Voting for the annual ESC250 celebration closed on the 7th of December 2025, 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 2025 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 Silvia’s turn to reveal how she voted.
Silvia’s votes
Every year, ESC250 reminds me of two things: how much I love this Contest, and how chaotic my music taste can be. This year’s list is a mix of childhood favourites, Eurovision winners I’ll defend forever, songs that emotionally ruined me (in a good way), and a couple of entries that I simply refuse to let go of. There’s rock, drama, nostalgia, and at least one song I stream far more than I should. So, with my heart very much in charge and logic taking a back seat, here are my ESC250 2025 votes.
1 point: “Mall” – Eugent Bushpepa (Albania 2018)
I was obsessed with this in 2018, and honestly… I still am. Albania sometimes drops that one entry that feels a bit different from what they usually send, and when it clicks, it really clicks, and “Mall” is exactly that for me. Eugent’s voice is genuinely unreal, and the Albanian language just makes everything hit harder.
Also, random confession: I remember having it around 10th when the songs first dropped and now I’m like… girl, what were you DOING? At this point, I fully trust 2018-me a bit less than I should. 2018 is one of my favourite years, and right now Albania is my personal 2018 winner. So yeah. Amazing.
2 points: “Deli” – Mor ve Ötesi (Turkey 2008)
The way people barely talk about this one hurts my feelings a little. I miss Turkey at Eurovision so much, and this song is one of the reasons why. There’s something about it that makes it stick in your brain, but in a “play it again” way, not an annoying way.
Turkey, please come back. We’ll behave. Probably.
3 points: “Space Man” – Sam Ryder (United Kingdom 2022)
Yeah, I’m still annoyed this didn’t win. The UK finally sent something I absolutely loved (and yes, it went straight to my #1 in 2022), and then… pain. I’m not usually the biggest fan of the UK’s recent Eurovision entries, but Sam Ryder was so charismatic and likeable, and vocally he made it look completely effortless. The song just feels huge, and I’ve loved it since the very first listen.
4 points: “Hard Rock Hallelujah” – Lordi (Finland 2006)
This one is iconic for very personal reasons: it’s the song that won Eurovision the year I was born… so yes, I basically took that as a sign of destiny. What I love is that Lordi isn’t just “a scary monster-looking heavy metal band”… it’s a fully committed concept that still feels singular in Eurovision history. You can point to later “shock factor” performances, sure, but this actually won. And that matters, because it proved there was space for something properly alternative on the biggest stage. Eurovision has never really looked back since.
5 points: “Zitti e buoni” – Måneskin (Italy 2021)
Italy sending a band I’d already loved since X Factor, winning Sanremo with a real rock song, and then taking Eurovision too? That was a dream year for me. “Zitti e buoni” has that perfect winner energy: it was so confident that it looked like Måneskin were having their own concert on stage, and Eurovision was just a guest.
The emotional side definitely plays a part too as it was the first time I witnessed my country win the Contest, and honestly everything about it, from the performance to the winning moment, was iconic.
6 points: “L’oiseau et l’enfant” – Marie Myriam (France 1977)
This song has been in my life since I was a kid (not that I’m not now…) and it gives me that specific kind of comfort only old Eurovision classics can give. I’ll be honest: school made me sing it and I went through a brief “I hate this now” phase. But coming back to it years later, I realised it’s genuinely special, it has that timeless, almost storybook feeling that never really fades.
Turns out I just needed time to forgive my music teacher.
7 points: “Crno i belo” – Kaliopi (North Macedonia 2012)
HOW did this not finish in the top 5. Like, genuinely… how.
2012 wasn’t a bad year at all, but this song is on another level for me. Kaliopi came on stage, took the ingredients, turned on the heat and absolutely cooked. Everything about it is powerful, her voice, the build, the intensity. This is Balkan drama done right.
8 points: “Fairytale” – Alexander Rybak (Norway 2009)
This is such a “me” pick and I’m not even going to pretend it’s niche. “Fairytale” is basically Eurovision serotonin: the melody is instantly memorable, it’s joyful without being cheesy, and it has that fairytale (no way, Sherlock) energy that makes you want to replay it the second it ends. It’s also one of those entries that feels like it belongs to Eurovision’s core identity. If someone asked me “what does Eurovision sound like?”, I could honestly just play this.
10 points: “Love Shine a Light” – Katrina and the Waves (United Kingdom 1997)
This has been one of my favourites since I was a kid, it’s impossible for me to hear it and not smile. It’s uplifting in a way that doesn’t feel fake, and it always gives me the end credits of a feel-good film vibe. Comfort song behaviour, basically. If this comes on, I’m instantly in a better mood (I promise it’s scientifically proven!).
Honourable mentions
Before jumping to my 12 points, I need to give some love to a few songs that were painfully close to making my top 10. Narrowly missing out doesn’t make them any less special to me.
- 🇧🇬 “Bones” – Equinox (Bulgaria 2018): The fact that this group was put together specifically for Eurovision, dropped an absolute banger, got a great result, and then just… disappeared will never not blow my mind. I streamed this song way too much back then and was fully waiting for Equinox to drop more bangers like this. Spoiler: they didn’t. And honestly, that still hurts a little. Amazing vocals, such a cool vibe, and a group that deserved a much longer life than it got.
- 🇹🇷 “We Could Be the Same” – maNga (Turkey 2010): Yep, another Turkish rock-ish moment. This one didn’t quite make my top 10, but it was very close. Every year when I do ESC250, Turkey somehow ends up knocking on the door, and songs like this are exactly why. Powerful, memorable, and effortlessly cool. Once again: I really miss this country casually dropping bangers at Eurovision.
- 🇳🇱 “Arcade” – Duncan Laurence (Netherlands 2019): I cried. Multiple times. Enough said. Okay, fine… more said. This song is emotional, powerful, and beautifully written, and it hit me from the very first listen. I’d known Duncan from The Voice of Holland, so when I found out he was going to Eurovision, I was already excited, and then this happened. In my opinion, one of the best Eurovision songs ever, and I was so, so happy to see it win.
And Silvia’s 12 points go to… “Tu te reconnaîtras” – Anne-Marie David (Luxembourg 1973)
I stream this… way too much. Like, genuinely, I need someone to take Spotify away from me. This is the kind of classic that feels effortlessly iconic: elegant, emotional, and so well-written that it still sounds powerful decades later. The delivery is pure class, and every time it comes on, I’m reminded why this song has lasted for so long. Absolute masterpiece.
Listen to our collective ESC 250 playlist on Spotify
Listen to our collective ESC 250 playlist on YouTube
Now that Silvia has revealed her votes for ESC250 this year, what do you think of her 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: Kenzo Tribouillard / AFP
Euan T