Voting for the annual ESC 250 celebration closed on the 10th of December 2023, and now we have a nervous wait to find out the results! The event is hosted by songfestival.be, with the results revealed on the 31st December 2023 on EFR12 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.
Okay, all of my entries are from this century, it does not mean I don’t like entries pre-2000, it is just because these are the entries in my circulation. I love them all dearly and mean a lot to me, so without
1 point: “Proud” – Tamara Todevska (North Macedonia, 2019)
If you followed me during the 2019 season, you would know how obsessed I am with North Macedonia’s entry. As I previously mentioned, Tamara brought professionalism and grace to North Macedonia’s participation at Eurovision in 2019. I didn’t like the fact that the fandom disregarded its chances, and you should’ve seen my reaction when Tamara qualified. I think I may have broken a few eardrums in the press center.
2 points: “My Number One” – Helena Paparizou (Greece, 2005)
Okay, I don’t know what it is, but I have found myself listening to this on a loop this year. There is something about the way Helena performs, her choreo and the synchronisation of the dancers that is just very appealing and can’t take my eyes off the performance, no wonder it connected to the audiences that were watching in 2005.
3 points: “Tears Getting Sober” – VICTORIA (Bulgaria, 2020)
If you don’t follow me on social media, you’d already know my obsession with VICTORIA’s music, and that ‘Tears Getting Sober’ was my winner in 2020. I am so gutted that we were robbed of the chance of seeing this on stage live (damn you C*VI!D), but I am happy to see that she is still releasing music and I hope she comes back for Bulgaria once again.
4 points: “Sound of Silence” – Dami Im (Australia, 2016)
Flashback to 2016, Australia was announced that they were participating for the 2nd time. I read somewhere that Dami Im was in the running to represent them in Stockholm. Obviously, I fell in love with Dami’s back catalog. When Dami Im was announced, I was happy. I was in Stockholm for the 2016 final, it was just a shame she didn’t win, but it still holds Australia’s best result to date, and I hope she can go back in the future to beat it.
5 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.
6 points: “Cha Cha Cha” – Käärijä (Finland, 2023)
It’s Crazy, It’s Party! Käärijä sure has captured the hearts of the viewers, and even winning the public vote at this year’s final. I have to admit, it did take a while for me to get into this, but by the time the final of UMK took place, I wanted nothing more than “Cha Cha Cha” to win. He might’ve gotten 2nd place this year, but he has captured a lot of hearts, and I cannot wait to see how he will carve a path for his career post-Eurovision.
7 points: “Arcade” – Duncan Laurence (The 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 it hasn’t been for some time now and I am happy that my perception of the song has changed for me.
8 points: “Hold Me Closer” – Cornelia Jakobs (Sweden, 2022)
Well, this is not what I wanted (don’t worry, it’s intentional). My 3rd 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. I’ve seen her a few times live, and I am still awaiting on an EP or album.
10 points: “Euphoria” – Loreen (Sweden, 2012)
This got dethroned this year on my list, and 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”.
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:
- “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.
- “Dance (Our Own Party)” – The Busker (Malta, 2023) – Okay, I will admit that this was not my winner in MESC 2023. However, once I saw it performed live, I can see why it became the winner. I had the pleasure of meeting the guys this season, they worked so hard, and I am gutted that this missed out on a spot in the final.
- “I Wrote A Song” – Mae Muller (United Kingdom, 2023) – Look, say what you want about this, I think Mae did a great job representing us, she took the result in her own stride and still managed to reach the UK Top Ten after the show. The home crowd cheering her on really made me teary-eyed, the United Kingdom renasiance is happening!
And Tim’s 12 points go to…. “Tattoo” – Loreen (Sweden, 2023)
You have no idea how ecstatic I am about having a new winner on my playlist. When I found out Loreen was competing again, it made me very happy. I got to meet her in Malmö, and then she won Mello, and then she won Eurovision (again).
How did the other TES members voted?
You are also able to look at how the other members of the site have voted in this year’s ESC250:
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, TikTok, Threads and Bluesky for all of the latest Eurovision news.
News Source: That Eurovision Site
Photo Credit: Corinne Cumming/EBU
Euan T