A Tribute to the Artists of Eurovision 2020

A Tribute to the Artists of Eurovision 2020

While I’m absolutely ecstatic that we have a live Eurovision final this week (and have annoyed all my family, friends and coworkers by talking about nothing else), I’m aware that for a number of artists, Saturday will be a bittersweet day. These are the artists who, for various reasons, were not able to return to represent their countries this year, after being selected to sing for Eurovision 2020. 

The Mamas were due to represent Sweden once again, having performed as John Lundvik’s backing singers in Tel Aviv in 2019. Their song would have sailed to the finals and probably reached the top ten. If you like gospel music, you’ll be in heaven with these girls:

Val won the pre-selection show for Belarus, and would have sung ‘Da Vidna’ last year. Like many Belarussians, they openly supported the nationwide protests last year after Lukashenko’s re-election. This unfortunately cost them their chance to return as they were deselected ‘because they had no conscience’ according to the state-owned broadcaster. If any artists deserve some extra love right now, it’s these guys:

Across the border, Little Big were Russia’s entry last year, and broke records by becoming the most watched Eurovision act on Youtube of all time. Their song is absolutely crackers, and they decided that they’d had so much love and support that they wanted to give someone else the chance to go to Rotterdam:

Damir Kedzo won the Croatian pre-selection show with a beautiful little ballad. He decided not to participate again this year, but won hearts with his entry:

Sandro was going to try and bring Eurovision to Cyprus, but was not invited to return this year. His song is all about defeating personal demons and keeping going, no matter what: 

Ulrikke won the Norweigan pre-selection with a showstopping ballad, and her voice is just out of this world. This would have done well:

Alicija was Poland’s entry, with a James Bond-esque song. Again, her vocals are gorgeous, and the song is stunning:

Ben and Tan were Denmark’s pick last year, with an incredibly catchy folk love-song. It’s so sweet, and will be in your head all day:

Arilena was going to sing for Albania this year with ‘Fall From the Sky’, but I’m not sharing the English version. Not when the Albanian version with a full orchestra is right here. That would just be silly:

Aksel had a lovely, melancholic ballad for Finland, all about not realising how good we had something until it was taken away from us. Unfortunately, his song took on a whole new meaning after Covid emerged. This guy had a lot of hate from so-called fans for beating out the favourite at the Finnish pre-show, so give him some love:

Athena was due to represent Armenia this year before they unexpectedly withdrew from this year’s competition. Fingers crossed they will be back next year, but for now, here’s her 2020 entry:

Elisa was Portugal’s choice last year with a simple, yet beautiful, ballad. She’s got one of the prettiest voices, and the song is so sweet:

Germany would have potentially won last year with Ben Dolic’s entry- it won a number of mock jury votes, and had a lot of support behind it:

And now we come to my winning song of 2020- I would have been voting for Italy, and for Diodato. ‘Fai Rumore’ is just one of those timeless entries that touches your heart and reminds you that you don’t need gimmicks, you don’t need pyro, you just need a song you really feel and want to share with the world. I’m so gutted this didn’t get a chance to perform, but we can still appreciate this masterpiece: