ITALY – The Eurovision Song Contest first started in 1956 in Italy. It went from a small, seven-nation competition to a global phenomenon followed by over 100 million viewers each year. Eurovision also helped launch careers of today’s famous artists such as ABBA, Bucks Fizz and Céline Dion.
Slavic cities that had the honor of hosting the competition so far are Moscow, Zagreb, Belgrade and Kiev while the highest scoring winner to date is Ukraine’s Jamala that won the competition in 2016. Over the course of years, many Slavic nations managed to achieve high rankings.
Below we will list the best results of Slavic countries in the competition:
1. POLAND
Poland’s best result was second place in 1994 with Edyta Górniak’s song “To nie ja“:
2. BULGARIA
Bulgaria’s best result (4th place) happened in 2016 with Poli Genova’s “If love was a crime” . Bulgaria also placed 5th in 2007, represented by Elitsa & Stoyan’s song “Water”.
3. CROATIA
Croatia placed 4th on two occasions, in 1996 and 1999. In 1996, it was with Maja Blagdan’s song “Sveta Ljubav” and in 1999 it was Doris Dragovic with “Marija Magdalena“.
As part of Yugoslavia, Croatian singers also had noticeable results: Croatian group Riva won first place in 1989 with the song “Rock Me“, while another Croatian band Novi Fosili placed 4th in 1987 with “Ja sam za ples” (“I wanna dance”).
4. RUSSIA
Russia won the contest in 2008 with Dima Bilan’s song “Believe“. Dima Bilan also won second place in 2006 with “Never Let You Go“. Russia came second in 2000 and 2012 with Alsou’s “Solo” and Buranovskiye Babushki’s “Party for Everybody“.
5. SLOVENIA
Slovenia came in 7th on two occasions, in 1995 with Darja Sveger’s “Prisluhni mi” and in 2001 with Nusa Derenda’s “Energy“.
Slovenian singer Berta Ambrož also placed 7th with “Brez Besed” in 1966 while representing Yugoslavia.
6. MONTENEGRO
Montenegro’s best result was 13th place in 2015 with Knez’s “Adio“.
Other notable Montenegrin results include 4th place for “Dzuli” by Daniel Popovic in 1983 representing Yugoslavia and No name’s song “Zauvijek Moja” representing Serbia and Montenegro in 2005.
7. SLOVAKIA
Slovakia’s best result in the Eurovision Song Content was in 1996, placing 18th with Marcel Palonder’s “Kým nás máš“.
8. SERBIA
Serbia won first place in the Eurovision Song contest in 2007 with Marija Šerifović’s song “Molitva“. Serbia also won third place in 2012 with Zeljko Joksimovic’s song “Nije Ljubav Stvar“.
Zeljko Joksimovic also represented Serbia and Montenegro in 2004 and came in second with song “Lane Moje“.
Another Serbian singer, Lola Novakovic, won 4th place in 1962 with “Ne pali svetla u sumrak” while representing Yugoslavia.
9. Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s best entry was third place in 2006 with Hari Mata Hari’s song “Lejla“. Another notable result was 7th place for Dino Merlin’s song “Love in Rewind” in 2011.
10. CZECH REPUBLIC
Czech Republic’s best entry was in 2016, placing 25th with Gabriela Gunčíková’s “I Stand“.
11. MACEDONIA
Elena Risteska’s “Ninanajna” was Macedonia’s best entry so far, ranking 12th in 2006.
12. UKRAINE
Ukraine won first place on two occasions, in 2004 with Ruslana “Wild Dances” and Jamala’s “1944“. Ukraine also won second place in 2007 and 2008 with Verka Serducka’s “Dancing Lasha Tumbai” and Ani Lorak’s “Shady Lady” and third place in 2013 with Zlata Ognevich’s “Gravity“.
13. BELARUS
“Work Your Magic” by Dmitry Koldun is the most successful Belarus’s entry to date, placing 6th in 2007.