Voting for the annual ESC 250 celebration closed on the 4th of December 2022, and now we have a nervous wait to find out the results! The event is hosted by songfestival.be, with the results revealed from 11:00CET on 31st December 2022 on ESC Radio to close out the year. Find out more about it here!
While we wait to find out the official results, members of the TES team will be sharing their votes for this year and explaining the reason for their picks. This time it’s Tim’s turn to reveal how he voted.
I will give you a warning now, a lot of these come from this year (like clockwork). However, I did manage to squeeze in some gems from the past. Then again, a lot of the songs from 2022 just overpowered everything.
1 point: “Waterloo” – ABBA (Sweden, 1974)
ABBA is the golden tier of Eurovision, one of the acts that continue to enjoy success. You have no idea how much joy “Waterloo” brings me whenever it gets played. It’s almost a boost of serotonin and just makes me want to get up and just dance along to the song. But whenver you see me singing this live, you have to promise that you’ll love me forevermore.
2 points: “Trenulețul” – Zdob și Zdub and Advahov Brothers (Moldova, 2022)
Now for the first of songs that were from this year. At first I was a bit skeptical with Zdob și Zdub participating this year. However, when I saw them perform this year on numerous occassions, the crowd was just eating it up. It turns out that it wasn’t just the people in the arena who had the same feelings, but the whole of Europe when I saw clips of them enjoying the performance in their respective watch parties.
3 points: “Saudade, Saudade” – MARO (Portugal, 2022)
Another vote from 2022 is from Portugal, with MARO. I was wise, cos I actually added this and Rory didn’t, despite him being the bigger Portugal stan. What drew me to this was the melodies, MARO’s vocals on this, as well as a personal connection to the lyrics, and that it “takes time, alright”. The perfromance in Turin was amazing, and it gave me a lot of shivers not gonna lie.
4 points: “Sentimentai” – Monika Liu (Lithuania, 2022)
Give it up for the President of Lithuania. I have to hand it to you, this was not my favourite from Pabandom iš Naujo. However, I can see why it has an appeal both to the Jury/Audience of Lithuania and the Eurofans. Monika has great charisma and stage presence when she performs her songs. Honestly, I felt like I was hypnotised (but in a good way). Monika proved that the Lithuanian language is cool, and hopefully we get more of it.
5 points: “Slo Mo” – Chanel (Spain, 2022)
Okay, I was on the Chanel hype train ever since she won Benidorm Fest. Look, Spain set out to change their Eurovision fortunes, and they have done so successfully. Chanel has worked so hard to make sure that this performance was executed flawlessly, and honestly I cannot wait to see how her career progresses after this year. P.S. I still need to learn how to do the dance break properly, some help would be appreciated, Kyle Hanagami, pls.
6 points: “Arcade” – Duncan Laurence (Netherlands, 2019)
The time my winner actually won. I’m so happy seeing Duncan’s career flourish since winning Eurovision. “Arcade” still reminds me a bit of sad memories, but it serves as a reminder for me to carry on and persevere. Loving people might be a losing game, but it’s not always the case. I can certainly say that right now, it’s not.
7 points: “Fuego” – Eleni Foureira (Cyprus, 2018)
Will Eleni ever get out of of my ESC250? Probably not. Will I ever shut up about “Fuego” not winning? No. (This is no way a form of hate, I like “Toy”). Eleni’s performance proved to me that with the right people working, you are able to stage an entry and execute its performance well. In the beginning, I was skeptical of how this was going to be staged, and my mouth was shut when I first saw the complete thing live and it was amazing.
8 points: “SPACE MAN” – Sam Ryder (United Kingdom, 2022)
Have I ever had my country’s entry for that year on ESC250? I think this is the first. Sam literally is the saviour for the UK. The fact that he understood everyone’s frustrations, he knew he had a tough job, and my god he just delivered, and the team just nailed this. All the things he got from this, from singing for the Queen to his Number One debut album, he deserves this, we can’t thank him enough.
10 points: “Hold Me Closer” – Cornelia Jakobs (Sweden, 2022)
Well, this is not what I wanted (don’t worry, it’s intentional). My 2nd place for this year’s ESC250 is Cornelia Jakobs, who is my winner for Eurovision 2022 (surprise, surprise). When I first heard “Hold Me Closer”, I really wanted to like it. However, I knew how Sweden shoots down my initial favourites, but boy did they prove me wrong and sent her straight to the final. When she was announced as the winner, I was nearly in tears. From then on, Cornelia had my heart, and I cannot wait for an EP or album.
Special mentions
Before I reveal my 12 points, I would like to give a special shout-out to a few entries that came so close to making my top ten. They are:
- “In Corpore Sano” – Konstrakta (Serbia, 2012) – Okay, this had a bit of a hold on me. It was mainly Meghan Markle’s secret to healthy hair and the clapping, but you know what I was hooked and an unexpected hit and it was amazing in the hall.
- “SNAP” – Rosa Linn (Armenia, 2022) – Another one I found myself listening to after Eurovision. I am so proud of Rosa’s success after the contest, it just shows that you don’t need to do well in the contest to succeed – she is the living proof of that.
- “Never Give Up On You” – Lucie Jones (United Kingdom, 2017) – Okay, this is the one year where we did it right and I still can’t comprehend how we came 15th, we really should’ve at least come for the left hand side of the scoreboard.
And Tim’s 12 points go to…. “Euphoria” – Loreen (Sweden, 2012)
I know what you’re going to say, it’s very cliché. However, I do not care. Euphoria is the song that made me delve deeper into the contest. I traveled a lot because of it, and I met a lot of awesome human beings because of it. Like Loreen sings: “forever ’til the end of time”.
Listen to our collective ESC 250 playlist on Spotify
Enjoy our collective ESC 250 playlist on YouTube
Now that Tim has revealed their votes for ESC 250 this year, what do you think of their picks? Who received your 12 points this year? As always, please let us know what you think by commenting below. Be sure to follow ‘THAT Eurovision Site’ on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok for all of the latest Eurovision news.
News Source: That Eurovision Site
Photo Credit: EBU/ Sarah Louise Bennett
