The first OGAE results have recently been published, from the first 13 associations. With not many surprises. The top ten are as follows:
- Denmark 124 pts.
- San Marino 87 pts.
- Norway 75 pts.
- Germany 69 pts.
- Italy 64 pts.
- United Kingdom 59 pts.
- Netherlands 53 pts.
- Sweden 45 pts.
- Ukraine 34 pts.
- Russia 33 pts.
Denmark, of course, the favourite, has come top by quite a margin, netting more than six points from all 13 countries, including six ‘douze points’. These entries are arguably the higher quality songs in the competition, and are pretty much guaranteed a place in the final. The rankings are pretty tight, bar maybe Denmark’s lead, which shows really how tough the competition is this year. 18 countries still have no points. Congratulations to Emmelie De Forest from Denmark for their current lead, one that will, in my opinion, stick.
The question is, can these results tell us anything? Well, maybe. Last years results put Sweden way on top, which, of course, was correct, and five of the top ten in Baku were in the the OGAE’s top ten. So a mix really. Although there were some extreme oddities, like Norway’s OGAE fifth, but last in the final, and Iceland dropping from the OGAE’s third to the final’s 20th. But it predicted the winner, thus proving false Graham Norton’s recent comment that “Eurovision can’t be second guessed.”
There are no real surprises for me, apart from possibly Norway, and Germany, a song which I believe would appeal to the typical televoter (well, maybe these OGAE members are typical televoters!). I’m happy to see the United Kingdom up in sixth, a song that is technically, on a professional level at least, a superb song, and one that should score well from the juries.
But wait! Of course we haven’t heard from all countries yet, and once we recieve all the votes, by the time rehearsals begin in Malmö in May, then we shall have clearer view on how the competition may (or may not) turn out.
You can check out the full rankings from all 13 countries here.
Roy van der Merwe
April 23, 2013 at 06:40
I personally hop DENMARK does not win, because two EUROVISIONS in a row in the ame area will be a bit too much – most fans want to go away to another region.
Roy van der Merwe
April 23, 2013 at 06:38
The typical OGAE FAN member hears the songs many times, so they are NOT people who hear the songs once. I just look at my friend Morten, after hearing Netherlanfs the firts time, he gave it 10 outof 10, now it had dropped to 7 out of 10 after just hearing it th second time.
Zack
April 23, 2013 at 00:33
I’d like to know how many of the voters actually here the song for the first time at the final, how many for the first time at the semi finals. I think OGAE members would be to listen to the songs more than once and this would have a few grow on them and have others that grow tired. So perhaps songs like euphoria have good first appeal and lasting appeal too. Songs like Iceland may take more time to grow on people than one listen. That was the case for me.
And then there are songs like norway and france last year that sounded good in the studio but live in the finals came off in my opinion disjointed, clumsy, and shabby.