Eurovision Song Contest League Tables 2013

Most Top Ten Places

I've compiled a league table of all countries that have ever participated in the Eurovision Song Contest at some point from 1956 to 2013. The way it works is simple.

If a country wins a particular year (like Denmark did this year), it gets 12 points for that year. Other top ten countries in a particular year receive the following number of points for that year: 2nd = 10 points, 3rd = 8 points, 4th = 7 points, 5th = 6 points, 6th = 5 points, 7th = 4 points, 8th = 3 points, 9th = 2 points, 10th = 1 point. Any country placed 11th or below receives nul points for that year! N.B. For my analysis, in 1956 Switzerland got 12 points for winning, but the other 6 unplaced countries were flagged as Unplaced, and thus awarded no league table points for that year.

Where multiple countries have tied for a particular total, I have taken their best ever places into consideration. For example, Malta and Turkey both have 62 points. Turkey has won once, but Malta has never won, hence Turkey is ranked higher than Malta. Latvia and Romania both have 26 points, but since Latvia has won once, whereas Romania has never won, Latvia is ranked higher than Romania. Belarus and Lithuania have both finished in 6th place once each and have no other top ten places (hence the total for both countries is 5) so lower places have been considered. The second best placing for Lithuania is 13th whereas the second best placing for Belarus is 16th, which is why Lithuania has been ranked higher than Belarus.

Countries that have appeared in a grand final but have never had a top ten grand final placing (and hence have a total of 0) are ranked on their best final placing below 10th, whereas those that have debuted 2004 onwards and never reached the final are ranked on their best ever semi-final placing.

N.B. From 1956 to 2003 inclusive there was only one show. There was one semi-final plus a grand final from 2004 to 2007 inclusive, and two semi-finals plus a grand final from 2008 onwards. For the purposes of this post, the term "final" or "grand final" includes the single shows from 1956 to 2003 inclusive, and grand finals from 2004 to present.

The above is done for each year a country has participated, and all their scores added up. As you can see, despite the UK's poor performance since 1999, it still tops the league table with 313 points.

Rank	Country	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Total
1	United Kingdom	5	15	3	5	1	2	5	1	1	3	313
2	France	5	4	7	7	2	0	2	5	0	3	243
3	Ireland	7	4	1	3	3	3	2	2	2	4	208
4	Sweden	5	1	5	2	7	1	3	4	2	5	204
5	Germany	2	4	5	3	2	3	2	8	3	2	192
6	Italy	2	2	4	2	4	4	4	2	3	1	163
7	Switzerland	2	3	3	5	2	3	0	5	1	2	159
8	Denmark	3	1	3	2	5	2	1	3	2	2	143
9	Spain	2	4	1	2	1	4	2	1	4	6	137
10	Luxembourg	5	0	2	5	1	1	1	1	2	2	135
11	The Netherlands	4	0	1	2	2	2	3	1	6	2	121
12	Israel	3	2	1	2	2	2	3	2	1	0	120
13	Norway	3	1	1	3	3	1	2	2	3	1	119
14	Belgium	1	2	0	2	2	4	4	3	1	2	107
15	Monaco	1	1	3	3	2	1	1	2	1	1	97
16	Greece	1	0	3	0	2	1	3	4	3	1	84
17	Austria	1	0	0	1	4	2	2	2	3	5	78
18	Russia	1	3	2	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	67
19	Turkey	1	1	1	3	0	0	2	0	1	1	62
20	Malta	0	2	2	0	1	1	0	3	2	2	62
21	Yugoslavia	1	0	0	3	0	1	3	2	1	0	58
22	Ukraine	1	2	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	52
23	Estonia	1	0	1	1	1	3	0	1	0	0	51
24	Azerbaijan	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	46
25	Finland	1	0	0	0	0	1	4	1	2	3	43
26	Cyprus	0	0	0	0	3	2	1	0	3	0	38
27	Iceland	0	2	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	34
28	Croatia	0	0	0	2	1	1	0	0	1	1	28
29	Latvia	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	26
30	Romania	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	26
31	Serbia	1	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	25
32	Portugal	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	2	2	2	25
33	Bosnia & Herzegovina	0	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	2	1	22
34	Armenia	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	2	0	1	18
35	Serbia & Montenegro	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	14
36	Poland	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	14
37	Hungary	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	10
38	Albania	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	10
39	Slovenia	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	1	9
40	Bulgaria	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	6
41	Moldova	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	6
42	Lithuania	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	5
43	Belarus	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	5
44	Georgia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	4
45	F.Y.R. Macedonia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
46	Morocco	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
47	Slovakia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
48	Montenegro	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
49	San Marino	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
50	Andorra	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
51	Czech Republic	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

The above is deceptive, because the UK has entered in 1957, followed by every year from 1959 to present (56 entries to-date); and in that time clocked up 313 points, thereby topping the leader board. Azerbaijan first entered in 2008 and has had an excellent track record since, achieving 46 points in 6 appearances, but still only appears 24th out of 51 on the above table. Clearly that puts countries who debuted in the last 10 years at a disadvantage as they inevitably have far fewer entries to-date than countries that first entered in the 1950s and 1960s.

Back to the top

Average By Grand Final Appearance

By dividing each country's total by the number of times it has appeared in the Eurovision Song Contest grand final, you get a much more accurate representation. Dividing the UK's total of 313 points by its number of final appearances (56) gives an average of 5.59 points per grand final appearance, putting it into 4th place. Dividing Azerbaijan's total of 46 points by 6 (its number of final appearances to-date) gives it a higher average of 7.67 points; i.e. top of the leader board.

Where two or more countries tie for a particular average, the same tie-break rule used in the previous table is applied here. For example, Ireland and Ukraine both have average scores of 4.73 points, but since Ireland has won seven times, whereas Ukraine has won once, Ireland is ranked higher than Ukraine. Countries whose totals are zero, and hence whose averages are zero, have been dealt with in the same manner and thus ranked in the same order as in the previous table.

Rank	Country	Total	Years in Final	Average
1	Azerbaijan	46	6	7.67
2	Serbia & Montenegro	14	2	7.00
3	Bulgaria	6	1	6.00
4	United Kingdom	313	56	5.59
5	Serbia	25	5	5.00
6	Ireland	208	44	4.73
7	Ukraine	52	11	4.73
8	Monaco	97	21	4.62
9	France	243	56	4.34
10	Italy	163	39	4.18
11	Russia	67	17	3.94
12	Sweden	204	52	3.92
13	Estonia	51	13	3.92
14	Israel	120	31	3.87
15	Luxembourg	135	37	3.65
16	Denmark	143	40	3.58
17	Switzerland	159	47	3.38
18	Germany	192	57	3.37
19	Latvia	26	8	3.25
20	Armenia	18	6	3.00
21	Malta	62	22	2.82
22	The Netherlands	121	46	2.63
23	Spain	137	53	2.58
24	Greece	84	34	2.47
25	Norway	119	50	2.38
26	Belgium	107	48	2.23
27	Yugoslavia	58	27	2.15
28	Turkey	62	33	1.88
29	Austria	78	42	1.86
30	Croatia	28	16	1.75
31	Romania	26	15	1.73
32	Albania	10	6	1.67
33	Belarus	5	3	1.67
34	Cyprus	38	25	1.52
35	Iceland	34	23	1.48
36	Poland	14	10	1.40
37	Bosnia & Herzegovina	22	18	1.22
38	Hungary	10	9	1.11
39	Finland	43	43	1.00
40	Slovenia	9	11	0.82
41	Georgia	4	5	0.80
42	Moldova	6	8	0.75
43	Portugal	25	40	0.63
44	Lithuania	5	10	0.50
45	F.Y.R. Macedonia	0	8	0.00
46	Morocco	0	1	0.00
47	Slovakia	0	3	0.00
48	Montenegro	0	0	0.00
49	San Marino	0	0	0.00
50	Andorra	0	0	0.00
51	Czech Republic	0	0	0.00

This is still deceptive, because it ignores years from 2004 onwards in which a country entered the Eurovision Song Contest but failed to reach the final. Bulgaria has had 9 entries from 2005 to 2013, but has only reached the final once so far. Under the above scheme of things, its total of 6 points is divided by 1, giving it an average of 6.00 points per grand final appearance (3rd on the leader board). The Netherlands has had 46 appearances in the final, the last being 2013, but failed to get past the semi-finals 2005 to 2012 inclusive. Dividing its total of 121 points by 46 gives an average of 2.63 points per grand final appearance, putting it at 22nd place on the leader board.

Back to the top

Average By Years Entered

To get an even more accurate representation, let's include the years from 2004 onwards in which a country entered the Eurovision Song Contest but failed to reach the final. Obviously a country that fails to reach the final scores no league table points for that year, just like finalists that finish below 10th. Dividing the UK's total of 313 points by its number of entries (56) gives an average of 5.59 points per year entered, now putting it into 3rd place. Dividing Azerbaijan's total of 46 points by 6 (its number of entries to-date) gives it an average of 7.67; i.e. top of the leader board.

Once again, the same tie-breaker rule applies where two or more countries tie for a particular average. In this table, Bulgaria, Moldova and Georgia tie on 0.67 points per year entered, but Bulgaria's best grand final placing to-date is 5th, whereas Moldova's best grand final placing to-date is 6th and Georgia's best grand final place to-date is 9th. Thus the order of ranking for these three countries is Bulgaria 38th, Moldova 39th and Georgia 40th. Countries whose totals are zero, and hence whose averages are zero, have been dealt with in the same manner and thus ranked in the same order as in the previous two tables.

N.B. On this occasion, Finland and Hungary appear to have tied on 0.91 points, because all averages are shown correct to two decimal places. When shown to three decimal places, the averages are Finland 0.915 and Hungary 0.909, which is why Finland is ranked higher than Hungary.

Rank	Country	Total	Years Entered	Average
1	Azerbaijan	46	6	7.67
2	Serbia & Montenegro	14	2	7.00
3	United Kingdom	313	56	5.59
4	Ukraine	52	11	4.73
5	Ireland	208	47	4.43
6	France	243	56	4.34
7	Italy	163	39	4.18
8	Monaco	97	24	4.04
9	Russia	67	17	3.94
10	Sweden	204	53	3.85
11	Luxembourg	135	37	3.65
12	Serbia	25	7	3.57
13	Denmark	143	42	3.40
14	Germany	192	57	3.37
15	Israel	120	36	3.33
16	Switzerland	159	54	2.94
17	Estonia	51	19	2.68
18	Spain	137	53	2.58
19	Armenia	18	7	2.57
20	Greece	84	34	2.47
21	Malta	62	26	2.38
22	Norway	119	52	2.29
23	The Netherlands	121	54	2.24
24	Yugoslavia	58	27	2.15
25	Belgium	107	55	1.95
26	Latvia	26	14	1.86
27	Turkey	62	34	1.82
28	Romania	26	15	1.73
29	Austria	78	46	1.70
30	Croatia	28	21	1.33
31	Iceland	34	26	1.31
32	Cyprus	38	31	1.23
33	Bosnia & Herzegovina	22	18	1.22
34	Albania	10	10	1.00
35	Finland	43	47	0.91
36	Hungary	10	11	0.91
37	Poland	14	16	0.88
38	Bulgaria	6	9	0.67
39	Moldova	6	9	0.67
40	Georgia	4	6	0.67
41	Portugal	25	46	0.54
42	Belarus	5	10	0.50
43	Slovenia	9	19	0.47
44	Lithuania	5	14	0.36
45	F.Y.R. Macedonia	0	13	0.00
46	Morocco	0	1	0.00
47	Slovakia	0	7	0.00
48	Montenegro	0	5	0.00
49	San Marino	0	4	0.00
50	Andorra	0	6	0.00
51	Czech Republic	0	3	0.00

Now all Bulgaria's 9 entries from 2005 to 2013 inclusive are being taken into consideration, dividing its total of 6 points by 9 gives an average of just 0.67 points per year entered, pushing it way down the leader board to 38th out of 51. From 2005 to 2012 inclusive The Netherlands entered but failed to qualify, giving it a total of 54 entries to-date. Dividing its total of 121 points by 54 gives an average of 2.24 points per year entered, thereby putting it in 23rd place.

Back to the top