Intro Post

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Introduction

The grand final of Eurovision 2004 featured 24 countries that can be split into three groups: the Big Four, the top ten non-Big Four countries from 2003, and the top ten countries from the 2004 semifinal. The running order of the first two groups was determined before the semifinal, so the qualifiers were slotted into the remaining spots.

All 36 countries that participated in the contest televoted in this year’s final, even Monaco which used a backup jury in the semifinal. It was the only grand final in Eurovision history where all the points came from televoters. Ukraine won the contest for the first of three times, Serbia and Montenegro (S+M) made a strong debut with second place, and Greece scored third place for the second time. The top three countries all came from the semifinal, and the bottom three were all automatic qualifiers. This makes sense because the semifinal filtered out the less popular songs while the automatic qualifiers had no such filter.

As an opening act, Sertab Erener performed the reliable combo of last year’s winner and her latest single. I still far prefer the orchestral rearrangements of the previous winner, but this opening act reminds us that Sertab’s career has shined bright since winning the contest.

I won’t lie, I’ve started to warm up to Peter Urban’s commentary. He still sounds like he’s reading from a script at times, but he does what he needs to as a commentator and provides plenty of trivia and side remarks. Maybe that’s why he stuck around as the German commentator for so long. I already discussed the history behind this contest in my semifinal post, so there’s not much else to say—let’s get on with the songs!

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Spain: Para llenarme de ti

Artist: Ramón del Castillo Pilop

Language: Spanish

Key: A minor

Spain gives us a perfect opener to this contest: an utterly Spanish-sounding party song. Remember the three songs in the semifinal that I described as Spanish-sounding? I think Spain is trying to tell those three countries, “you’re doing it wrong, THIS is how you make a Spanish bop”. It has tons of guitar and brass and harmonic minor scales, plus a rousing drum beat and some pianos. It’s got the whole package to sound authentically Spanish.

I’m a bit annoyed that the singer puts away his guitar as the instrument keeps playing, but this a good opener anyway. It gets viewers excited but isn’t over-the-top energetic.

Austria: Du bist

Artist: Tie Break

Language: German

Key: F major, F♯ major

Next up in the death slot, we have a mediocre romantic boyband ballad. We’re not in the 1990’s anymore, you aren’t going to impress the audience with your slow piano chords and ballady drum beat. At least the singers have decent harmonies. No, I’m not going to pat these guys on the back just because they sang in German, not any more than I’d scold Lena, Michael Schulte, or Lord of the Lost for singing in English.

Norway: High

Artist: Knut Anders Sørum

Language: English

Key: B♭ major (verses), D♭ major (chorus), D major (final chorus)

After a 90’s sounding ballad we have… a 2000’s sounding ballad, I guess. It would have probably been eliminated if it was in the semifinals, but apparently the EBU trusted countries that scored high last year to do it again. I’m really annoyed by the key change between the verse and chorus, because it’s totally abrupt and makes no musical sense. It sounds like two songs strung together by someone who doesn’t know how to match key.

France: À chaque pas

Artist: Jonatan Cerrada

Language: French, plus a bit of Spanish at the end

Key: D major

This song confirms two archetypical traits of Eurovision 2004: it’s the year of strange language choices and inexplicable staging. Why is there a woman in tall stilts behind him and what does she contribute to the song? Is she there because the title means “with every step” and she’s taking large steps? The little bit of Spanish at the end of this song is pointless, because it sounds the same as the French parts. As I always say, language mixing only works if different parts of the song are designed for different languages. Maybe he was supposed to sing this song alternating between French and Spanish, and only remembered the Spanish at the end?

Oh right, as a song this is yet another average ballad. I can tell that by this point, France was totally checked out of Eurovision.

Serbia and Montenegro: Lane moje (Лане моје)

Artist: Željko Joksimović, the king of Balkan ballads

Language: Serbo-Croatian (Serbian)

Key: C♯ minor, E♭ minor

Željko Joksimović is an iconic name in Eurovision history. He composed five entries for former Yugoslav countries, two of which he sang, and was one of the two presenters when Serbia hosted in 2008. He is acclaimed for his style of Balkan ballads, so much that people even mention him when discussing Balkan ballads that he didn’t compose. Although none of his compositions have ever won Eurovision, I think his works paved the way for Serbia’s victory in 2007. I’m going to analyze this song’s structure in depth, because god damn is there a lot to unpack.

If you’re a Eurovision fan, it’s easy to forget that the three-minute song limit is quite strict. It’s hard to squeeze the formula of “verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus” into three minutes unless you make everything really short, but there are alternatives. Sometimes instead of verses and choruses, it’s better to focus your song’s structure on buildup. That’s exactly what this song does, and it does so beautifully.

When I discussed North Macedonia’s Balkan ballad from 2002, I said one thing was missing: a catchy melodic hook. This song solves that problem by beginning with the melody played on a flute, so that it’s implanted into viewers’ heads, which in turn makes their faces light up when the melody is sung. It opens with an enchanting flute solo, then a Balkan-style backing kicks in and the audience cheers. That very moment always makes my face light up too, so it feels like the audience is reading my mind. It might sound like I’ve heard this song many times before, but I had never heard it in full before reviewing the 2004 semifinal.

This is one of those songs that gives me a burst of wow factor every time a new section begins, and going by all the cheering I’m clearly not alone in that. The moment where Željko starts singing gives me a burst of wow, because he sings this style of Balkan ballad perfectly. Then another burst of wow when he sings the flute melody, then yet another when the violin solo begins.

This song has a key change after the violin solo, but it doesn’t sound like a key change at all! There are two reasons for this: first, the song’s chord progression doesn’t stick to the root chord (first C♯ minor, then E♭ minor) much, meaning that I had to think for a little bit to decide what key it’s in. Second, the transition into E♭ minor is amazingly natural. At the end of the solo, the C♯ minor chord is implicitly reinterpreted as C♯/D♭ major, which is the subtonic of D♯/E♭ minor and thus naturally leads into the new key. I say it’s “implicitly reinterpreted” because for a few seconds after the violin solo, the backing has no notes that make the chord explicitly major or minor. That moment of ambiguity is why this transition works so damn well. Oh, and the resumption of singing after the solo gives me one last burst of wow.

For all that Western European viewers have complained about Eastern European bloc voting, this Balkan ballad won the hearts of the whole continent. It got points from every single participating country and twelve points from many countries all over Europe, both in the semifinal and final, which landed it in a well-deserved second place. The song transcends language barriers so beautifully that you’d think it would have inspired the rest of Europe to send native language songs more often, but it didn’t at all. It took until the 2020’s for native-language entries to boom in popularity once more.

Malta: On Again… Off Again

Artist: Julie Zahra and Ludwig Galea

Language: English

Key: E♭ major, E major, F♯ major

After that Balkan masterpiece, we’re back to regular old Eurodance. It’s a half-opera romantic duet so it could have been somewhat interesting, but as with many other Eurodance songs it’s weighed down by the repetitive drum beat. I’m not a big fan of the rhyme of “attention” with “intention”, because the words sound too similar. I kind of like the bridge section where Ludwig sings words and Julie sings opera notes, but the rest is too Eurodancey. It’s one of those qualifiers that doesn’t seem better or worse than most of the non-qualifiers.

Netherlands: Without You

Artist: Re-Union

Language: English

Key: E major

And so, we’ve reached the very last Dutch entry to reach the Eurovision final until 2013. The next eight years were a tough time to be a Dutch Eurovision fan, as I’m sure one of my commenters can attest. This song scored a hefty 146 points in the semifinal, but only 11 points in the final. My guess is that it’s because of running order—it benefited from coming at the end of the semifinal, but in the final it was hard to shine coming so shortly after “Lane moje”.

For a ballad, this song is actually pretty nice because it remains understated throughout and doesn’t get conventionally ballady. It keeps the focus on guitar and some light percussion, plus it has some nice harmonies and alternation between lead and backing singers. I’m even willing to forgive the fire/desire rhyme.

This is the kind of song whose score depends hugely on its running order: it can strike viewers in the heart, or it can seem like a dud next to something more grandiose. A truly great entry will leave a strong impression regardless of its running order, language, or bloc voting partners. We saw a perfect example of this two songs ago.

Germany: Can’t Wait Until Tonight

Artist: Max Mutzke, who might return in 2024

Language: English, plus a small portion in Turkish

Key: A major, B♭ major

As you can see by all the flags in the audience, German fans were very excited about this song. It was composed by Stefan Raab, who as I’ve said before is the king of German Eurovision, and sung by another widely known name, Max Mutzke. This song didn’t come close to winning, but it landed in a respectable eighth place which was… uh, let’s see… the fifth last time Germany reached the top 10.

Maybe part of why the Netherlands scored so low is that Germany sent a similarly styled song. It’s relaxed and soulful, primarily focused on guitar and drums, but unlike the Netherlands it has some buildup throughout. It gradually gains an electric piano and strings and reaches its climax in the bridge, then calms down again in the last chorus. Even though this song is nowhere near as goofy as “Guildo hat euch lieb” or “Wadde hadde dudde da”, I can still sense Stefan Raab’s composition style in it. That guy sure loves his jazzy chords, and I can’t blame him one bit. It sounds a little bit like video game music, like what you’d hear in a 2010’s Nintendo game.

Another thing Stefan Raab likes to do is grab the audience’s attention in outlandish ways. This time, he did so by making the second chorus sung in the host country’s language, which got the audience to cheer. At least, I assume that was his idea—I have no idea whether Stefan Raab or Max Mutzke can actually speak Turkish. Max does sing in English very well, so this song is spared from my “wah wah why doesn’t Germany sing in German” rants.

If I was watching this contest in 2004, I’m not sure if this would have been my number one choice to win, but I would have absolutely rooted for Max and not just due to patriotism. It’s refreshing to see a German entry that I can actually be proud of.

Albania: The Image of You

Artist: Anjeza Shanini

Language: English

Key: D♭ major

Our last debut country is none other than Albania, which has had perfect attendance in Eurovision since 2004. Even though Albania is a relatively new country in this contest, its national final is almost as old as Eurovision itself. Festivali i Këngës (FiK) has taken place in December of every year since 1962 and has a complex history far beyond the scope of this blog. Just know that the event has used an orchestra every year except 2020, and that all entries in FiK are required to be in Albanian. This means that every English-language entry from Albania has an Albanian version.

Albania’s debut scored seventh place, which is their second-highest result and one of only two times they reached the top 10. The other is a fifth place in 2012. My impression is that Albania usually does their own Albanian thing regardless of whether they’ll score well, much like Portugal did in the 20th century.

As Peter Urban said, making it to Eurovision is a big triumph for Albanians, because just 15 years ago entering the contest was unthinkable. After all, the country had spent four decades as an isolated dictatorship. But this song isn’t much to write home about. It’s fairly catchy but more than a little unfocused. It starts as a breathy ballad but then turns into a Europop tune with rock elements and a disco ending. Anjeza is distractingly breathy then distractingly waily and holds her microphone too close to her mouth at the start. Albania is obsessed with sending waily female singers for some reason.

Ukraine: Wild Dances (the winner)

Artist: Ruslana Stepaniva Lyzhychko

Language: A hearty mix of English, Ukrainian, and nonsense phrases

Key: A minor, a popular key for dance bops

You have to give some hats off to Ukraine this year. So many eastern European countries struggled to shine for years on end, but then Ukraine came in and won the contest on their second try! The reason Ukraine does so well in Eurovision is that their broadcaster pays close attention to which songs score well in the contest. Turkey won with an ethno-bop in 2003, so Ukraine sent an ethno-bop with Ukrainian flair and won the contest. Joke entries became common in 2006, so the next year Ukraine sent an absolute banger of a joke entry and got second place. Native-language songs did well in 2023, so… well, I won’t spoil you on their 2024 entry. Just know that out of the ten currently released entries, I think it has the best chance at winning.* Countries like Germany and Ireland should really take notes from Ukraine.

Everything about this song and its performance is total perfection and peak Eurovision. Ruslana beams with confidence and her intensive choreography fills the audience with hype. When I reviewed “Dschinghis Khan”, I said it was structured to be as energetic and catchy as possible, without a single moment of rest. I feel exactly the same about “Wild Dances”. These two songs are musically very similar: they’re in the same key, they’re full of pumping energy, and they’re both spiced up by a bit of brass. You can even sing the chorus of “Dschinghis Khan” to this song’s instrumental portions, which come right before the verses. If you needed proof that Dschinghis Khan was ahead of its time, then this is it. After this song, Peter Urban called it “Dschinghis Khan 2004”, but I promise you I thought of the comparison independently.

The one thing I don’t like about this song is that it’s hard to tell apart the English sections, the Ukrainian sections, and the nonsense lyrics. This is why I tend to prefer when songs are entirely in one language, but you know what? This song is an absolute banger either way.

* For those reading after the 2024 contest, the other nine are Albania, Czechia, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Slovenia, and Spain.

Croatia: You Are the Only One (not to be confused with Russia 2016)

Artist: Ivan Mikulić

Language: English

Key: G♯ minor, A minor

Although Ruslana was a tough act to follow, I think this song fits well coming right after her. The verses are mellow and a little mysterious, like a Balkan-ish ballad that gives the audience some much-needed calm. I’m not as big on the more energetic chorus, which don’t sound at all like a Balkan ballad.

Bosnia and Herzegovina: In the Disco

Artist: Deen (Fuad Backović)

Language: English

Key: D minor, E♭ minor

The title doesn’t lie—this is extremely disco. More of the dancey kind of disco than the jazzy kind. It’s incredibly cheesy, very 2000’s Eurovision in that sense. I like that it has more of a techno sound than the Eurodance I’ve been flooded with, but it doesn’t reach the threshold where I’ll regularly come back to it. That’s mainly because I don’t like breathy singing.

Belgium: 1 Life

Artist: Xandee (Sandy Boets)

Language: English

Key: E minor

This song is unquestionably Eurodance, but I find it a lot more enjoyable than others of its genre. Maybe because it sounds like more of a party song than plain old Eurodance. It’s got some nice synths and even some tribal drums to dilute the standard Eurodance sound. In the chorus it even sounds a tiny bit Spanish. It’s still not the kind of song I’ll come back to, and considering that it only got seven points, voters must have felt the same.

Russia: Believe Me

Artist: Julia Savicheva

Language: English

Key: G minor

I think Russia tried to imitate Turkey’s success by sending a song with elaborate staging, but they totally missed the point because the performance has absolutely no relation to the song. In “Every Way That I Can” and “Wild Dances”, the choreography made sense because these are ethnic dance songs. But the acrobatic body paint guys who carry Julia up have no relation to this romantic Europop song. She doesn’t even look like she’s enjoying herself on stage.

A lot of western European fans at the time loved to complain about bloc voting, but if a country really does get most of its points from neighbors, the best it can score is around the middle. This song is a case in point: it scored 11th place with 67 points, 48 of which came from former Soviet countries. This did bring Russia to the left side of the scoreboard, but they didn’t stand a chance against the more universally appealing entries, like Ukraine and S+M.

North Macedonia: Life

Artist: Toše Proeski, who died in 2007 at 26 years old

Language: English

Key: A minor, B♭ minor

This song won the national final in its Macedonian version (Angel si ti), but the lyrics were completely rewritten in English for Eurovision. The Macedonian version is about the singer’s love for someone he considers an angel, whereas the English version is about him questioning his identity and sense of self.

One thing that doesn’t change between both versions is its distinctive Balkan sound, or the unusual 7/8 time signature. Unfortunately, I get the feeling that it would be an ordinary mildly Balkan sounding pop song if it was in a more conventional time signature like 4/4. It’s different musically and Toše is a good singer, but I can’t love this.

Greece: Shake It

Artist: Sakis Rouvas, who would host in 2006

Language: English

Key: A minor

In many ways, this is an archetypical Greek entry: danceable pop with Greek instruments, catchy lyrics and melody, and a massive radio hit that charted highly in Greece and Cyprus. I’ve heard people say “My Number One”, the Greek winner next year, is an extremely overplayed radio song in Greece, so I assume the same holds for this song. A commenter on my posts told me that songs like this are considered bottom of the barrel pop in Greece and I can see why this is the case. It’s a fun song but extremely formulaic, and there will be much better Greek entries coming up. I’m only nine years away from my beloved “Alcohol Is Free”, and I’m prepared to be pissed off that it didn’t win 2013.

Greece is well into their “wanting to win Eurovision” phase. They made their performance sexually appealing both for viewers attracted to men and those attracted to women. The previous sentence would be a lot shorter if gay and bisexual people didn’t exist. I think part of why Greece wanted to win the contest is because they were set to host the Olympics in 2004, so winning and hosting Eurovision would bring them even more publicity. They came close to winning with 252 points (behind 263 and 280 for the top two) and their moment of triumph would come next year. I’m glad Greece didn’t win with this song, because Ukraine and S+M were so much more interesting.

Iceland: Heaven

Artist: Jónsi (Jón Jósep Snæbjörnsson)

Language: English

Key: C major

Another 90’s sounding power ballad and the singer doesn’t even have a good stage presence. He just sounds and looks awkward, then he gets shouty near the end. As I’ve said before, Europe doesn’t like these kinds of ballads anymore. I’m not surprised at all that this got only 16 points.

Ireland: If My World Stopped Turning

Artist: Chris Doran

Language: English

Key: B major

Ireland has refused to accept that Europe doesn’t like Irish ballads anymore. This song scored only seven points, yet I’m told this isn’t even the last Irish ballad we’ll hear. Seriously, when will Ireland stop being stuck in the past? It’s like they’re trying to pretend the world stopped turning.

Poland: Love Song

Artist: Blue Café

Language: English and Spanish

Key: B♭ minor

So many artists sent songs with a bit of Spanish/Latin sound, I have to wonder if this kind of music was trending in Europe in 2004. If I grew up in Europe instead of America, I’d probably know this. It sounds more like café pop in the verses, but kicks the Spanish sound up a notch in the chorus which she sings in Spanish. It’s too bad the verses sound repetitive and her voice is so quiet. She repeats “sweet song” (which sounds like swit song or sweat song) and “love song” too much. I’d like this better if the whole song sounded more like the chorus. Or at least if the chorus was longer and the verses were shorter.

United Kingdom: Hold on to Our Love

Artist: James Fox

Language: English

Key: G major (verses), D major (chorus)

This year the UK seemed to think they were still in the 90’s. This is a very mediocre guitar tune in 6/8 time with a painfully dull drum beat. Europe likes upbeat dance songs now, not whatever this is. This song scored only 29 points, so I’m sure British fans at the time complained that they don’t have enough bloc voting partners. But I think viewers who like British music gave all their votes to the next song.

Cyprus: Stronger Every Minute

Artist: Lisa Andreas, a 16-year-old Brit with a Cypriot mother

Language: English

Key: A major

If I was British, I would have been absolutely pissed that this wasn’t the UK entry, not just because it scored fifth place. This is a very lovely ballad that sounds British in a contemporary way. She was only 16 years old but gave a gorgeous performance, full of confidence and sensitivity.

There are a lot of reasons I like this more than most ballads. For one thing, the instrumental remains simple and subdued and doesn’t gain anything like a ballady drum beat, except near the end and even then the drum beat is light. The buildup is done primarily through the addition of strings, electric pianos, and even a few chimes. I like the solo singing at the start and the slowdowns in the middle give some very nice push and pull, but want to know the best thing about this song? It actually has a proper ending!!!

In the early days of Eurovision, every song had a lovingly composed dramatic ending. I’m not saying that the songs in early Eurovision were better, they absolutely weren’t. I’m just saying they were better at having proper endings. In 1970’s Eurovision it became common for songs to end more quickly, like one final chord instead of a drawn-out ending. Then in the 1980’s it became common for songs to end abruptly, as if they’re paused in the middle. Those abrupt endings really pissed me off at first and they still annoy me, but by the time I got to Eurovision 2004 I forgot how satisfying it feels when a song properly concludes. I admit, sometimes the song endings in early Eurovision were too drawn out, but this song’s ending is prolonged to exactly the right degree.

The sad truth is, drawn-out endings have fallen out of fashion in modern Eurovision. It sort of makes sense considering three minutes is such a strict time limit, but it’s still a shame that abrupt endings are the norm. I extensively listened to all the 2023 entries before the grand final and I still can’t remember how most of them end. The main exception is Slovenia’s “Carpe Diem”, which has a drawn-out ending done to perfection.

Turkey: For Real

Artist: Athena

Language: English

Key: C minor

Now that they’ve won the contest, Turkey decided they’re done sending Turkish bops. The first entry from post-victory Turkey is a fusion of ska and rock that scored fourth place, which proves that it awoke the voters’ soft spot for ska. It has all the classic ska tropes like guitar notes on the off beats and trumpet parts, but the genre works better when it’s a little faster. It’s a fun song overall, but it falls in the shadow of similarly styled entries from this region, like “We Could Be the Same” and “Alcohol Is Free”.

Romania: I Admit

Artist: Sanda Ladoși

Language: English

Key: C minor

I think the singer’s outfit is supposed to be sexy, but instead it got a Barbara Dex award. She looks like her dress slipped off and she was unable to put it back on. It tries to be an extensively choreographed dance bop, but it doesn’t really work for me. The performance just looks weird and I can barely understand a word she’s singing.

Sweden: It Hurts

Artist: Lena Philipsson

Language: English. The previews in the semifinal fooled us!

Key: B major, D♭ major

This song won Melodifestivalen in its Swedish version “Det gör ont”, and predictably it was localized to English for Eurovision. But strangely, the previews during the semifinal showed the Swedish version. It’s an extremely Swedish schlager, but more pleasant than their last few entries. It’s still not my kind of song, but it has some nice synths and a retro-sounding pumping beat.

Unsurprisingly this song did well, tying with Cyprus for fifth place. This means that the top five of this year actually constitute six songs. If the tiebreaker rule of the time applied to all rankings, then Sweden would have scored sixth place.

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Who’s my favorite?

I think it’s pretty obvious this time. You can tell from its long review that Serbia and Montenegro, Lane moje blew me away the most. My top two are this contest’s top two in reverse: Ukraine’s winner is my second favorite. They sent a total banger but the languages in the lyrics can be hard to distinguish, which means S+M beats it for me. Honorable mentions to Cyprus for sending a rare ballad that clicks with me.

• Belgium, 2 (1976, 2003)
• Denmark, 3 (1963, 2000, 2001)
• Finland, 3 (1968, 1983, 1989)
• France, 3 (1977, 1990, 1991)
• Germany, 4 (1956, 1979, 1982, 1999)
• Iceland, 1 (1992)
• Ireland, 4 (1970, 1980, 1993, 1994)
• Israel, 1 (1987)
• Italy, 1 (1958)
• Latvia, 1 (2002)
• Luxembourg, 4 (1961, 1965, 1972, 1988)
• Netherlands, 7 (1957, 1959, 1964, 1967, 1969, 1975, 1998)
• Norway, 5 (1960, 1966, 1973, 1985, 1995)
• Portugal, 2 (1971, 1984)
• Serbia and Montenegro, 1 (2004)
• Sweden, 2 (1974, 1996)
• Switzerland, 1 (1986)
• Turkey, 2 (1978, 1997)
• United Kingdom, 2 (1962, 1981)
• (20 winners)

I really don’t want to do this often, but I had to do one more retcon to my list of winners. I had changed my winner of 1985 from Israel to Sweden, but now I changed it to what it should have been all along, Norway, La det swinge. Sweden’s song is loads of fun but a bit too schlagery, whereas Norway hypes me up the most and is the rightful winner. I don’t think I’ll retroactively change this list again, unless I were to binge each Eurovision contest all over again.

General thoughts:

Aside from the introduction of semifinals, this year is defined by the abundance of danceable pop songs, particularly Eurodance and Spanish-esque bops. Maybe that’s why the biggest standouts were mostly the slower songs like S+M, Germany, and Cyprus. I don’t mind the abundance of Eurodance this year because the other songs had plenty of variety. That’s a benefit of having 36 participants: the more countries participate, there more likely there will be something for everyone.

In terms of presentation, this was quite different from the last two contests. When Estonia and Latvia hosted the last two years, they were intent on showing that their countries were as modern as the rest of Europe and not just Soviet wastelands. This was particularly clear from their postcards and interval acts. On the other hand, the postcards and interval acts this year embrace traditional Turkish culture for what it is. The postcards were rather dull this year, but the interval acts were exactly the kind of hectic ethnic dancing that I was hoping Turkey would do.

Since more countries voted than any year before, the voting made a change to speed it up: instead of being repeated in English and French each time, the votes were now repeated in only French if given in English, and in English if given in French. The bilingual repeating of each country’s name and score had been done every year since 1976. It was helpful back then to prevent voting mishaps, but when the scoreboard became digital and the audio quality became better, it just became superfluous. The EBU should have made this change much sooner.

Because the contest now has a semifinal, the voting countries were no longer ordered by performance. The EBU tried a variety of different orderings: this year, they were alphabetized by two-letter country codes. I think they figured it would be easy to guess which country comes next, but most viewers wouldn’t have known Switzerland (CH) came after Belarus (BY). The feature of color-coding which countries had already voted was no longer useful, because it didn’t show which of the non-qualifiers had voted. Later years would solve this problem by listing how many countries have voted and how many are left.

The spokespersons had lots of annoying shenanigans in this era, but this year they weren’t too bad. I actually think it’s cute when a spokesperson takes time to speak in the host country’s language. It felt good to see S+M get twelve points from so many countries, since I would’ve worried they’d only appeal to the Balkans. Ukraine wasn’t in the lead at first, but they climbed to the top and I consider them a worthy winner. Peter Urban was happy enough with Germany reaching the top ten and I agree with him.

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See you next time as Eurovision comes to Ukraine for the first time.

>> 2005 (Semifinal): The Year of Overcomplicated Staging