Wrapping Up 2020, Eurovision Style

This blog’s ranking of every song in the annual Eurovision Song Contest should have happened in March, but since this year’s contest was cancelled I lost interest in writing it. I started working on my ranking in March and revised it every now and then, but just didn’t have the energy. With the last few minutes of 2020 running out in my time zone, and the 2021 season officially starting last week, it’s time to collect my thoughts.

My partial top 20 ranking from March is:

1) Ukraine
2) Iceland
3) Belarus
4) Switzerland
5) Serbia
6) Czech Republic
7) Lithuania
8) Russia
9) Sweden
10) San Marino
11) France
12) Netherlands
13) North Macedonia
14) Ireland
15) Armenia
16) Finland
17) Malta
18) Belgium
19) Austria
20) Azerbaijan

Like many years, the top songs didn’t last to be my year-end favorites. The songs I ended up listening to most were upbeat. Of this year’s songs, the forever listenable song from the Czech Republic was my most listened to on Spotify, and Israel’s and Serbia’s also appeared on my year-end top 100. Contrast with last year, where the top 5 all appeared in order. I ended up listening to other songs from Russia’s and Ukraine’s artists more. Some songs I really liked in March were hard to listen to over time. It feels weird to rank anything below the top 20 because the show didn’t happen and more than half of performers are returning for 2021, and it doesn’t seem fair to bring negative preconceptions to their new songs that they have spent so much time on.

“Think About Things” seems made for 2020: the optimistic future-thinking wholesome lyric, the 80’s throwback funk, the TikTok-ready dance. It’s also somehow really late 00’s: the unpolished nerdiness, the synth devotion that calls more to chiptunes' heyday than current synth. No one can say if it would have won, but based on the reaction and how it’s still making year-end best-of lists, it would have been very high in the televote.

One of the other stories of the season was the potential comeback of Lithuania. “On Fire” doesn’t hold up as much in comparison to some of the other similar competitors, but it has an unabashed self-acceptance of weirdness. The national selection was the best it’s ever been, pushing past its amateurish and/or bland (sometimes both) output to have a huge variety of polished but unique songs. Hopefully it is not a one-time occasion, and I am genuinely excited for their selection this year.

One song that had no expectations but was surprisingly good was from San Marino. In the 00’s, disco songs in Eurovision were tired and dated, but 2020 was the year of the disco revival all over popular music, making “Freaky” one of the freshest songs of the year.

The Eurovision season that never had a proper ending really ended with the Netflix movie. Against all odds, it was a parody that was very kind. It had nothing but love for the contest and its fans, which you can’t say for the contest itself. It certainly lacked for accuracy and fanservice, but at least here in the US it made a lot of non-fans excited. It’s bittersweet that the story centered on Iceland in a year where the country seemed destined for their first win.

Looking towards 2021, what would I like to see from the contest (besides a contest actually happening in any possible form)? The disco revival and mainstream entry of synthwave music both started in late 2019, and I would like to see both of them make a full entry in Eurovision. Many past competitors have hopped in on these trends but putting them in the contest itself would be truly current yet accessible to an all-ages audience.

There’s more I could say about 2020's songs, but it’s time to brush them aside and focus on the possibility of the future. Happy New Year and here’s to a better 2021!