Sunday, 5 May 2024

Eurovision Song Contest League Tables 2023

Most Top Ten Places
I've compiled a league table of all the countries that have ever participated in the Eurovision Song Contest one or more times at some point from 1956 to 2023. The way it works is simple.

If a country wins a particular year (like Sweden did in 2023), it scores 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 zero points for that year! N.B. For my analysis, in 1956 Switzerland has been given 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, Finland and Yugoslavia both have 58 points. Finland and Yugoslavia have both won once each, but Finland has finished second once, whereas Yugoslavia has never finished second, hence Finland is ranked higher than Yugoslavia. Where necessary, third, fourth and subsequent places down to 27th are also considered.

Countries that have appeared in a grand final but have never had a top ten grand final placing (and hence have a league table total of 0) are ranked on their best final placing below 10th. Countries which debuted 2004 onwards and never reached the final (and hence have a league table total of 0) are ranked on their best ever semi-final placing (currently the only such country is Andorra).

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, with few exceptions, it still tops the league table with 323 points.

Rank

Country

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

5th

6th

7th

8th

9th

10th

Total

1

United Kingdom

5

16

3

5

1

2

5

1

1

3

323

2

Sweden

7

1

6

3

10

1

4

4

2

5

265

3

France

5

5

7

7

2

1

2

5

0

3

258

4

Italy

3

3

5

3

5

6

4

2

3

1

216

5

Ireland

7

4

1

3

3

3

2

2

2

4

208

6

Germany

2

4

5

4

2

3

2

8

3

2

199

7

Switzerland

2

3

4

6

2

3

0

5

1

2

174

8

Denmark

3

1

3

2

5

2

1

3

4

2

147

9

Spain

2

4

2

2

1

4

2

1

4

7

146

10

Netherlands

5

1

1

2

2

2

3

1

6

2

143

11

Israel

4

2

2

2

2

2

3

2

2

0

142

12

Norway

3

1

1

3

4

2

2

4

3

3

138

13

Luxembourg

5

0

2

5

1

1

1

1

2

2

135

14

Belgium

1

2

0

4

2

4

5

3

1

3

126

15

Russia

1

4

4

0

1

0

1

0

2

1

99

16

Austria

2

0

1

1

4

2

2

2

3

5

98

17

Monaco

1

1

3

3

2

1

1

2

1

1

97

18

Ukraine

3

2

1

1

1

2

1

0

0

1

92

19

Greece

1

0

3

0

2

1

3

5

3

2

88

20

Malta

0

2

2

0

1

1

1

3

2

2

66

21

Turkey

1

1

1

3

0

0

2

0

1

1

62

22

Estonia

1

0

1

1

1

3

1

3

0

0

61

23

Finland

1

1

0

0

0

2

4

1

2

3

58

24

Yugoslavia

1

0

0

3

0

1

3

2

1

0

58

25

Azerbaijan

1

1

1

1

1

0

0

2

0

0

49

26

Cyprus

0

1

0

0

3

2

1

0

3

0

48

27

Iceland

0

2

0

2

0

0

1

1

0

1

42

28

Portugal

1

0

0

0

0

1

2

2

3

2

39

29

Serbia

1

0

1

0

1

1

0

0

0

1

32

30

Latvia

1

0

1

0

1

1

0

0

0

0

31

31

Romania

0

0

2

1

0

0

1

0

1

1

30

32

Armenia

0

0

0

2

0

0

2

2

0

1

29

33

Croatia

0

0

0

2

1

1

0

0

1

1

28

34

Bulgaria

0

1

0

1

1

0

0

0

0

0

23

35

Australia

0

1

0

0

1

0

0

0

3

0

22

36

Bosnia & Herzegovina

0

0

1

0

0

1

1

0

2

1

22

37

Moldova

0

0

1

0

0

1

1

0

0

2

19

38

Hungary

0

0

0

1

1

0

0

1

1

1

19

39

Poland

0

1

0

0

0

0

1

1

0

0

17

40

Serbia & Montenegro

0

1

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

14

41

Albania

0

0

0

0

1

0

1

0

0

0

10

42

Lithuania

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

1

1

0

10

43

Slovenia

0

0

0

0

0

0

2

0

0

1

9

44

Czechia

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

1

6

45

Belarus

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

0

5

46

North Macedonia

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

4

47

Georgia

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

2

0

4

48

Montenegro

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

49

Slovakia

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

50

Morocco

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

51

San Marino

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

52

Andorra

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0


The above is highly deceptive, because the UK first entered in 1957, followed by every year from 1959 to present (65 entries to-date); and in that time clocked up 323 points, thereby topping the leader board. Azerbaijan first entered in 2008 and has had an excellent track record (at least during its first few years of participation), achieving 49 points in 13 grand final appearances, but still only appears 25th out of 52 on the above table. Clearly that puts countries which debuted since 2000 at a disadvantage as they inevitably have had far fewer entries to-date than countries that first entered in the 1950s and 1960s.

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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 323 points by its number of grand final appearances (65) gives an average of 4.969 points per grand final appearance, putting it into 3rd place. Dividing Azerbaijan's total of 49 points by 13 (its number of grand final appearances to-date) gives it an average of 3.769 points; i.e. 11th place.

Where two or more countries tie for a particular average, the same tie-break rule used in the previous table is applied here. 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

Years in Final

Total

Average

1

Serbia & Montenegro

2

14

7.000

2

Ukraine

18

92

5.111

3

United Kingdom

65

323

4.969

4

Ireland

45

208

4.622

5

Monaco

21

97

4.619

6

Bulgaria

5

23

4.600

7

Italy

48

216

4.500

8

Russia

22

99

4.500

9

Sweden

61

265

4.344

10

France

65

258

3.969

11

Azerbaijan

13

49

3.769

12

Israel

38

142

3.737

13

Luxembourg

37

135

3.649

14

Estonia

18

61

3.389

15

Switzerland

52

174

3.346

16

Denmark

44

147

3.341

17

Australia

7

22

3.143

18

Latvia

10

31

3.100

19

Germany

66

199

3.015

20

Netherlands

53

143

2.698

21

Serbia

12

32

2.667

22

Malta

26

66

2.538

23

Armenia

12

29

2.417

24

Norway

58

138

2.379

25

Spain

62

146

2.355

26

Belgium

54

126

2.333

27

Greece

40

88

2.200

28

Yugoslavia

27

58

2.148

29

Austria

48

98

2.042

30

Turkey

33

62

1.879

31

Romania

19

30

1.579

32

Iceland

27

42

1.556

33

Cyprus

32

48

1.500

34

Croatia

19

28

1.474

35

Moldova

13

19

1.462

36

Hungary

14

19

1.357

37

Bosnia & Herzegovina

18

22

1.222

38

Finland

48

58

1.208

39

Czechia

5

6

1.200

40

Poland

16

17

1.063

41

Albania

11

10

0.909

42

Portugal

45

39

0.867

43

Belarus

6

5

0.833

44

Lithuania

16

10

0.625

45

Georgia

7

4

0.571

46

Slovenia

16

9

0.563

47

North Macedonia

9

4

0.444

48

Montenegro

2

0

0.000

49

Slovakia

3

0

0.000

50

Morocco

1

0

0.000

51

San Marino

3

0

0.000

52

Andorra

0

0

0.000


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 actually had 14 entries from 2005 to 2023 inclusive, but has only reached the final 5 times so far. Under the above scheme of things, its total of 23 points divided by 5 gives it an average of 4.600 points per grand final appearance (6th place on the leader board). The Netherlands has had 53 appearances in the final, the last being 2022, but failed to get past the semi-finals from 2005 to 2012 inclusive, and since then in 2015 and 2023. Dividing its total of 143 points by 53 gives an average of 2.698 points per grand final appearance, putting it at 20th place on the leader board.

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Average By Years Entered
To get an even more accurate representation, one should include the years from 2004 onwards in which a country entered the Eurovision Song Contest but failed to reach the final. Obviously, a country which 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 323 points by its number of entries (65) gives it an average of 4.969 points per year it entered, which is now 2nd place. Dividing Azerbaijan's total of 49 points by 15 (its total number of entries to-date) gives it an average of 3.267 points per year; i.e. 11th place.

N.B. Serbia & Montenegro entered in 2006 but withdrew at the last minute. Nonetheless they voted in the Grand Final but didn't participate in either the Semi-final or Grand Final that year. Thus, they have been regarded as having finished last with zero points in the official Semi-Final 2006 results, despite not actually performing in that semi-final. Consequently, their total number of years entered has been taken as being 3 here; dividing their 14 points by 3 gives an average of 4.667 per year, putting them 3rd on the leader board.

Once again, the same tie-breaker rules apply where two or more countries tie for a particular average. 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.

Rank

Country

Years Entered

Total

Average

1

Ukraine

18

92

5.111

2

United Kingdom

65

323

4.969

3

Serbia & Montenegro

3

14

4.667

4

Italy

48

216

4.500

5

Russia

23

99

4.304

6

Sweden

62

265

4.274

7

Monaco

24

97

4.042

8

France

65

258

3.969

9

Ireland

56

208

3.714

10

Luxembourg

37

135

3.649

11

Azerbaijan

15

49

3.267

12

Israel

45

142

3.156

13

Germany

66

199

3.015

14

Denmark

51

147

2.882

15

Switzerland

63

174

2.762

16

Australia

8

22

2.750

17

Spain

62

146

2.355

18

Netherlands

63

143

2.270

19

Norway

61

138

2.262

20

Estonia

28

61

2.179

21

Yugoslavia

27

58

2.148

22

Serbia

15

32

2.133

23

Greece

43

88

2.047

24

Belgium

64

126

1.969

25

Armenia

15

29

1.933

26

Malta

35

66

1.886

27

Turkey

34

62

1.824

28

Austria

55

98

1.782

29

Bulgaria

14

23

1.643

30

Latvia

23

31

1.348

31

Romania

23

30

1.304

32

Cyprus

39

48

1.231

33

Iceland

35

42

1.200

34

Bosnia & Herzegovina

19

22

1.158

35

Hungary

17

19

1.118

36

Moldova

18

19

1.056

37

Finland

56

58

1.036

38

Croatia

28

28

1.000

39

Portugal

54

39

0.722

40

Poland

25

17

0.680

41

Czechia

11

6

0.545

42

Albania

19

10

0.526

43

Lithuania

23

10

0.435

44

Slovenia

28

9

0.321

45

Belarus

16

5

0.313

46

Georgia

15

4

0.267

47

North Macedonia

21

4

0.190

48

Montenegro

12

0

0.000

49

Slovakia

7

0

0.000

50

Morocco

1

0

0.000

51

San Marino

13

0

0.000

52

Andorra

6

0

0.000


Now all of Bulgaria's 14 entries from 2005 to 2023 inclusive are being taken into consideration, dividing its total of 23 points by 14 gives it an average of just 1.643 points per year it entered, pushing it way down the leader board to 29th out of 52. From 2005 to 2012 inclusive, and since then in 2015 and 2023, the Netherlands entered but failed to qualify, giving it a total of 63 entries to-date. Dividing its total of 143 points by 63 gives it an average of 2.270 points per year it entered, thereby putting it in 18th place, which ironically is a higher rank than when its total is divided by its number of grand final appearances (53).

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