🗳️ Our ESC250 2024 votes: Daniel

Voting for the annual ESC 250 celebration closed on the 16th of December 2024, 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 2024 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 Daniel’s turn to reveal how they voted.

Daniel’s Votes

Because heaven forbid I ever be normal, I’ve once again decided against doing a straight countdown of my 10 favourite Eurovision songs, partially because I’d never be able to choose. Instead, I’m opting for a list that has some representation for a lot of the different facets of my taste, both in the genres and the languages featured in the songs. No matter what some members of the site may tell you about my opinions, it’s not entirely sad girls with guitars! There will be quite a few sad girls though, and some guitars. Some entries will be familiar from my last Top 10, but there’s been plenty of changes, Let’s get into them!

1 point: “Strazdas” – Aistė (Lithuania, 1999)

What do you get when you combine jazz with Samogitian folk music? An absolute beauty of a Eurovision song. Strazdas has fallen down in my rankings a bit since I gave it 8 points last year, but I stand by my reasons for including it. Stunning vocals fit for a stunning arrangement. It’s been a while, but I’d love to see Aistė, whether alone or with her band SKYLĖ, return to the Eurovision sphere at some point, because this entry is one of the contest’s best hidden gems.

2 points: “Story Of My Life” – NAVIBAND (Belarus, 2017)

Hey! Hey! Hay-yay-yay-a-ho! It’s a good hook, isn’t it. Whether you call it Story of My Life, or by it’s original Belarusian name Historyja majho žyccia, I don’t see how you can’t absolutely love this song. I’m actually very shocked this isn’t in the Top 250, as if you asked me where I’d think it places every year I’d guess around the 100 mark. I mean, why wouldn’t it be around there?

As a fan of boats, folk, fog effects, and songs in languages we don’t always hear, I absolutely love this. Joyful from inception, this folk-pop tune in Naviband’s native tongue makes me want to do as the happy couple do in the official music video, and frolic around in the beautiful wilderness. The pair’s energy are absolutely infectious on stage, and really make me want to see them live in person one day. Navi, if you’re seeing this, come to the (Northern half of the) UK, please.

3 points: “När jag blundar” – Pernilla Karlsson (Finland, 2012)

259th. We were 9 places off returning Pernilla back to the ESC250 where this robbed queen belongs, and I’m not giving up just yet.

I’m a huge fan of Swedish language female ballads, and Pernilla’s 2012 entry is no different. It’s a sad bit of irony that this beautiful song failed to make the final in Baku in the same year that Sweden won contest, starting their modern period of domination with anglophone radio pop so polished you can see yourself in its reflection. We deserve to hear this amazing language on the Eurovision stage again, even if, as it did with Pernilla, comes via the Finland Swedes.

4 points: “Sámiid Ædnan” – Sverre Kjelsberg & Mattis Hætta (Norway, 1980)

Hot take perhaps, but there isn’t a single Eurovision song with a bigger legacy than this one. Written as a protest song at a time of struggle and persecution of the Norway’s indigenous Northern Sámi people, Sverre Kjelsberg & Mattis Hætta’s performance in Den Haag in 1980 was probably the first time many viewers outside of the Nordic countries had as much as seen a Sámi person or a joik. Sverre & Mattis helped normalise Sámi culture not just in Norway, where the song spent 4 weeks atop the VGLista, but elsewhere as well, despite placing 16th in the contest.

Watch this space, because I hope to make an entire deep dive on this song in the coming year, but for now I’ll say that as a huge fan of both politically meaningful entries and Sámi music, this is safely one of my favourite entries in the contest’s history. The lyrics are poignant, the instrumentation is absolutely stunning, and it’s impossible for me to not love a joik. I also thing the start of the song sounds like something from the Mario and Sonic Winter Olympics games, but that is besides my main points.

5 points: “Sebi” – Zalagasper (Slovenia, 2019)

Zalagasper’s “Sebi” has a certain magical otherworldly quality to it that no other Eurovision song possesses. The production on the song is beautiful, Zala’s vocals are absolutely hypnotising, and make me feel like I’ve been transported to another mortal plane for those three minutes. Their performance in 2019 was intimate and beautiful, you should all know my opinion on space LEDs. I simply do not trust the opinions of people who don’t like this song. Mesmerising and innovative.

6 points: “Birth Of A New Age” – Jeangu Macrooy (Netherlands, 2021)

Time now for an artist, and a song, that simply deserve so so much better. Jeangu’s anthem of the strength and resilience of his people serves both as an example of how far we’ve come as a continent on issues of racial justice, but also a stark reminder of how far we still have left to go. For a song like this one to receive scraps from the juries, nothing from the televote, and outright mockery of the Sranan Tongo language and lyrics from a fandom that should be as progressive as they come, is incredibly disappointing, to put it mildly.

Jeangu and his backing team’s energy on stage is contagious and magnificent, the lyrics are powerful, meaningful as they come, and quite frankly, necessary. Best of all is Jeangu’s fierce passion for his art, his roots, and his identity, is what this contest should always be about, but has faltered far too many times. This contest would be even better if people were a bit more Jeangu. Finally, whilst I’m talking about fantastic Jeangu Macrooy songs, check out “Happier” – it’s one of my absolute favourite 2024 releases.

7 points: “Jako” – Ladaniva (Armenia, 2024)

There is just something so incredibly special about Ladaniva. The atmosphere that the band (Not just Jaklin & Louis, but their backing instrumentalists Pierre, Ninon, Romain & the other Louis too!) are capable of creating is something I’ve not seen matched from anyone. All are artists in the truest sense of the word.

Buckle your seatbelts gang, it’s story time with Daniel. It’s Eurovision night, I’ve spent the last week in Malmö at Eurovision before flying home on the Friday, I’d dropped and broken my phone outside Emporia on the Thursday, and the leaked Italian televote votes were making people second guess if Eurovision would make it out of the weekend alive. So I had a precarious Jenga tower of reasons to be either fed up or exhausted. Part of me wanted to just channel my inner Luke Black and sleep forever, but I persevered in watching the contest at home. Performing in the 19th spot were Ladaniva with their song “Jako” – one I’d liked a lot since their announcement, ever the fan I am of a banger with a message, but had further grown on me hugely since seeing them live both at the Emporia Lounge and in the arena itself. The song starts, Jaklin belts out “LE LE LE LE LA” and for the next two and a bit minutes nothing else mattered except that performanc, all my worries were gone. It was then the song went from one of my favourites of the year to one of my absolute favourite entries ever.

Only a couple days later I buy a ticket to their first London show, which I left feeling like I’d just seen God. If you haven’t seen this absolutely incredible band live then I implore you in the strongest possible terms to do so. Jako debuts at my 7 points and it easily could’ve been even more. Truly a song I’ll treasure forever.

8 points: “Með hækkandi sól” – Systur (Iceland, 2022)

Switching up massively from a fantastic burst of energy to perfectly stripped back, we have one of the only good things to ever come from a superfinal. I genuinely feel pity for the people who either can’t, or choose not to, appreciate the sheer majesty of this song, because I honestly think it is one of the best the contest has ever seen.

Með hækkandi sól contains what I think is easily the best bridge that the contest has seen (outside of the 2018 stage, that is) and the rest of the song and performance is absolutely fantastic as well. The dusky spotlights and LEDs, in conjunction with Sigga, Beta & Elín’s harmonies give the songs a genuinely ethereal quality.

The song is lyrically about days like today, falling just after yesterday’s winter solstice, when the days start to get longer (The title roughly translating to “with the sun getting higher each day“) providing hope that with the days get longer and warmer, better things ahead, and melody, as well as the staging at the contest, absolutely perfectly encapsulates this meaning. An absolute work of art.

Systur have plenty of side projects on the go if country-folk perfection isn’t your thing, both as a band and individually, such as Sísý Ey, their house music project, as well as Beta’s duo TÁR and Elín’s eponymous solo venture. The three are fantastic activists as well as performers, standing up for social justice, and deserve all your support.

10 points: “saudade, saudade” – MARO (Portugal, 2022)

When I saw MARO perform The Trio Tour in London in September I started to well up as soon as the first guitar chords of saudade, saudade were played. That should give you a little bit of an idea as to how much I absolutely adore this song and the artist behind it. (Hello, future Daniel here, same thing happened again the second time I saw her, the woman is still amazing.)

I think MARO is the best artist to ever grace the Eurovision stage, and many of her competition from across the music scene agree with me. She’s probably my favourite artist in the world right now, and saudade, saudade is up there with her absolute best songs, and there’s some incredibly strong competition for that title. (like we’re wired, oxalá, ouvi dizer, the list is endless, but this isn’t Beyond Eurovision, so I’ll stop there.)

The emotions this song conveys are so poignant and hard hitting for me, even two years later I get goose bumps every time. I could go on for hours about how incredibly special MARO and her music are, but to quote the song itself, “Nothing more that I can say says it in a better way.”

Special mentions

Well that was something. I never knew I could ramble about the winter solstice so much. Just before I reveal my 12 points (like you don’t already know exactly who’s getting them), I would like to give a special shout-out to the artists and songs that just missed out on making my Top 10 this time round.

• “Calm After The Storm” – The Common Linnets (Netherlands, 2014) – This was a casualty of both only wanting one fully English song in my list, which is a certain fellow Dutch entry coming up, and a vaguely similar song (Með Hækkandi Sól) growing on me so that it’s over it in my estimations this year. Still, an absolutely beautiful song – we need more country at Eurovision!
• “Hajde Da Ludujemo – Tajči (Yugoslavia, 1990) – This was the last song cut from my shortlist. Tajči and her song are both incredible and timeless. I sprinted through a corridor to meet her at Euroclub this May. She performed both this and Rim Tim Tagi Dim there, the absolute icon.
• “Trenuleţul” – Zdob şi Zdub & Advahov Brothers (Moldova, 2022) – Every year a song I adore somehow slips my mind and doesn’t even make my (30 song long this year) shortlist and I don’t realise until after I’ve already voted. This year’s was Trenuleţul. I’ve asked Kittens to atone for my sins by putting it in hers, so stay tuned to see if she does.
• “Rechtop in de wind” – Marcha (Netherlands, 1987) – It’s almost 40 years on from 1987 at this point, but I started listening to this super fun song way more this year, making it unlucky to miss out. Can you tell I’m the chief Netherlands fan at the site?
• “Growing up is getting old” – VICTORIA (Bulgaria, 2021) – I’m a baby in Eurofan terms, 2021 was my first contest, and this was my first Eurovision love. Victoria, please talk BNT into letting you come back.
• “The Tower” – LUNA (Poland, 2024) – I really wish I could’ve found space for LUNA. Her song and her energy are just so brilliantly fun, and I will defend her little towers until I am blue in the face.
• “De Diepte” – S10 (Netherlands, 2022) – I wouldn’t have discovered the amazing artists of the Nederpop scene if it weren’t for S10 and this beautiful entry, but I already have two Dutch entries in my 10, as well as another couple from 2022, and she should’ve sent Hoor Je Mij. I’m still very happy to see her on a lot of peoples ballots this year.

And Daniel’s 12 points go to…. “Burning Daylight” – Mia Nicolai & Dion Cooper (Netherlands, 2023)

Surprise! Okay, not really. If you’re even the least bit shocked about this then you probably don’t know me very well. Mia Nicolai & Dion Cooper’s Burning Daylight is, and will most probably always be, my favourite Eurovision song of all time. The song released just as a major phase of my life was coming to an end, and Burning Daylight almost perfectly encapsulated how I was feeling at the time. I’m not going to pretend the live vocals are even close to the best they could’ve been, but I honestly don’t care in the slightest. The staging is absolutely beautiful, the song resonates me on a personal level I’ve experienced not prior nor since.

It was actually in large part thanks to this song that I ended up here on the site in the first place – I sitting listening to song when I thought “I really love this, I want to talk about things like this, I should get more involved with the contest.” Next thing I know I’m part of the mess that is TES, so the next time I have an appalling take you hate, thank Mia & Dion.

Listen to our collective ESC 250 playlist on Spotify

Enjoy our collective ESC 250 playlist on YouTube

Now that Daniel 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: Jan Pettersen / National Library of Norway, Corrinne Cumming / EBU