Each year 25 European-ish nations gather together to compete for the prize to host next year’s Eurovision, and 63336 was on hand this year to run the latest of its Alternative Reports. Rather than focus on dress, style, or verse, we simply focused on the notes themselves. Which nation would sing the most off key notes? What songs were ripped off in the process? And who really deserved to win?
For the 2010 Eurovision contest, held in Oslo, we used the talents of a perfect pitch researcher, LJ Rich, who comments on the process in some detail on her blog.
Our analysis showed that despite finishing in last (25th) place, the UK were actually more in tune than the winners Germany. Moldovia and Serbia topped the list for the most out-of-tune songs, with Serbia’s Milan Stanković hitting 117 bum notes all on his own.
Our league table (see below) shows that Belgium hit all the right notes despite only finishing 6th in the competition. Winners Germany hit an astounding 64 wrong notes per minute.
Q. Who should have won Eurovision?
A. Belgium. Their Tracey Chapman-esque entry hit just 8 bum notes overall and, with just one person on stage, referenced great hits such as Walking in Memphis.
Q. Which countries did the biggest rip-off songs?
A. Iceland ripped off Womanizer by Britney spears; Denmark copied Every Breath You Take & Simply The Best, Romania ripped off Lady Gaga’s Pokerface, and Ireland did an almost perfect rip off of My Heart Will Go On.
Q. Who had the most shocking key changes?
A. Spain, Norway and Portugal all had 2 shocking key changes. On the night 63336 felt that Portugal had the most obvious key changes, ripped off from James Horner’s composition for Titantic.
Q. Who had the most people on stage in Eurovision 2010?
A. 13 countries had the maximum of 6 people on stage. Spain unintentionally broke the record by having its stage stormed, adding a protestor and security to take its first set up to 8 people.
Most out of tune nations, Eurovision 2010
|
Country |
Performer |
Song |
Bum Notes |
Shocking Key Changes |
Key on album |
Finished |
| 1. Serbia | Milan Stanković | Ovo Je Balkan | 117 | 0 | G minor | 13 (72 points) |
| 2. Moldovia | Sunstroke Project & Olia Tira | Run Away | 71 | 0 | Eb Minor | 22 (27 points) |
| 3. Germany | Lena | Satellite | 64 | 0 | B minor | 1 (246 points) |
| 4. UK | Josh | That Sounds Good To Me | 49 | 0 | G major | 25 (10 points) |
| 5. Greece | Giorgos Alkaios & Friends | OPA | 46 | 0 | Ab major | 8 (140 points) |
| 6. Spain* (2nd) | Daniel Diges | Algo Pequeñito (Something Tiny) | 38 | 2 | D minor | 15 (68 points) |
| 7. Azerbaijan | Safura | Drip Drop | 31 | 0 | Eb minor | 5 (145 points) |
| 8. Albania | Juliana Pasha | It’s All About You | 31 | 0 | F minor | 16 (62 points) |
| 9. Denmark | Chanée & N’evergreen | In A Moment Like This | 29 | 1 | F# Major | 4 (149 points) |
| 10. Iceland | Hera Björk | Je Ne Sais Quoi | 27 | 1 | Eb minor | 19 (41 points) |
| 11. Spain* (1st performance) | Daniel Diges | Algo Pequeñito (Something Tiny) | 27 | 2 | D minor | 15 (68 points) |
| 12. Ukraine | Alyosha | Sweet People | 26 | 0 | E minor | 10 (108 points) |
| 13. Israel | Harel Skaat | Milim | 23 | 1 | AB minor | 14 (71 points) |
| 14. Portugal | Filipa Azevedo | Há Dias Assim | 22 | 2 | F# major | 18 (43 points) |
| 15. Belarus | 3+2 | Butterflies | 22 | 1 | C major | 24 (18 points) |
| 16. France | Jessy Matador | Allez Olla Olé | 21 | 1 | Ab minor | 12 (82 points) |
| 17. Armenia | Eva Rivas | Apricot Stone | 21 | 0 | B minor | 7 (141 points) |
| 18. Bosnia & Herzegovina | Vukašin Brajić | Thunder And Lightning | 19 | 0 | F minor | 17 (51 points) |
| 19. Turkey | maNga | We Could Be The Same | 20 | 0 | D minor | 2 (170 points) |
| 20. Georgia | Sofia Nizharadze | Shine | 19 | 0 | G major | 9 (136 points) |
| 21. Romania | Paula Seling & Ovi | Playing With Fire | 17 | 0 | E minor | 3 (162 points) |
| 22. Ireland | Niamh Kavanagh | It’s For You | 13 | 1 | C major | 23 (25 points) |
| 23. Russia | Peter Nalitch & Friends | Lost And Forgotten | 13 | 0 | C major | 11 (90 points) |
| 24. Norway | Didrik Solli-Tangen | My Heart Is Yours | 10 | 2 | D major | 20 (35 points) |
| 25. Cyprus | Jon Lilygreen & The Islanders | Life Looks Better In Spring | 9 | 0 | C major | 21 (27 points) |
| 26. Belguim | Tom Dice | Me And My Guitar | 8 | 0 | A major | 6 (143 points) |
And finally, some of our most FAQ about Eurovision:
Q. Why is Israel in Eurovision?
A. Israel is geographically in Asia; specifically part of the Middle East. Culturally, it is considered European, qualifying for the UEFA Cup & Eurovision.
Q. What’s the record points in a Eurovision contest?
A. Norway won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2009, with Alexander Rybak & his infuriatingly catchy song Fairytale. His 387 points were a Eurovision record.
Q. Did Celine Dion really take part in Eurovision?
A. Celine Dion represented Switzerland when she won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1988 with Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi, despite her being Canadian.
Your reasoning for why Israel competes in Eurovision is correct, but could contain facts! It’s part of the EBU (european broadcast union), which doesnt require European nationality, and the EBU is the governing body (if you will) of eurovision. Other non-european nations who have in the past entered or are eligible to enter include Egypt, Morocco and Lebanon.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by claire circuit, 63336. 63336 said: Who really deserved to lose Eurovision? #63336 Alternative Report http://bit.ly/d3SOkJ (also @LJRICH http://bit.ly/bumnotes) [...]
Phil – thanks for your coments and we stand amended. Well done.
Actually, the actual explanation for Israel is that is part of the European Broadcasting Area, that according to Wikipedia is based on old telegraphy cable boundaries. Broadcasters in countries that fall inside that area can apply to become full members of the EBU, and thereby also take part in the Eurovision activities, like the Song Contest. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Broadcasting_Area
Funny article! Little correction though: Israel takes part in the Eurovision Song Contest because by the rules of the International Telecommunications Union, Israel is in the European broadcasting zone. This is based on the footprints of satellites orbiting earth. Based on that, IBA is an Active Member of the European Broadcasting Union. All Active EBU Members have the right to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest
[...] so wie bei Lena oder Alex Rybak in 2009! Die komplette Statistik stammt von Blog 63336 und ist hier zu [...]
Interesting analysis, except I think you should take into consideration the complexity of the song too. For example, Israel’s song is far more difficult than Belgium’s. Dice shouldn’t have had many bum notes with the song he sung. Still if this is accurate it shows you that some of the countries got a bad shake (Ireland, for example).
Cool analysis: http://eurovisiontimes.wordpress.com/2010/06/03/score-analysis-1-the-bottom-5/
I think you shouldn’t underestimate the difficulty of the Belgian song, there’s a couple of pretty hard notes in the song (the part of the chorus around “before I fall”) Cyprus’ and Norway’s were indeed easier though.
[...] to pitch perfect researchers working for British question-and-answer SMS service 63336 (see 63336-alternative-report-on-eurovision), Serbia’s singer was hitting the most off key notes among of all the acts in the final. But [...]
What the ….? Iceland ripped off Womanizer? This is funny.
“Moldovia”? What language is it?
Eva Rivas, Paula Selling & Ovi and maNga sang better than Alyosha? Oh my God.
Just kill yourself. Please.
omg
Armenia on 17 place?Higher than Ukraine,Belarus, Portugal, Iceland?This article is the peace of shit
Surprised at Alyosha’s placement on the list… Though I suppose it makes sense as this is a comparison with the studio version. The studio recording of Sweet People is entirely uninspiring, while the performance she did on stage was full of feeling and power. In the end, pitch does not equal talent; Morrissey has never sung a clean note in his life, Alanis Morissette used to miss every other note on purpose, and Björk has made not being able to sing her image. Someone should make a similar list on who, objectively, had the best expression or rocked out the most.
@maia
I agree pitch does not always equal talent. What criteria would you use to measure ‘expressions’ or ‘rocking out’? We did look at expressions for our Alternative Report on the Leaders Debate, and that was very illuminating as to how the prospective leaders changed their expressions as the debates went on. Would you measure smiles? Grimaces? Eyes to heaven? Rock salutes?!?
Island is not rip of womanizer (Albania was similar to that song and Keeps getting better from C.Aguilera until they change it). Song is mix of This is my life (ESC 2008 Island)and David Guettas when love takes over…
And Romanian song is more similar with Keshas songs(Tik tok,Your love is my drug) than with Poker face… And Belgium shoud won ESC??? Eurovision is not singer contest, it is song contes and for me Belgium song is good but a litle boring and realy not for top 10… And what also matters is show and charisma not only how somebody sings… BEST were (in no order) Island, Spain, France, Ukraine, Turkey, Finland (semi).