners” (Lithuania 2006), but I didn’t.
Lithuania’s memorable joke entry produced the country’s best result in the Eurovision Song Contest. While it did well amongst the fans, it did not with me.
Look, I can appreciate a good joke entry when it accomplishes certain things. For example, “Baila El Chiki Chiki” was Spain’s (2008) attempt at tanking, but it has never failed to make me laugh. “We Are the Winners,” however, was just the same joke for three minutes. To be honest, I got bored. Not even that guy getting down during the bridge turned it around for me.
4.) I’m glad the “Sad Boy Switzerland” era is over.
This is not to say that these gentlemen were not talented in 2021, 2022, and 2023. However, the subject matter was depressing at times, and I did not think there was much variety.
I’m pleased to say that Switzerland was rewarded for dropping that in 2024, as Nemo’s bright number won the contest. They continued the momentum in 2025 with a beautiful host entry.
5.) “Nocturne” (Norway 1995) left me very conflicted in terms of judging.
Norway’s 1995 winning song was a beautifully-composed number. There was no Eurovision song like it before, and especially because of rule refinements, there will probably never be one like it again. On some level, at least I can say that it was very unique, in a class of its own, and for that reason, I couldn’t be too upset that it won.
However, one of the goals of Euro Yard is to find the best Eurovision songs ever. Almost every song in this contest has lyrics, and since they are important, we rate the quality of them. “Nocturne” had almost no lyrics, and as a result, very little to evaluate in terms of the vocals, which is one of our most important considerations. The vocals that did exist were lovely, but too brief. In every run-through of the 1995 contest I do, I struggle to find a fair score for this song as a result. By extension, I don’t know that I can truly consider it one of the best ever because while it’s excellent at what it does, it’s incomplete.