What can we expect from a national final for Eurovision 2026? In the third article in the “Preparing for 2026” series, we go back in time and recall the most surprising results in the national finals throughout the years. Article by Ilay Gaist and Adiel Shtainmetz.
Every year, with the revival of the Eurovision season, thousands of fans across Europe fall in love with certain songs and hope they will finish high in their national finals and go on to represent their country at Eurovision. In the second article of the series, “Preparing for 2026“, we dive deep into the most fascinating and inspiring aspects of national selections throughout the years. In the third part of our series, we journey back to recall the most surprising results from different participating countries.
Join us as we explore the national selection moments that truly shocked fans – and discover how some of these surprising winners made it all the way to the Eurovision stage. In this article you’ll find out which hit began with remarkably low winning odds? Which song triumphed despite missing a direct spot in the final? Which entry represented its country without actually winning? Which song won even after placing last in one of its voting rounds. Here is a glimpse at the greatest unexpected victories in Eurovision national finals across Europe!
Robin Stjernberg – Sweden 2013:
Robin Stjernberg, a Swedish pop singer, represented Sweden at Eurovision 2013 with the song “You” and finished in 14th place. Robin, known for his impressive vocal range, won Melodifestivalen 2013. His path to Eurovision was not simple: he competed in the fourth heat but only finished third, missing direct qualification to the final. However, that year, the songs that finished in third and fourth place in each heat were not eliminated completely, but moved on to the “Second Chance” round.
In this round, eight artists competed, with two advancing to the grand final to join the eight songs already qualified from the heats. Robin made it through the Second Chance stage and reached the Melodifestivalen final. In the final, Swedish singer Yohio won the public vote and was considered the clear favorite to represent Sweden in Eurovision. However, against all odds, Robin was chosen for first place by the jury and second by the public, overtaking Yohio, who won the public vote but finished only ninth with the juries.
Alessandro Mahmood – Italy 2019:
Thought Robin’s win at Melodifestivalen 2013 was surprising? Think again! Alessandro Mahmood‘s victory in 2019 was a complete shock! Mahmood, an Italian singer who secured second place for Italy at Eurovision 2019 – achieving their best result since returning to the contest in 2011 – apparently wasn’t supposed to win “Festival Di Sanremo” at all. Every year since 1993, ahead of Festival Di Sanremo, the youth preliminaries track “Sanremo Giovani” takes place, meaning a separate competition aimed at unknown singers and songwriters aged 16-29. Young artists from this track join the established performers in the main and central festival to compete for the right to represent Italy.
Mahmood wasn’t even on the list of participants for “Festival Di Sanremo”, he was in the “Sanremo Giovani”! He passed that stage and advanced to the main “Festival Di Sanremo”. Even after becoming part of the main festival participants, no one focused on him at all and everyone was convinced he had no chance of winning the festival. Moreover, Mahmood along with his song “Soldi” (in English: “Money”) was in an extremely low position in the betting tables for winning the festival with only 1%! In the end, we all know what happened: Mahmood won against all odds and represented Italy with great honor – his song became a hit that remains especially beloved by the Eurovision fan community to this day.
Hera Björk – Iceland 2024:
Hera Björk, the beloved Icelandic singer who represented Iceland in 2010 with the hit “Je Ne Sais Quoi” (in English: “I Don’t Know What”) and finished 19th, decided in 2024 to make a comeback and try her luck again in “Songvakeppnin” with the song “Scared Of Heights“. However, despite the great love from fans for Björk, to the taste of most of the fan community her song was weak and too outdated to represent Iceland at Eurovision 2024 in Malmö, Sweden. The undisputed favorite of “Songvakeppnin 2024” was Bashar Murad, the Palestinian singer with a blue ID card who lives in East Jerusalem, who competed in “Songvakeppnin” with his song “Wild West” and even boosted Iceland to the top of the betting tables. Murad advanced to the final voting round against Björk and, against all odds and betting, lost the ticket to Malmö at the very last moment.
After Bashar Murad’s loss, many Icelanders were angry about the results. According to them, their votes for Bashar Murad were counted instead for Hera Björk, based on messages they received in response from the Icelandic national broadcaster. But to the disappointment of those Icelanders, Hera Björk went to Malmö and represented Iceland in the coveted contest. From the national selection to the contest itself – Iceland made a big fuss over nothing, since their national selection generated huge buzz and attracted widespread attention, but in the contest itself Iceland finished the first semi-final in 15th and last place with only 3 points.
Watch the exclusive full interview of EuroMix with Hera Björk!
Lighthouse X – Denmark 2016:
The band Lighthouse X represented Denmark at Eurovision 2016 in Stockholm, Sweden, it was the second consecutive year Denmark sent a male band to the Eurovision contest – in 2015, the band Anti Social Media represented them with the song “The Way You Are” and finished 13th in the first semi-final with 33 points. As mentioned, even the following year, despite not succeeding in the contest with a male band, they again went with a male band, but Lighthouse X’s win in “Dansk Melodi Grand Prix” was completely unexpected. Lighthouse X passed the first stage of “Dansk Melodi Grand Prix” and advanced with two other songs to the decisive and final round. However, the other two songs were the public’s favorites in Denmark and abroad before the contest, and it seemed that Lighthouse X had no real chance of winning “Dansk Melodi Grand Prix”.
One of the performers of the other two songs is well-known to many Eurovision fans – the Danish singer Anja Nissen, who represented Denmark at Eurovision the following year with the song “Where I Am” and brought Denmark back to the grand final after failing two years in a row. But that year, Nissen failed to win “Dansk Melodi Grand Prix” and finished second with the song “Never Alone“. Against all expectations, Lighthouse X beat the other two songs, but unfortunately, Lighthouse X failed to surprise at Eurovision itself and finished 17th in the second semi-final with only 34 points.
KAJ – Sweden 2025:
Band KAJ, consisting of singers Kevin Holmström, Jakob Norrgård, and Axel Åhman, was a completely anonymous group until it overnight became a household name across Sweden. The band competed for the first time in Melodifestivalen this year, starting the betting odds in last place. As the season progressed, they climbed higher and higher in the rankings, and eventually reached the grand final of the Swedish national selection in second place in the odds, behind Måns Zelmerlöw, the 2015 Eurovision winner.
To everyone’s surprise in the end, KAJ won “Melodifestivalen 2025” by edging out Måns by a tiny margin of 7 points, thus earning the right to represent Sweden at Eurovision 2025 held in Basel, Switzerland. At Eurovision itself, the opposite happened: KAJ were the clear favorites to win the big contest with 50% win probability according to the betting site, while Austria, which ultimately won, was in second place with only 21% win chance!
S!sters – Germany 2019:
After Germany finally managed to escape the bottom of the table in 2018 – not only escaping the bottom but entering the top 5 and finishing fourth in the grand final with singer Michael Schulte and his powerful and emotional song “You Let Me Walk Alone” – the following year it seemed they wanted to continue Schulte’s success from the contest in Lisbon. That year they selected their representative for Eurovision 2019 in Tel Aviv through “Unser Lied für Israel” (in English: “Our Song for Israel”). In “Unser Lied für Israel” there were several songs with potential for success in the contest, but one song stood out particularly to Eurovision fans. The song that immediately captured the attention of fans is “Wear Your Love” by German pop singer Aly Ryan.
Surprisingly, the girl duo S!sters ultimately won “Unser Lied für Israel” with their song “Sister“. Many were very disappointed by their win, their victory came out of nowhere, as the duo was in last place in the betting table with only 2% win chance! In the end, S!sters did not succeed in Tel Aviv and finished 25th with only 24 points, all from the juries. But at least they gave us the iconic moment that all Eurovision fans remember to this day: “Germany, I’m sorry, zero points”.
NeonoeN – Montenegro 2025:
Montenegro returned to Eurovision in the most recent year after being absent from the competition in the two previous years. Eurovision fans longed for and anticipated Montenegro’s return to the big contest. With the announcement of the competing songs in “Montesong 2024”, several songs captured the attention of Eurovision fans. But one singer, Nina Žižić, was the clear favorite to win “Montesong”. The Eurovision world was not unfamiliar to Žižić, as she had performed alongside the duo Who See the Montenegrin song for Eurovision 2013: “Igranka” which reached 12th place in the first semi-final with 41 points and failed to qualify for the grand final.
In a particularly surprising turn, Žižić finished in second place and the band NeonoeN beat her with their song “Clickbait” despite being in last place in the betting table with only 1% win chance! In the end, they were forced to withdraw from the contest because they were suspected of performing the song in September 2023, and Žižić represented Montenegro in their place at the contest with her song “Dobrodošli” (in English: “Welcome”). Žižić once again failed to qualify for the grand final and finished 16th and last in the second semi-final with only 12 points.
Windows95man & Henri Piispanen – Finland 2024:
Following the tremendous success of Käärijä at Eurovision 2023 with the hit “Cha Cha Cha“, many hoped and expected Finland to continue sending a quality song that would succeed in the big contest. Immediately upon the reveal of the songs, almost all Eurovision fans were convinced that Finland must send the Finnish singer Sara Siipola this year with her powerful and emotional song “Paskana“. After Finland sent powerful rock songs in the three years leading up to 2024, many were convinced it was time to think outside the box and send Sara Siipola, thereby showcasing another no less interesting side of the country. Even in the betting odds—Siipola led by a wide margin with no less than 61% win chance! On grand final night, Sara won first place in the jury vote and second in the public vote. Windows95man, who performed together with Henri Piispanen with their song “No Rules!” came last in the jury vote with only 28 points.
Despite this, due to the controversial voting system used in Finland in recent years – 75% televote and 25% jury – last place with the juries was enough for them to win “Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu” because they won by a significant margin in the public vote! Many fans were very frustrated with these results and were convinced that Finland must change the voting format in “Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu” as soon as possible. According to them, year after year Finland will continue to send public-pleasing songs only, and there will be no chance for songs that are supposedly more suited for juries than the public.
Måneskin – Italy 2021:
And this time we have another Italian representative but no less beloved – Måneskin. Måneskin participated for the first time in “Festival Di Sanremo” in 2021 as a nearly completely anonymous band! Even after the reveal of the song they competed with in the local festival: “Zitti E Buoni” (in English: “Shut Up and Behave”), it seemed their chances of winning were completely slim, no one regarded them at all as potential winners. It seemed that the Italian singer and songwriter Ermal Meta was set to win the festival with his song: “Un milione di cose da dirti” (in English: “A Million Things to Tell You”), while Måneskin were actually in fifth place in the betting table with only 7% win chance! Meta is no stranger to the Eurovision contest, as he represented Italy at Eurovision 2018 together with Italian singer Fabrizio Moro. The two performed at Eurovision in Lisbon the song: “Non Mi Avete Fatto Niente” (in English: “You Didn’t Do Anything for Me”), reached fifth place together with a respectable 308 points. In the end, as we all know, Måneskin won first place at the Sanremo Festival. The bettors’ favorite, Ermal Meta, finished only third.
Which artists made the most significant change between their national final performance and the Eurovision stage? Which artists sang off-key in their national final but pulled themselves together on the big stage and sang with flawless precision? All this and more in the next article where we recall all the representatives who improved their stage presence and vocals most significantly!
Eurovision 2026: The 70th Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Austria, following the country’s third historic win with the song “Wasted Love” performed by JJ. This will be the third time the contest is hosted in Austria, after 1967 and 2015.
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Ilay Gaist is a leading Israeli content creator and writer specializing in the Eurovision Song Contest. He is a well-known commentator with extensive expertise in the contest’s history, rules, and dynamics. His passion for Eurovision drives him to deliver rich, professional, and innovative content to his audience.
Ilay holds a bachelor’s degree in Arabic and has a multilingual background. He also engages in cultural research, with a particular focus on global culinary traditions and the evolution of local cuisines around the world.
