10 Highest Scoring Eurovision Songs Ever

In just under a month’s time, the cheesiest, longest-running televised song competition will be gracing our screens once again from Liverpool, England. Here at 1xBit we are already in the spirit of Eurovision and can’t wait for the excitement to get underway!

So we thought we’d take a trip down memory lane and reminisce over the 10 highest scoring Eurovision songs of all time.

10. Sergey Lazarev – ‘You Are the Only One’ (491 points)

This dance-pop anthem was Russia’s entry to the 2016 Contest in Stockholm, which had been hand-picked by the editorial board of Russia’s broadcasting company (VGTRK). 

When it came to the contest itself, Lazarev received fourteen sets of twelve points and finished in third place, even winning the public televote. 

What’s more, in 2020, he did a duet version of the song with Greek singer Elena Paparizuo as part of the Home concert series, which had been set up to replace Eurovision 2020 after it was cancelled due to COVID.

9. Duncan Laurence – ‘Arcade’ (498 points)

The Netherlands was the origin of this emotional pop ballad, which won the 2019 Song Contest in Tel Aviv. The song seemed destined to win from the get-go as it was the bookmakers’ favourite from the moment the line-up was released until the contest ended. This song received eight sets of twelve points, and this win was a momentous one for the country, as it was their first since 1975. 

It’s also worth noting that Laurence’s winning streak didn’t stop at Eurovision, as his song also went viral on TikTok, and became the most streamed Eurovision song on Spotify.

8. Barbara Pravi – ‘Voilà’ (499 points)

‘Voilà’ (‘There It Is’ in English) represented France in Rotterdam, 2021. The song was chosen on the show ‘Eurovision France, c’est vous qui décidez !’ (Eurovision France, it’s you who decide!), which is the competition held by France’s state-owned television channel France 2. 

As France is part of the “Big Five”, the country was fast-tracked to the final, and they proved themselves as such by placing second and receiving their best result since 1991.

7. Dami Im – ‘Sound of Silence’ (511 points)

Coming in strong at number 7 we have Australia’s Dami Im with ‘Sound of Silence’. Australia has only been a part of Eurovision since 2015 but it has been making waves in the competition since then. In fact, they have been in the top ten 4 times and ‘Sound of Silence’ makes no exception, with Im’s song finishing second in Stockholm.

6. Måneskin – ‘Zitti e buoni’ (524 points)

This powerful rock song was chosen for Eurovision by winning the Sanremo Music Festival 2021. The entry stands out for Italy because it was the first time since 2006 that a group had won the competition with an ‘atypical’ music genre (e.g. not the cheese Euro-pop that we all know and love). This rocking entry received nine sets of twelve points and was a resounding success for Italy.

5. Netta – ‘Toy’ (529 points)

‘Toy’ was Israel’s winning entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 held in Lisbon. However, the song did come in for some criticism as some felt the singer appropriated Japanese culture, given that Netta wore a kimono during the performance. Nonetheless, the song received thirteen sets of twelve points (five sets from the jury vote and eight sets from the televote).

4. Jamala – ‘1944’ (534 points)

This passionate song represented Ukraine in 2016 and obtained first place. The emotional lyrics detailed the deportation of the Crimean Tatars by the Soviet Union due to the alleged collaboration with the Nazis, inspired by Jamala’s own family stories.

3. Kristian Kostov – ‘Beautiful Mess’ (615 points)

In December 2016, Bulgarian National Television (BNT) made an open call for music producers to submit songs to become Bulgaria’s entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. From this, Kostov was shortlisted along with 5 others, and in February, he was introduced as the country’s entry and this electro-pop song became Bulgaria’s best-peforming Eurovision entry of all time.

2. Kalush Orchestra – ‘Stefania’ (631 points)

This alternative hip-hop/folk song was only the third entry for Ukraine in the Competition’s history to be sung entirely in Ukrainian. Ukrainian culture is heavily embedded in the composition as, in addition to the song being sung in Ukrainian, two traditional Ukrainian woodwind instruments are featured in the song: the sopilka (similar to a fife or recorder) and the telenka (an overtone flute). 

The entry received thirty-three sets of twelve points, and romped its way home to 1st place.

1. Salvador Sobral – ‘Amar pelos dois’ (758 points)

Finally, ‘Amar pelos dois’ represented Portugal in the 2017 edition of the Contest which was held in Kyiv. Sobral granted Portugal its first ever win and went one step further by setting the record for the highest score ever in the Competition. What an accolade!

Which entry was your favourite? And are there any entries which you think should have scored more points looking back at it?