Final Post-Mortem: The View from San Francisco
Well, well, Sweden. What can I say. I know a lot of fans complain about your attempt to take over the Eurovision world, but I have to hand it to you – you are bloody good at it. That was some show. I needed a few days to work out everything in my head. I have to admit...
“1944”: Ukraine wins Eurovision Song Contest 2016
Ukraine's entrant Jamala has won the 61st Eurovision Song Contest with the song “1944“, the country's second victory in the competition after Ruslana's "Wild Dances" in 2004. The winner scored a total of 534 points, followed by jury favourite Australia in second place...
The Final Countdown: The View from San Francisco
It’s here! It’s here! It’s finally here! And what better way is there to spend the time between now and Te Deum than going through the finalists for some thoughts, comments and personal wishes? This time I consulted with my friend, the Eurovision sorter, and made a...
What if…? Five possible victory scenarios
Tonight sees the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2016. It's time to go through some possible scenarios, to speculate how certain possible victories would affect Eurovision in the one or other way, and finally to give you a personal voting recommendation....
Eurovision 2016: Five bets to consider
Tonight sees the grand final of the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest, and as always, one of the ways you can add some extra spice to your own enjoyment of the event is by placing a bet or two. If you've been following my betting blogs this week, you'll know that my tips...
escgo prediction 2016: The Grand Final
Our big day has arrived! Tonight, the grand final of the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Stockholm, Sweden. For fans around the continent and beyond, it's the climax to the most exciting time of the year, the conclusion of an on-season that can be said to...
Semi-final 2 post-mortem: The View from San Francisco
Another semi final came and went, and just like that, even though it feels like only yesterday we sat through the first day of rehearsals, we now have our full final line-up. Not without putting a third of Europe through a collective heart attack first, though. Not...
Final line-up complete – six more ChatVote finalists qualify
The second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 is over! Time to look at some facts and give a personal verdict on the show. The ten happy qualifiers are: Latvia Georgia Bulgaria Australia Ukraine Serbia Poland Israel Lithuania Belgium The ChatVote analysis...
Semi 2: Five bets to consider
The lead-up to the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest is always a time for "lessons learned". Several of the assumptions we make about ESC voting went out of the window on Tuesday night: Greece and Bosnia & Herzegovina lost their 100% qualification...
escgo! prediction 2016: Semi-final 2
Tonight it's time for the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2016! Once again, just like for semi-final 1, us escgo! editors try to predict the 10 qualifiers of the show. You can see the choices of Martin, Felix and Shi in the table below - followed by a...
Countdown to Semi 2: The View from San Francisco
Going through the second semi-final, I realized I am not quite as emotionally attached to the songs here as I was to the songs in the first semi. This heat, as it turns out, is more about the songs I want to stay in it than the ones I want to see going through. And...
Semi-final 1 post-mortem: The View from San Francisco
A little late, because real life interfered - RUDE, I know - but here I am, and I have big news: I'm not a complete idiot! I actually managed to get stuff mostly right! It's all very exciting, but I'm sure it will change by the end of the second semi. For now, though,...
Follow us:
EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2016
Rehearsal Reviews
Rehearsals 2016 – The View from San Francisco (Day 7)
Somehow a week has gone by, and the first round of rehearsals is now over, making way for Eurovision week! As a reward for overcoming the first week so bravely, this post is slightly less long than the others, and one cup of coffee might be enough to survive it. Don't...
Rehearsals 2016 – The View from San Francisco (Day 6)
It's been an exhausting day for Eurovision fans everywhere. Three first rehearsals of the remaining direct finalists plus 18 second rehearsals of semi final 2 meant an entire day of working really hard refreshing blogs, social media feeds, message boards and YouTube...
Rehearsals 2016 – The View from San Francisco (Day 5)
The first of two insanely long days of rehearsals took place in Stockholm today, with France and Spain getting their first rehearsal in and all the first semi finalists rehearsing again. Not blogging this in real time, I am allowing myself the freedom of reversing the...
Semi-final 2: The colour analysis
Summary: https://youtu.be/lxONpx3cQ5c In detail: Eurovision stages once were used to give the entries an individual setup. Especially after colour television was invented. This stage doesn't, because obviously, SVT wants to play the gods of fairness and forces every...
Rehearsals 2016 – The View from San Francisco (Day 4)
Before I start with the last full day of the first rehearsals, I would like to send TVR my gratitude for not only being late with paying their debt, but also being so late not paying it that the rehearsal schedule could not be changed anymore, which meant I only had...
Rehearsals 2016 – The View from San Francisco (Day 3)
In which I realize I still haven’t deleted Romania from my 2016 playlists, which is weird considering I don’t even like it. Today, I get to tackle the first rehearsals of half of our second semi finalists, and seeing how long my previous posts were, I decided to also...
Semi-final 1 – The colour analysis
Tell me black or white, what colour is your Eurovision song? The Eurovision Song Contest has been aired in colour since 1968, and 1971 was the first time it was possible to choose a different stage colour for the entries in a more or less technologically advanced way....
Rehearsals 2016 – The View from San Francisco (Day 2)
Yesterday I began reviewing this year’s rehearsals, and much like the real-life first rehearsals, I found the first round to be very educational. For example, I learned that Europe has many Republics, that I really can’t come up with proper adjectives to describe San...
Rehearsals 2016 – The View from San Francisco (Day 1)
It’s been a good decade since I last attended Eurovision rehearsals, and that decade, apart from making me older than I'd like to admit, also taught me a few things about obsessing about - analyzing, I mean analyzing - rehearsals from a distance. Don't get me wrong:...
Our Song Reviews 2016
Line-up check 2016: The automatic finalists
It's the final part of the escgo! line-up check for 2016, which means it's time for our editors, Felix, Martin and Shi, to turn their attention to the countries that are automatically qualified for the grand final of ESC 2016: the "big five" and the host country,...
Line-up check 2016: Second half of semi-final 2
In the fourth and penultimate part of our ESC 2016 line-up check series, it’s time for our editors – Felix, Martin and Shi – to give their views on the songs in the second half of the second semi-final! Just like in our first, second and third articles, each entry has...
Line-up check 2016: First half of semi-final 2
In the third part of our ESC 2016 line-up check series, it’s time for our editors – Felix, Martin and Shi – to give their views on the songs in the first half of the second semi-final! Just like in our first and second articles, each entry has been randomly assigned...
Line-up check 2016: Second half of semi-final 1
In the second part of our ESC 2016 line-up check series, it's time for our editors - Felix, Martin and Shi - to give their views on the songs in the second half of the first semi-final! Just like in our first article, each entry has been randomly assigned to one of...
Line-up check 2016: First half of semi-final 1
In the world of the Eurovision Song Contest, April is the month for analysis and anticipation. Now it's time for us here at escgo! to make our contribution with our annual line-up check series! This year we've tweaked the format slightly. Each entry has been randomly...
Eurovision Song Contest 2016 Songs
Semi-final 1
| Country | Artist | Song |
| Finland | Sandhja | Sing It Away |
| Greece | Argo | Utopian Land |
| Moldova | Lidia Isac | Falling Stars |
| Hungary | Freddie | Pioneer |
| Croatia | Nina Kraljić | Lighthouse |
| Netherlands | Douwe Bob | Slow Down |
| Armenia | Iveta Mukuchyan | LoveWave |
| San Marino | Serhat | I Didn’t Know |
| Russia | Sergey Lazarev | You Are the Only One |
| Czech Republic | Gabriela Gunčiková | I Stand |
| Cyprus | Minus One | Alter Ego |
| Austria | Zoë | Loin d’ici |
| Estonia | Jüri Pootsmann | Play |
| Azerbaijan | Samra | Miracle |
| Montenegro | Highway | The Real Thing |
| Iceland | Greta Salóme | Hear Them Calling |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | Dalal & Deen feat. Ana Rucner and Jala | Ljubav je |
| Malta | Ira Losco | Walk on Water |
Semi-final 2
| Country | Artist | Song |
| Latvia | Justs | Heartbeat |
| Poland | Michał Szpak | Color of Your Life |
| Switzerland | Rykka | The Last of Our Kind |
| Israel | Hovi Star | Made of Stars |
| Belarus | Ivan | Help You Fly |
| Serbia | Sanja Vučić ZAA | Goodbye (Shelter) |
| Ireland | Nicky Byrne | Sunlight |
| Macedonia | Kaliopi | Dona |
| Lithuania | Donny Montell | I’ve Been Waiting for This Night |
| Australia | Dami Im | Sound of Silence |
| Slovenia | ManuElla | Blue and Red |
| Bulgaria | Poli Genova | If Love Was a Crime |
| Denmark | Lighthouse X | Soldiers of Love |
| Ukraine | Jamala | 1944 |
| Norway | Agnete | Icebreaker |
| Georgia | Nika Kocharov & Young Georgian Lolitaz | Midnight Gold |
| Albania | Eneda Tarifa | Fairytale |
| Belgium | Laura Tesoro | What’s the Pressure |
Big Five + Host Country
| Country | Artist | Song |
| Italy | Francesca Michielin | No Degree of Separation |
| Israel | Hovi Star | Made of Stars |
| Sweden | Frans | If I Were Sorry |
| Germany | Jamie-Lee | Ghost |
| France | Amir | J’ai cherché |
| Spain | Barei | Say Yay! |
Home Blog
Final Post-Mortem: The View from San Francisco
Well, well, Sweden. What can I say. I know a lot of fans complain about your attempt to take over the Eurovision world, but I have to hand it to you – you are bloody good at it. That was some show. I needed a few days to work out everything in my head. I have to admit...
The Final Countdown: The View from San Francisco
It’s here! It’s here! It’s finally here! And what better way is there to spend the time between now and Te Deum than going through the finalists for some thoughts, comments and personal wishes? This time I consulted with my friend, the Eurovision sorter, and made a...
What if…? Five possible victory scenarios
Tonight sees the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2016. It's time to go through some possible scenarios, to speculate how certain possible victories would affect Eurovision in the one or other way, and finally to give you a personal voting recommendation....
Semi-final 2 post-mortem: The View from San Francisco
Another semi final came and went, and just like that, even though it feels like only yesterday we sat through the first day of rehearsals, we now have our full final line-up. Not without putting a third of Europe through a collective heart attack first, though. Not...
Countdown to Semi 2: The View from San Francisco
Going through the second semi-final, I realized I am not quite as emotionally attached to the songs here as I was to the songs in the first semi. This heat, as it turns out, is more about the songs I want to stay in it than the ones I want to see going through. And...
Semi-final 1 post-mortem: The View from San Francisco
A little late, because real life interfered - RUDE, I know - but here I am, and I have big news: I'm not a complete idiot! I actually managed to get stuff mostly right! It's all very exciting, but I'm sure it will change by the end of the second semi. For now, though,...
What if…? Five possible (and impossible) scenarios for tonight
It's the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 tonight! While we all wait impatiently, I've sat down for a moment or two and thought about all kinds of things that could happen tonight. So... what if…? …Austria doesn't qualify We've seen it before: Big...
Countdown to Semi 1: The View from San Francisco
The last 24 hours before any Eurovision night are always so difficult. The seconds slow down until they're standing still, and time definitely doesn't feel like thunder (oh oh). In these hours of need and struggle, I find the only thing I can do is come up with a...
ESC 2016: We’re live… at home!
You might have heard it on our social media already, but the escgo! team will not be live in Stockholm for this year's Eurovision Song Contest. Since 2010, we have covered the competition directly from the host cities and the heart of the press centre, but personal...
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ESC 2016 News and Editorials
“1944”: Ukraine wins Eurovision Song Contest 2016
Ukraine's entrant Jamala has won the 61st Eurovision Song Contest with the song “1944“, the country's second victory in the competition after Ruslana's "Wild Dances" in 2004. The winner scored a total of 534 points, followed by jury favourite Australia in second place...
Eurovision 2016: Five bets to consider
Tonight sees the grand final of the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest, and as always, one of the ways you can add some extra spice to your own enjoyment of the event is by placing a bet or two. If you've been following my betting blogs this week, you'll know that my tips...
escgo prediction 2016: The Grand Final
Our big day has arrived! Tonight, the grand final of the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Stockholm, Sweden. For fans around the continent and beyond, it's the climax to the most exciting time of the year, the conclusion of an on-season that can be said to...
Final line-up complete – six more ChatVote finalists qualify
The second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 is over! Time to look at some facts and give a personal verdict on the show. The ten happy qualifiers are: Latvia Georgia Bulgaria Australia Ukraine Serbia Poland Israel Lithuania Belgium The ChatVote analysis...
Semi 2: Five bets to consider
The lead-up to the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest is always a time for "lessons learned". Several of the assumptions we make about ESC voting went out of the window on Tuesday night: Greece and Bosnia & Herzegovina lost their 100% qualification...
escgo! prediction 2016: Semi-final 2
Tonight it's time for the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2016! Once again, just like for semi-final 1, us escgo! editors try to predict the 10 qualifiers of the show. You can see the choices of Martin, Felix and Shi in the table below - followed by a...
First ten finalists chosen – eight ChatVote finalists qualify
The first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 is over! Time to look at some facts and give a personal verdict on the show. The ten happy qualifiers are: Azerbaijan Russia The Netherlands Hungary Croatia Austria Armenia Czech Republic Cyprus Malta The...
Semi 1: Five bets to consider
With my escgo! colleagues having kept you informed and entertained over the last week (and a bit) with their analysis of the rehearsals and staging from this year's Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm, it's time for me to dive into my own area of - supposed -...
escgo! prediction 2016: Semi-final 1
Tonight sees the first semi-final of the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest, and it’s time for the escgo! team to predict which ten of the 18 candidates they think will progress to Saturday’s grand final. You can see the choices of Martin, Felix and Shi in the table below -...
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escgo! Home Blog 2016
Final Post-Mortem: The View from San Francisco
Well, well, Sweden. What can I say. I know a lot of fans complain about your attempt to take over the Eurovision world, but I have to hand it to you – you are bloody good at it. That was some show. I needed a few days to work out everything in my head. I have to admit...
“1944”: Ukraine wins Eurovision Song Contest 2016
Ukraine's entrant Jamala has won the 61st Eurovision Song Contest with the song “1944“, the country's second victory in the competition after Ruslana's "Wild Dances" in 2004. The winner scored a total of 534 points, followed by jury favourite Australia in second place...
The Final Countdown: The View from San Francisco
It’s here! It’s here! It’s finally here! And what better way is there to spend the time between now and Te Deum than going through the finalists for some thoughts, comments and personal wishes? This time I consulted with my friend, the Eurovision sorter, and made a...
What if…? Five possible victory scenarios
Tonight sees the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2016. It's time to go through some possible scenarios, to speculate how certain possible victories would affect Eurovision in the one or other way, and finally to give you a personal voting recommendation....
Eurovision 2016: Five bets to consider
Tonight sees the grand final of the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest, and as always, one of the ways you can add some extra spice to your own enjoyment of the event is by placing a bet or two. If you've been following my betting blogs this week, you'll know that my tips...
escgo prediction 2016: The Grand Final
Our big day has arrived! Tonight, the grand final of the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Stockholm, Sweden. For fans around the continent and beyond, it's the climax to the most exciting time of the year, the conclusion of an on-season that can be said to...
Semi-final 2 post-mortem: The View from San Francisco
Another semi final came and went, and just like that, even though it feels like only yesterday we sat through the first day of rehearsals, we now have our full final line-up. Not without putting a third of Europe through a collective heart attack first, though. Not...
Final line-up complete – six more ChatVote finalists qualify
The second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 is over! Time to look at some facts and give a personal verdict on the show. The ten happy qualifiers are: Latvia Georgia Bulgaria Australia Ukraine Serbia Poland Israel Lithuania Belgium The ChatVote analysis...
Semi 2: Five bets to consider
The lead-up to the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest is always a time for "lessons learned". Several of the assumptions we make about ESC voting went out of the window on Tuesday night: Greece and Bosnia & Herzegovina lost their 100% qualification...
escgo! prediction 2016: Semi-final 2
Tonight it's time for the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2016! Once again, just like for semi-final 1, us escgo! editors try to predict the 10 qualifiers of the show. You can see the choices of Martin, Felix and Shi in the table below - followed by a...
Countdown to Semi 2: The View from San Francisco
Going through the second semi-final, I realized I am not quite as emotionally attached to the songs here as I was to the songs in the first semi. This heat, as it turns out, is more about the songs I want to stay in it than the ones I want to see going through. And...
Semi-final 1 post-mortem: The View from San Francisco
A little late, because real life interfered - RUDE, I know - but here I am, and I have big news: I'm not a complete idiot! I actually managed to get stuff mostly right! It's all very exciting, but I'm sure it will change by the end of the second semi. For now, though,...
First ten finalists chosen – eight ChatVote finalists qualify
The first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 is over! Time to look at some facts and give a personal verdict on the show. The ten happy qualifiers are: Azerbaijan Russia The Netherlands Hungary Croatia Austria Armenia Czech Republic Cyprus Malta The...
What if…? Five possible (and impossible) scenarios for tonight
It's the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 tonight! While we all wait impatiently, I've sat down for a moment or two and thought about all kinds of things that could happen tonight. So... what if…? …Austria doesn't qualify We've seen it before: Big...
Semi 1: Five bets to consider
With my escgo! colleagues having kept you informed and entertained over the last week (and a bit) with their analysis of the rehearsals and staging from this year's Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm, it's time for me to dive into my own area of - supposed -...
escgo! prediction 2016: Semi-final 1
Tonight sees the first semi-final of the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest, and it’s time for the escgo! team to predict which ten of the 18 candidates they think will progress to Saturday’s grand final. You can see the choices of Martin, Felix and Shi in the table below -...
Countdown to Semi 1: The View from San Francisco
The last 24 hours before any Eurovision night are always so difficult. The seconds slow down until they're standing still, and time definitely doesn't feel like thunder (oh oh). In these hours of need and struggle, I find the only thing I can do is come up with a...
Rehearsals 2016 – The View from San Francisco (Day 7)
Somehow a week has gone by, and the first round of rehearsals is now over, making way for Eurovision week! As a reward for overcoming the first week so bravely, this post is slightly less long than the others, and one cup of coffee might be enough to survive it. Don't...
Rehearsals 2016 – The View from San Francisco (Day 6)
It's been an exhausting day for Eurovision fans everywhere. Three first rehearsals of the remaining direct finalists plus 18 second rehearsals of semi final 2 meant an entire day of working really hard refreshing blogs, social media feeds, message boards and YouTube...
Rehearsals 2016 – The View from San Francisco (Day 5)
The first of two insanely long days of rehearsals took place in Stockholm today, with France and Spain getting their first rehearsal in and all the first semi finalists rehearsing again. Not blogging this in real time, I am allowing myself the freedom of reversing the...