Eurovision 2014 By The Numbers Written by John Egan on May 11, 2014 | 5 Comments

John Egan sits down with the scores to highlight some of the more notable numbers from the Contest.

Conchita Wurst has won the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest with 290 points. In a 37 country Grand Final, the maximum possible score for any entry is 432 points. With an average score of 8, her total represents 67 per cent of the possible score. Only  four countries (Armenia, Belarus, Poland and San Marino) blanked Austria; in fact, no entry received points from as many countries as Conchita.

Austria received the maximum douze points from 13 countries: Belgium, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Netherlands and United Kingdom. Thus, in terms of total score, most douze points and points from most countries ‘Rise Like a Phoenix‘ is Europe’s favourite.

Conchita has given Austria its second ever Eurovision win. In 1966 Udo Jurgens triumphed with ‘Merci Cherie‘. The last time Austria was in the top 10 was in 2002 when Alf Poier’s novelty entry “Weil der Mensch zählt” finished 6th in Riga.

Runner-up

The Netherlands’ Common Linnets have nothing to be ashamed about: this is their best result since winning the Contest in 1975. This is the second year in a row that the Dutch have finished in the top 10—quite the achievement after missing eight consecutive Eurovision finals. Félicitations le Pays-Bas!

Among their 238 points the Dutch earned eight douze points from Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Austrian, Lithuania, Norway and Poland.  Eight countries gave ‘The Calm After the Storm‘ null points: Albania, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Israel, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, and Ukraine. Thus in total score, average score and number of douze points, the Netherlands is this year’s silver medallist.

The Ukraine factor

The conflict in Ukraine – which, for those unaware, began just as the 2014 Junior Eurovision was wrapping up in Kyiv—seems to have little impact on the result. The Ukraine ended up with 113 points for 6th place; Russia was a place behind on 89 points. Ukraine received points from 19 countries, Russia from 14. Both in terms of total points and point distribution Ukraine comes out on top.

Ukraine did well in the russosphere, even though Armenia blanked them. Fully 48 points came from other ex-Soviet states. Russia’s points came mostly from ex-Soviet states. Aside from douze points from the Azeris and Belarussians, points from Armenia, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Ukraine and Lithuania totaled up to 55 of their points.

Crimea’s televote counted in Ukraine not Russia, thus towards Russia’s four points from Ukraine. Ukraine earned 7 points from Russia.

The Draw

Denmark was assigned 23rd slot randomly. All other entries drew either first or second half the draw prior to the producers deciding the final running order. For the first time since 2004—and for the first time under the two semi-final system—we have a winner from the first half of the draw. Conchita Wurst sang 11th. She was followed by an advertising break. Sweden performed 13th and finished third overall. Armenia performed 7th and finished 4th overall. The show opener from Ukraine ended up 6th. Precisely half the top 10 were from the first half and half from the second.

If we zoom in a bit closer it’s a bit different. Among the top five entries we have three from the first half and two from the last half. Looking at the bottom of the scoreboard we find four from the bottom half of the draw. Based on these results, the draw seems less important. It will be interesting to see if the delegations from some of the favourites who didn’t do as well (UK, Greece) would beg to differ.

The Perennials

Over the last decade some countries have ended up in the top 10 year after year. The Ukraine remains a top performer: with this year’s success, only two entries of the last 10 have landed outside the top 10. Russia has done nearly as well: ‘Shine‘ is the 6th top 10 result in the last 10 Contests. Armenia’s track record improves to 6 top 10 results out of eight entries.

The worst performing perennials in 2014 were Greece and Azerbaijan. ‘Rise Up‘ received its lowest Greek score and placement since 1998: 35 points and 20th overall. That averages to a tiny one point per country, but their overall top 10 placement rate remains a very high 80 per cent for the last 10 Contests. The Azeri’s sent arguably their least gimmicky entry with “Start a Fire” – and ended up in 22nd place with 33 points, by far their worst result.

Coming Around Again

Although they didn’t win, Russia’s Tolmachevy Sisters reached a credible 7th place with ‘Shine‘. Romania’s Paula Selling and Ovi did not match their previous Eurovision success. ‘Playing with Fire‘ finished in third place; ‘Miracle‘ only managed 12th place. Valentina Monetta’s first appearance in a Eurovision Grand Final earned 14 points and 24th place. But it’s certainly an improvement compared to two non-qualifications