Eurovision Championships – Qualifying Group C Now Open!

Well you have been voting in your tens in the last two groups, lets see if this piques your interest!

Qualifying Group C sees an interesting mish-mash of nations. The top three seeded nations include central European heavyweights in Romania, Hungary and Moldova, all of whom have celebrated numerous qualifications and a healthy handful of fantastic results. Despite their success however, none of them have been able to match the best result of newcomers Australia who have demonstrated that they’re in Eurovision to win it from their first participation. Finally, one-time participants Morocco offer an African flavour to the group from their one participation in 1980 and they will be relying on that to spring an upset.

Romania (Tornero – 2006)

Romania are the top seeds in this group and with good reason. Romania have finished third at Eurovision twice but it is Mihai’s 2006 energetic entry ‘Tornero’ that was Romania’s best result on a points divided by sets of points basis. Romania’s entries to Eurovision have been incredibly varied from the soft rock of Voltaj’s ‘De la capat’ to the genre-smash that was Ilinca & Alex Forea’s ‘Yodel It’ and whatever Madinga were doing with ‘Zaileilah’. Whatever Romania are sending, expect fun, expect fresh, expect big, expect bold. Aren’t those all things you want in a Eurovision entry regardless of the song quality?

Hungary (Kinek mondjam el vetkeimet – 1994)

Hungary are no mugs to the Eurovision game. Sure, in A Dal, they were helped by having one of the biggest national final processes in Eurovision season but they also know how to transition each act onto the bigger stage and to get the performance just right. Their best result was their first, a beautiful little song performed by Friderika Bayer asking ‘To whom can I tell my sins?’ Frankly, the only sin I see around is Hungary’s present withdrawal from Eurovision, but perhaps with your vote and some encouragement around their other great entries, Hungary will recognise their duty to extend their success at the contest (and András Kállay-Saunders will finally get the second Eurovision participation that he’s been so desperate to earn).

Moldova (Hey Mamma – 2017)

When I think Moldova at Eurovision, I think everything that I’ve already said about Romania with all the scales turned up. Moldova is twice the fun, twice the bold and brash, twice the ridiculous. What does that mean? Well, when it goes badly, it falls pretty flat on its face but when it’s great, it is so, so incredible. Despite having a third of Hungary’s population, Moldova has had as many top-half finishes as the Magyars. They also have a better top result thanks to SunStroke Project’s masterful swagger and energy that they brought to the stage in Kiev to earn Moldova a (non-existent) bronze medal. Why vote Moldova? Because their entries have always been buckets of fun and you will get to see Zdob si Zdub and Epic Sax Guy a lot more!

Australia (Sound of Silence – 2016)

When Australia’s participation at Eurovision 2015 in Vienna, many eyebrows were raised. How well would Eurovision fever catch on in Australia now that they were finally getting the opportunity to participate. The answer? They took on the challenge head-on and gunned for victory right from the start. Now yes, admittedly the hype around Australia at Eurovision has since simmered down and Australia have moved to a national final format that may have slightly distilled the quality of act they are sending. Whatever you think of the direction that Australian Eurovision entries are heading in, you can’t deny that Dami Im’s final performance in Stockholm was the stuff of Eurovision legend. She gave absolutely everything to the vocals and was ultimately robbed by the European televoters. They may not have been around a long time, but Australia is here to stay at Eurovision and they have already given us some unforgettable moments at the contest that are certainly worth voting for.

Morocco (Bitaqat Hub – 1980)

Yes, that’s right. No, I’m not making this up. To understand Morocco’s presence in the Hague at the 1980 Eurovision Final, we first need to talk about Israel who withdrew from the contest after learning that the final would take place on the official day of Israeli remembrance. Step forward Morocco, who took the opportunity to become the first (and only) African nation to part at the contest. They selected Samira Bensaid to sing ‘Bitaqat Hub’ and to be honest, I think it’s really good and deserved better than its second-last place finish. It’s North African through and through, it’s sung in gorgeous Arabic and despite the obvious temptations, it wasn’t staged in a way that felt stereotypical or cheap. ‘Bitaqat Hub’ was most definitely a Moroccan entry ahead of its time and even though it faces one of the most competitive groups in qualifying, it certainly deserves respect for its small contribution to contest history.

Please vote no later than June 24th and on June 25th, we will release the vote for Qualifying Group D, the Balkan bonanza qualifying group containing Bosnia & Herzegovina, Slovenia, North Macedonia, Montenegro and the one non-Balkan nation, Czech Republic.

This article was written by Fin Ross Russell (Internationalist Eurovision Blog)