National finals (NF) season has given us potential Eurovision entries that the public would never have seen without an open selection process. Every once in a while, we feel that we’re witnessing historic television courtesy of a national selection. Some of these entries seem to reset the country’s unwritten Eurovision rules and even made a lasting impact on the local music scene.
Eurovision national selections have always given a platform to those who think and sing differently. As NF season is almost upon us, we want to highlight some of the most impactful NF victories from recent years. Obviously, we won’t be able to list all of them in one article, but here’s a first take at highlighting a few. Because, after all, Eurovision is more than just a television show in May.
List: Eurovision NF victories that made a lasting impact
2022: Monika Liu wins Pabandom iš naujo! with “Sentimentai”
That Monika Liu would win Pabandom iš naujo! 2022 was no surprise. Her song “Sentimentai” – an 80s-inspired lounge track – had topped the Lithuanian charts for several weeks. That a song in Lithuanian could go to Eurovision, was something which did not cross many Lithuanian minds. After all, the country had been sending songs in English ever since 2000 like it was an unwritten rule. Besides, who in Europe would understand Lithuanian? Even Latvians don’t understand a word of the Baltic language.
“Sentimentai” became a favourite in the selection show in an early phase. Quickly, it turned out to be the only Lithuanian song left in the competition. It was a rarity that a Lithuanian song made a serious chance in the country’s Eurovision selection shows.
As the selection progressed, locals worried if a Lithuanian song could do well at an international show. But they loved “Sentimentai” so much that it was worth the gamble so Monika Liu was crowned the winner of Lithuania’s selection. And a good gamble with that. “Sentimentai” easily sailed through to the final, finishing a respectable midtable result.
In the years after Monika Liu, the amount of Lithuanian entries in the country’s selection initially did not change. When Silverster Belt won the country’s selection with “Luktelk” in 2024, receiving a standing ovation mid-song – most of the other competing songs remained in English. But in 2025, almost half of the entries were sung in Lithuanian, including all entries in the eventual superfinal. But most importantly: the Lithuanian language of the songs is no longer seen as a complication. Rather an advantage.
2021: TIX wins Melodi Grand Prix with “Ut Av Mørket”/”Fallen Angel”
Andreas Haukland – better known as TIX – had been a household name in Norway for several years prior to Melodi Grand Prix 2021. Most famous for his russ songs – a genre of party music aimed at young adolescents finishing high school – TIX joining MGP was a bit surprising. Presenting his pre-qualified song in semi-final one, revenge-ready Keiino – hyped as potential Eurovision winners with their “Monument” – overshadowed him.
TIX’ “Ut Av Mørket” (“Out of the darkness”) – a midtempo pop effort about battling depression – was then slaughtered by reviewers. They did not only critique the song, but also TIX’ personality and appearance. NRK’s own music reviewer wrote: “Andreas “Tix” Haukeland has in recent years solidified his position as the epicenter of musical low culture in this country, and sees no reason to deviate from his conceptually clear brand with “Ut Av Mørket”. This song is the most pure garbage I’ve heard in a while, and it barely deserves two listens.”.
The song also received a notoriously bad review from Dagbladet, the country’s biggest tabloid newspaper. The reviewer there wrote: “[TIX] is ending up in the final for one reason: [he] is a direct qualifier, but he should never have been there with such a woeful song. I’ll eat TIX’ headband, on a bed of broken glass from his sunglasses, if he wins the MGP final.”
Both reviewers gave the song a “one on the dice”, the lowest score any reviewer can give in Norway. Despite this, the public ate “Ut Av Mørket” and it quickly topped all streaming platforms. After all, TIX knew very well what 2021 sounded like in pop music. Two years prior, he penned Ava Max’ “Sweet But Psycho” – one of the biggest hits of 2019. Many forgot that TIX had proper pop credentials that streched far beyond the russ songs.
Speaking to TV2 in the week running up to the final of Melodi Grand Prix 2021, TIX called the reviews “public bullying”. He then said: “There is a delicate balance between satire and bullying (…). I think it is stupid that both adults and young people get to read music reviews where there is obvious bullying in the text. It sends a signal that talking like that about other people is okay.”
When the final of Melodi Grand Prix 2021 arrived, it quickly became duel between Keiino – hyped by the fans and the media – and TIX – popular with the Norwegian public. When TIX came to the stage, he brought a new necklace which contained a golden toy dice with a single pip on each side – in reference to all negative reviews. TIX emerged victorious in the public vote after several rounds, beating Keiino in the final duel.
After winning Melodi Grand Prix, TIX again directed his attention towards the reviews. To Dagbladet, the singer-songwriter said that he hoped the reviewers would take a lesson from it: “Of course, you should think something about music, but I hope we can be a little more careful with what we say. Words are not always just words.”
TIX’ victory definitely made a lasting impact in Norway’s media. A children’s book of his journey as an outcast became the best-selling juvenile novel that year. And most importantly: no Melodi Grand Prix act has suffered such harsh reviews again in Norway.
2017: Francesco Gabbani wins Sanremo with “Occidentali’s Karma”
Nowadays, Eurovision fans mark the Sanremo Music Festival in their agendas. But a decade ago, many avoided watching the contest. Full of old-fashioned, yet beautiful ballads, it felt that Sanremo was slightly stuck in the past. After all, together with the Albanian Festivali i Këngës, it still used an orchestra.
When Francesco Gabbani was added to the main section of the Sanremo Festival in 2017, nobody expected him to take the golden lion. His comedy pop entry “Occidentali’s Karma” – ridiculing Westerners’ self-obsession in the internet age and appropriation of Asian cultures – quickly found many fans in the Italian resort town. This included the press as well as the Sanremo Festival audience.
As the Sanremo week progressed, it seemed that Francesco would just do well with the public vote, become a hit in Italy but not take the prize. The act, which included Gabbani wearing an orange sweater and a dancer dressed up as an ape, broke all unwritten rules at Sanremo.
But when the results arrived in the late hours of the final night, it was the final televote that did it for Gabbani and made him the winner of the 2017 edition of the Sanremo Music Festival. After receiving the golden lion, Francesco bursted into tears of happiness.
After Gabbani, Sanremo became much more open towards different, more modern genres of music. Within two years after “Occidentali’s Karma”, Mahmood won the festival with his rap song “Soldi” — after the impression that Ultimo would win Sanremo. Eventual Eurovision winners Måneskin also did not start out their Eurovision journey as Sanremo favourites but managed to win the festival after a last televote at 3:30AM on the final night.
2023: Gustaph wins Eurosong with “Because of You”
When Belgium released its list of names for Eurosong 2023, most eyes were on the younger half of the acts: Chérine, gala dragot and The Starlings. Most fans and media saw these three acts as the serious competitors, the rest as “filler” to complete a final line-up.
When Gustaph presented his two Eurovision bids “The Nail” and “Because of You”, almost nobody really cared. In the week before the Belgium’s national selection, we ran a poll on Wiwibloggs and Gustaph finished dead last.
Nobody could predict Gustaph had a chance of coming close to win. But when the night arrived in Brussels’ Palais 12, multiple Wiwibloggers were witness of the roar that came from the hall into the press centre when Gustaph hit his big note.
Gustaph brought his “Because of You” – a real queer celebration – with his experience as a two-time Eurovision backing singer. He executed his stage performance with drive and stellar vocals.
When the jury finished giving points, Gustaph stayed firm on the second position on the scoreboard. Many already thought that was surprising. However, the combination of televoting and jury put Gustaph in first place mere minutes later with one point to spare with The Starlings.
Gustaph – more surprised than everyone else – won Eurosong 2023 and eventually delivered Flanders one of its best results in Eurovision history. Next to that, he taught many in Belgium an important lesson: not to judge a book by its cover. And that a game is not played until it’s played. Two years later, his prodigy Red Sebastian represented the country.
2020: Go_A wins Vidbir with “Solovey”
After Jamala received a standing ovation after her first performance at Vidbir 2016, something had changed in Ukrainian music. The events of 2014 would leave a massive mark on the country’s musical output. Jamala carved the way for more alternative music at the contest.
But for some years, part of Ukraine’s music industry stayed connected to Russia. This caused friction between competing Eurovision hopefuls, the government and Ukraine’s public broadcaster. It led to a rule change for Vidbir 2020. Any artist who had performed on Russian territory since March 2014 was no longer allowed to take part. This led to some intrigue: how many quality acts could still compete in Ukraine’s selection?
Vidbir 2020 turned out to contain a combination of more experienced and known acts as Jerry Heil and KAZKA as well as completely unknown names. One of those unknown ones – indie folktronica band Go_A – became popular after their Eurovision bid “Solovey” was released online. After an initial shaky semi-final, Go_A won the final of Vidbir with quite some leverage – becoming the first and only act in Vidbir history to top both the jury and televoting. But it was also the first-ever Ukrainian entry that was mainly sung in Ukrainian.
But as Eurovision was left cancelled, Go_A had to come up with another bid for the contest. Although some doubted that they would be able to pull it off, Go_A delivered “SHUM”. After “SHUM” became a world hit following Eurovision 2021, from 2022 onwards, indie acts flooded Vidbir.
In Ukraine, Vidbir subsequently received the image of the main platform for unknown artists. Especially indie acts from more alternative genres wanting mainstream attention. Within a few years, Vidbir lead to the first recognition of acts like Roxolana, Ziferblat, FIINKA and Tvorchi.
Which impactful moments from recent years have we missed? Which acts from your country did provide your country with a change of direction? What do you hope for the upcoming Eurovision season? Let us know in the comments below!
