19 December 2024
With another year drawing to a close, it’s time for my annual Mr Eurovision Australia Awards. I’ve made a few changes to the format, notably listing minor awards first before revealing the main major award, Best Eurovision Entry, last. That award was previously known as Best Song, which made it a little confusing with Best Pure Song. Best Pure Song is now simply Best Song.
Due to the declining appeal and innovation of the postcards in general, the award for Best Postcard is withdrawn. In return, a new award is added called Biggest National Final Mistake.
Mr Eurovision Awards (Minor)
The Salena Award for Best Personality
The winner is…
The female camera operator who reported Joost Klein to Swedish police for a threatening gesture
A boring lot of artists this year, so why not give the award to the person that added some spice on the eve of the grand final?
The Marija from Eye Cue Award for Worst Outfit
The winner is…
Poland – Luna
The pointed padded outfit was symbolic of an overall disappointing performance.
The Nina Sublatti Award for Best Outfit
The winner is…
Austria – Kaleen
An easy pick with the metallic, cyborg look of the body-hugging outfit (see image above). Moldova’s Natalia Barbu and her stunning white dress was next pick.
The Victor Crone Award for Hunkiest Guy
The winner is…
Marcus & Martinus – Sweden
Not a great year for guys. Either Marcus & Martinus were the obvious pick. Don’t ask me which one.
The Piret Järvis Award for Hottest Girl
The winner is…
Jaklin from Ladaniva – Armenia
Jaklin is so damn cute that I want to hug her all the time like a teddy bear. If Silia Kapsis (Cyprus) was 27 years old instead of 17, she might have got the pick. Tali (Luxembourg), Nutsa Buzaladze (Georgia) were also very nice, along with Kaleen (Austria), Eden Golan (Israel) and Angelina Mango (Italy). A great year for girls.
The Public Vote Smackdown Award for Best Moment
The winner is…
Martin Österdahl being booed heavily during the grand final
Deservedly so given the European Broadcasting Union’s late – and failed – attempt at appeasing those demanding Israel be banned. Then to ban the Netherlands from the grand final for reasons many fans seemed unnecessary preemptive justice, only set them off more. If not for that chaos, the green room revealing itself behind the wall like a spaceship opening up was spectacular. Seeing Aysel read the votes for Azerbaijan (from ESC 2009) and Birgit Õigemeel (now Sarrap) reading for Estonia (ESC 2013) ignited some warm, fuzzy feelings inside.
Mr Eurovision Awards (Major)
The Sara Siipola Award for Biggest National Final Mistake
The winner is…
Finland
Given that Windows95man (performing No Rules!) finished only 19th and added very little to the contest, and that Sara Siipola was an outstanding entry at UMK 2024, with her song, Paskana, that she did not represent Finland in Malmö was definitely a huge mistake.
The Lost And Found Award for Biggest Disappointment
The winner is…
Belgium – Mustii – The Party’s Not Over
My favourite song before Eurovision this year could only finished 13th of 16 in the second semi final with just 18 points. A disaster, and so disappointing. Poland (Luna – Tower) was next disappointing. Poland was my third favourite before Eurovision.
The Igranka Award for Biggest Surprise
The winner is…
Moldova – Natalia Barbu – In The Middle
Moldova was my 31st ranked song overall before ESC and rose to second favourite in the first semi final. That’s one giant leap for a song, and one giant leap for Natalia Barbu!
The Tick-Tock Award for Biggest Semi Final Injustice
The winner is…
Moldova – Natalia Barbu – In The Middle
Only 13th in semi final 1, clearly the Eurovision world was not ready for the artistry of Natalia Barbu! From SF2, Czechia (Aiko – Pedestal) was the song I really hoped would qualify, and she just missed by 5 points, finishing in 11th place behind Norway (Gåte – Ulveham).
The Lenna Kuurmaa Award for Best Voice
The winner is…
Israel – Eden Golan – Hurricane
Not a great year for simply nice voices. Eden had the best. A lot of character, and with a slightly husky tone to it.
The Polina Gagarina Award for Best Vocals
The winner is…
France – Slimane – Mon amour
Stunning vocals, especially when Slimane stepped back from the microphone and he could still be heard so strongly. Serbia (Teya Dora – Ramonda) was next best, then Raiven (Slovenia – Veronika).
The Open Your Heart Award for Best Song
The winner is…
Austria – Kaleen – We Will Rave
This was close a race between Austria and Belgium (Mustii – The Party’s Not Over). While Belgium was my number one before ESC (ahead of Austria), I would listen more often to We Will Rave, and for days I would often recite the words in my head.
The Tornero Award for Best Artistry
The winner is…
Moldova – Natalia Barbu – In The Middle
Natalia simply stood on the stage alone, with spectacular graphics, and sung with precision and majesty. I was mesmerised. Switzerland (Nemo – The Code) was next best, and then Georgia (Nutsa Buzaladze – Firefighter). This is Moldova’s third win in this year’s awards, with Biggest Surprise and Biggest Semi Final Injustice the other two. I can’t recall anyone winning three awards before.
The Cool Vibes Awards for Best Eurovision Entry
The winner is…
Croatia – Baby Lasagna – Rim Tim Tagi Dim
There it is! Croatia was truly the best, as the people overwhelmingly decided. Great song, great performance, got the arena pumping, and simply got cheated by over zealous juries. For the second year straight, I could not award anything to the actual winner, Switzerland (Nemo – The Code). Last year I created a special award for Sweden’s Loreen (Winning Eurovision Twice). This year, nothing for Switzerland. They could not break the code.
Australian TV Ratings
The ratings system in Australia was changed at the start of 2024 so we can’t directly compare to previous years anymore. There were two main changes. The first is that instead of a 5 Metro figure (the five mainland state capital cities), we now get a total national figure that also includes areas previously classified as regional (Tasmania and areas outside the five mainland state capital cities). Instead of a peak figure (the point of a program when the most people were watching), now there’s a reach figure. The reach is determined by anyone that watched at least one minute of the program at any point in time. It begs the question: Which minute was watched?
Grand Final Live: 209k vs 202k last year
Grand Final Repeat: 226k vs 181k last year
While notionally higher, we must temper 2024’s figures as inflated by at least 20% because it’s a national figure, not the 5 Metro figure of last year. Note that the Malmö 2013 grand final rated 595k on the 5 Metro figure, which is 200k directly more than the combined live and repeat figure of 2023 and probably 300k more than 2024 on national figures (estimating at least 750k was the national figure in 2013). Before 2015, there was no live broadcast of Eurovision in Australia.
Reach (anyone that watched at least 1 minute) will naturally be an astronomical figure and the grand final repeat hit 927k. The live grand final reach was 507k. The only other figures available (only programs in the top 30 most watched are listed) were for the SF2 repeat on Saturday night (averaged 221k and reached 671k) and the SF1 repeat on Friday night (averaged 187k and reached 727k). Be aware of anyone boasting things like 3 million people in Australia watch Eurovision because they are talking accumulative reach, not individual people. If someone flicks over to SBS for a minute during an ad-break when watching darts on ESPN, that’s reach.
More about the category title holders
Malmo 2024: Nemo wins it for Switzerland with The Code – Grand Final Review
Mr Eurovision Australia 