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Who Actually Won The Eurovision Song Contest This Year? Written by on December 31, 2013 | 9 Comments

And so another year ends, and while we’ve already started the quest to find the Eurovision Song Contest winner for 2014, there’s still one day to look back on 2013. We’ve already touched on the favourite Musical Moments of the ESC Insight staff and contributors (here and here) and a big thank you to all our readers who have discussed their moments in the comments.

It’s clear that 2013 has been a great year of Eurovision music, with diversity and excellence wherever you look. Before the bells of New Year ring in 2014, I want to take a step back and ask one last question.

Who actually won Eurovision this year?

To decide who was this year’s biggest winner, you have to actually define what it means to ‘win Eurovision’. It’s not as simple as finishing in first place on the Saturday night. While ‘Only Teardrops‘ is going to stay in the Song Contest record books, after the National Final guest appearances with a playback tape, it’s unlikely we’ll hear again from Emmelie de Forest. While you can still hear ‘Euphoria‘ on the beaches of São Paulo, Denmark’s 2013 winner will be cut to shreds for the jingles during the 2014 Contest and then quietly filed alongside ‘Everybody‘.

Emellie de Forest and Fraser Neil

Emmelie de Forest sings with Scottish folk legend Fraser Neil (pic: YouTube)

Looking down the results table from Malmö, you can find many personal success stories: Margaret Berger returned to the public eye with her own choice of musical styles, Bonnie Tyler managed to chart an album for the first in a billion years, Anouk was anointed superhero status just by qualifying for the Saturday night, and Malta saw their best result in recent years (although Gianluca returned to his life as Dr. Bezzina). They are all wonderful stories, but none of them scream ‘winner’ to me.

We need to leave them behind and look deeper.

We Nearly Found The Perfect Combination

Our winning act’s 2013 saw them enter the twentieth year of their career… because that’s the sort of dedication that you need to achieve overnight success. Their two albums on Legendaarne Records were selling steadily, and they were building up a fan-base inside their home country. The decision to submit their latest track to their Eurovision national selection process was about to pay off.

Their appearances would create some of the greatest moments of television of the year. The views on YouTube alone would be far higher than the actual song that would be chosen to represent the country, and would even rival the views of the preview video of the song that eventually won Eurovision. Around the world the antics of Ove, Indrek, Olavi, and their friends, would be used to illustrate the power and majesty of the Song Contest, and how it was not just a little show for performers who sounded a bit like Abba or Bucks Fizz.

Winny Puuh pull a Europhia

Tonight eternity’s an open door (pic: Rick Owens/YouTube)

They would go on to be the backing group in Paris for the launch of American fashion designer Rick Owens’ Spring/Summer collection with a reworked ten minute version of their Magnum Opus with just a hint of Blue Steel in the background (“I like their vision of excess” he told the New York Times). They were featured in AV Club; Time magazine; and in the ultimate mark of hipster respect, would feature on Boing Boing.

They took the opportunity presented by the Eurovision Song Contest opportunity, they worked every PR opportunity open to them, they maximised their return, and they became the world’s most internationally successful electro-metal-punk outfit. If you want to know who the true winners of the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 are, then I present to you…

Winny Puhh.

We Nearly Made It

A cold sun rises over the Swiss-German border. As the snow starts to fall on Kreuzlingen, Samantha Ross and I are meeting over a quiet breakfast in the Hotel Petershof, ahead of the first National Final of the season. In a few hours the Eurovision headlines will focus on the issues around Heilsarmee, but our Eurovision world is about to be rocked. Friend of the parish Roy Delaney pings us a single musical link to a digital needledrop.

The track is ‘Meiecundimees üks Korsakov läks eile Lätti‘.

“They’ve submitted this song,” he explains. “It’s not got a hope of going anywhere, but it’s utterly bonkers. You’ll like it,” Both Samantha and I go from intrigued, to astounded, to falling in love with the boys by the time the second verse kicks in. And then, like all good Eurovision songs, it throws in a key change.

This was the song to shake the Contest up. This was the song that would show that the Song Contest was not stuck in a slightly naff dance hall just off Tottenham Court Road in the mid-eighties. This was the song that would bring in a wave of new genres, diversity, performance art, and refresh the Contest for the 21st century…

…if we were dreaming. There was no way that this would even get past the judging committee of Eesti Laul, let alone make it to a televised heat.

Where's Korsakov?

Where’s Korsakov? (pic: ERR)

But, miraculously enough, it did. ‘Meiecundimees’ reached the long list. Then it passed the internal judging process. Not only did it qualify to the final of the Estonian Song Contest, Winny Puuh won its semifinal. And then…

I’ve nothing against Birgit Õigemeel (she was such a great sport in Malmö with Terry), but perhaps we all dreamed a little bit too much. Perhaps we put our faith in the process to deliver a memorable song for the Swedish-hosted Contest. Perhaps it was too much for the jury to award Winny Puhh just one more point and put them into the superfinal, and not forcing them to settle for the bronze.

Fate Holds The Key

“It was quite simply the greatest thing that ever happened,” laments Delaney. “It’s better than the sum of all of man’s other achievements. In a way I’m glad that it didn’t get to Eurovision proper, because that was we National Final nerds can keep it all to ourselves.”

But the shadow of Winny Puhh continues to be cast over the Eurovision Song Contest. As this year’s National Final shortlists start to come out and Eurovision fans pour over the names to hunt down the tame MP3s, there is nothing that reaches the levels of shock and awe of the Puhh. Eesti Laul’s list, incredibly, seems even more straight-laced and middle of the road than previous years. Having discovered one brilliant diamond in the 2013 batch, the belief that we can find another gem is mixed with the crushing realisation that lightning may never strike again.

Love shine a light

Love shine a light…

For certain groups of fans who fear change, who want the Contest to remain in their own personal time capsule of slightly uplifting pop with a hint of dance floor rhythm, the phrase “it’s not Winny Puhh” is wielded like a temporary salve,  for others “it’s not Winny Puhh” is a lament of lost opportunity and the priceless moments that could have been.

The Eurovision Song Contest is a continued mix of highs and lows for the fans, the performers, the public, and for the Contest itself. It’s why we all love it so much; it’s why we fly across Europe, if not around the world; and it’s why we’ll come back to it time and time again. Winny Puhh reached those heights and depths in the same moment, for everyone involved and associated with the Eurovision Song Contest from artists and staffers to producers and supporters. They represent every high and every low possible, they made the most of their moment and they shared it with the world.

They kept their feet on the ground as everyone kept reaching for the stars. Unless you were the drummers.

About The Author: Ewan Spence

British Academy (BAFTA) nominated broadcaster and writer Ewan Spence is the voice behind The Unofficial Eurovision Song Contest Podcast and one of the driving forces behind ESC Insight. Having had an online presence since 1994, he is a noted commentator around the intersection of the media, internet, technology, mobility and how it affects us all. Based in Edinburgh, Scotland, his work has appeared on the BBC, The Stage, STV, and The Times. You can follow Ewan on Twitter (@ewan) and Facebook (facebook.com/ewanspence).

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Have Your Say

9 responses to “Who Actually Won The Eurovision Song Contest This Year?”

  1. Shai says:

    Music,like everything in life,is a question of taste.
    For yourself “Winny Puhh” speaks to your personal taste, for a other people it just not.

    I am not sure that if it would have gone to Malmo, it would even qualified for the final.The average viewer would have dismissed it as too much noise about nothing.

    I am sure there are a lot of people who share your view in this matter,however a lot of people don’t share your view,simply because they don’t like that kind of music.

  2. Wini Puuh was GREAT!

    I HATE how Estonia chyose the AWFUL, dated, unoriginal and cliched song they chose! WORST song of 2013!

    THIS…is cool rocky, daring, original…MUCH better quality!!

  3. Chris says:

    There is nothing like ‘Meiecundimees üks Korsakov läks eile Lätti‘played loudly while driving swiftly down the freeway. I know from experience. I wonder if it would have made the final?

    I agree with the ‘Only teardrops’ though. It won’t have the life that Euphoria, Fairytale or Satellite have had. I think the real winners of the actual song contest was Margaret Berger or Zlata.

  4. JimmyM says:

    Winny Puhh may not be everyone’s thing, but as an American, I can’t think of a single act from Eurovision 2013 that got any play over here except Winny Puhh. It’s not like they’re big stars over here or anything, but I’d bet money that more people know of Winny Puhh than whatever dreck actually won the contest. We’re not big Eurovision followers over here anyway. We pretty much know that anything that comes out of Eurovision is going to sound like a Justin Timberlake or Britney Spears rejected song. It’s synonymous with “boring.” The Puhh is anything but boring, and that’s why they got noticed. They didn’t win the battle but they sure as heck won the war.

  5. BJ Murphy says:

    I don’t think you speak for all Americans as many have never even heard of the contest. There is a small but devoted following, but the young ones lack historical perspective.

    I think Winny Puhh are well… pooh !

  6. Michael UK says:

    I’m sorry to say winny puuh are memorable for all the wrong reasons . I’ve listened several times but found no melody ( i have tried to find some charm in this repellent “song”, but i have failed) and now am wondering in fact what are winny puuh for ? if they had gone to eurovsion the contests haters would for years have held that song up as a reason and an example why they think eurovision is rubbish !

  7. JimmyM says:

    Yes, I suppose if you’re the kind of music fan where when someone asks if you ever heard Rod Stewart with The Jeff Beck Group and you reply, “No but I sure like “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy” and his albums of standards,” or if you’ve ever wondered why Soft Cell isn’t in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and AC/DC is, or if you’ve ever referred to yourself as a “Belieber,” I could see where Winny Puhh wouldn’t be your thing.

  8. Shevek says:

    I enjoyed reading the text and I can see why it chose the Estonian group as the real winner of 2013. The song itself grew on me, because I could notice its consistency and the fact that the group had something to say other than OMG, I am going to ESC! Its presence here also proves why Eesti Laul has become the most awaited NF of the season for a growing number of fans.

    The American fans should try to follow the whole season; after all, the songs that make it to wherever the contest is being held are often not the best on offer. ESC frequently falls victim to what is perceived by too many as the most probable material to do well. Germany 13 is a good example of that (they got it wrong, thus wasting some excellent songs in the German NF).

  9. Michael UK says:

    @ jimmy M .
    well i hate bieber AND winny puuh . i just love music with a melody. strange isn’t it !

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