What’s the best way to win the Eurovision Song Contest, the world’s most watched cultural event?
Should you enter a disco track about a long-forgotten military conflict (like Abba once did)? A French-language workout song (like Celine Dion’s 1988 winner)? Maybe some swaggering rock about marching to the beat of your own drum (like Maneskin)?
We analyzed the music, lyrics and onstage performances of every winning act since 2000 to learn the secrets of a perfect Eurovision song.
NO. 1
Sing about personal liberation
transcript
Conchita Wurst (Austria) performing her 2014 winning song “Rise Like a Phoenix.”
Rise like a phoenix Out of the ashes seeking rather than vengeance
Conchita Wurst (Austria) performing her 2014 winning song “Rise Like a Phoenix.”
A good start is to have a track about believing in yourself, owning your own destiny, or not caring what society thinks.
Take Conchita Wurst, a bearded drag queen who represented Austria in 2014 with the epic song “Rise Like a Phoenix.” The self-help bona fides were clear from the title: Wurst was emerging from the ashes of past troubles, and nobody could stop her.