If you review some songs that did not win Eurovision but did last over time and even turned out in some cases to be better known than the winning song of the edition in which they participated, you will see that, sometimes, it is not profitable to win.
This Saturday, May 17, the 69th edition of the most important music festival in the world, the Eurovision Song Contest, was held. Out of a total of 26 countries in competition, the song Wasted Love from Austria, performed by JJ, was the winner.
‘Space man’ by Sam Ryder
This song by Sam Ryder represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 held in Turin, Italy. It reached second place behind Ukraine, which won that edition with the song ‘Stefania’ by the group Kalush Orchestra. Ryder’s song reached number 2 on the UK Singles Chart, as well as gaining great international recognition. In addition, being the 2022 edition, it is considered an optimistic anthem of the post-pandemic era.
‘Congratulations’ by Cliff Richard
Cliff performed ‘Congratulations’ at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1968. He got second place with 28 points, only surpassed by Massiel and his song ‘La la la’ which obtained 29 points. ‘Congratulations‘ became a song widely used in any type of celebration due to its festive and cheerful tone. It reached number one on the UK Singles Chart that year.
‘Fuego’ by Eleni Foureira
Eleni Foureira represented Cyprus in the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with her song ‘Fuego‘, reaching the second position behind Netta and her song Toy. Commercially, ‘Fuego‘ experienced great success in the music charts after its participation in the Eurovision Song Contest, reaching number one on the charts in Greece and Spain.
‘Snap’ by Rosa Linn
Rosa Linn represented Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 with the song ‘Snap‘. He finished in 20th position, 20? The song did not get a good position in the contest but had a second life on social networks. It was popularized in many Tik-Tok and Instagram videos. In addition, it reached the top-10 of plays on Spotify in several European countries such as the United Kingdom, Norway, Italy or the Netherlands. It has more than 1,200 million views on this platform to date.
‘You Are the Only One’ by Sergey Lazarev
Sergey Lazarev represented Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 held in Stockholm with the song ‘You Are The Only One‘. The song was a huge commercial success in Eastern Europe. It came in third place, only surpassed by Ukraine and Australia, but it won the public vote in that edition for its very technological and striking staging.
‘Spirit in the Sky’ by KeiiNO
The group KeiiNO represented Norway in the Grand Contest of the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 obtaining a 5th place finish with their song ‘Spirit in the Sky‘. Following the contest, the song reached No. 1 on the sales charts in Norway, No. 2 on Spotify’s Global Viral Chart, and No. 10 on iTunes’ Global Charts.
‘Yodel it!’ by Ilinca ft. Alex Florea
Ilinca ft. Alex Florea represented Romania at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv with his song ‘Yodel It!‘ obtaining a 7th place in the final classification. That year Salvador Sobral from Portugal won the contest with his song ‘Amor pelos dois‘. The song was widely shared on social networks, where its catchy character and its chorus «yodelei, yodeleio» became viral elements.
‘Ay Mamá’ by Rigoberta Bandini
This was a song that did not make it to the Eurovision Song Contest but many Eurofans consider it an anthem. It reached second place at the Benidorm festival (Benidorm Fest) in 2022. This festival is in charge of choosing the song that represents Spain in Eurovision since precisely that year. Spain was represented by Chanel and her song ‘SloMo’ in that year’s edition, which obtained the third final position. ‘Ay mamá‘ became a feminist anthem and became number 1 on the Spotify platform in Spain.
‘Rim Tim Tagi Dim’ by Baby Lasagna
Baby Lasagna from Croatia participated with the song ‘Rim Tim Tagi Dim‘ in the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 held in Malmö, Sweden. He reached the second position in the contest only surpassed by Nemo from Switzerland and his song ‘The Code’. «Rim Tim Tagi Dim» won first place in the televote. The live performance was energetic and visually striking, which contributed to its popularity.
‘Espresso Macchiato’ by Tommy Cash
It was the most daring, ridiculous, simple bet of the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest. Tommy Cash’s ‘Expresso Macchiato’ obtained the third final position, helped above all by the tele vote where it obtained second place, behind Israel. The performance went viral and was widely shared on social networks, especially Instagram and Tik-Tok.
Volevo Essere Un Duro – Lucio Corsi
Also in the 2025 edition, Lucio Corsi’s ‘Volevo Essere un duro’ was played a lot with a beautiful glam rock song. The song did not win the Sanremo festival, which chooses the singer or group that represents Italy in Eurovision. He came in second place and represented Italy because the winner Olly decided not to participate and give up that position. In the Eurovision contest she reached the 5th final position. It peaked at No. 3 on the Italian singles chart.
References
- https://eurovision.tv/history
- https://www.youtube.com/@EurovisionSongContest
- https://www.youtube.com/c/RTVEM%C3%BAsica
Updated May 29, 2025
