1 December 2025
Amazing how fast the year flies! We just hit December and soon countries will be releasing entries for their national finals for the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Vienna, Austria. Estonia will start in just a few days!
Let’s look back one more time to Basel 2025 for my annual awards.
Mr Eurovision Awards (Minor)
The Salena Award for Best Personality
The winner is…
Erika Vikman – Finland
Not so much for her raunchy behaviour. Primarily because she nearly threw up trying fondue during one of the green room segments. I’m with you, girl. It’s disgusting stuff!
The Marija from Eye Cue Award for Worst Outfit
The winner is…
Red Sebastian – Belgium
A red, vinyl jumpsuit. No. It’s a hard no. Check him below, performing 9th in the first semi final.
The Nina Sublatti Award for Best Outfit
The winner is…
Parg – Armenia
Call me crazy, going without a top and smudged with dirt was an original and intriguing outfit! It really suited the song. That’s the essence of a great and memorable outfit. Second pick would be Erika from Finland, which was probably more about Erika than the outfit. She could probably make wearing a tent sexy. Both were in the second semi final, performing 5th and 16th respectively.
The Victor Crone Award for Hunkiest Guy
The winner is…
Claude – Netherlands
Just a nice, clean and pleasant guy! He performed 13th in SF1. Princ from Serbia (15th performance in SF2) is my next pick.
The Piret Järvis Award for Hottest Girl
The winner is…
Yuval Raphael – Israel
Erika from Finland is more scary than hot. Too much woman there! I prefer more subtle, wholesome and a general aura of niceness. That’s Yuval! She performed in 14th spot in SF2. Spain’s Melody was quite hot, too.
The Public Vote Smackdown Award for Best Moment
The winner is…
Azerbaijan – Semi Final 1 Performance
A wildcard pick here. Why? I swear, and I only just picked this up when go through the performances, Asef is singing “I want to f*ck with you” instead of “run with you”. Listen from 2:20 in the SF1 recap above. The captions won’t even translate it, which says it all!
Mr Eurovision Awards (Major)
The Sara Siipola Award for Biggest National Final Mistake
The winner is…
Norway – Nataleen – The Game
Kyle Allessandro finished only 18th with Lighter, and I’m sure Nataleen, who finished second in Norway’s MGP, would have done much better for Norway. Besides that, The Game was a much better song. It would be remiss not to mention Finland, which I mention just about every year, because Aina by Viivi was my favourite in this year’s UMK. Whether she does better than Erika’s somewhat disappointing 11th place, probably not. Viivi just deserves another mention!
The Lost And Found Award for Biggest Disappointment
The winner is…
Czechia – Adonxs – Kiss Kiss Goodbye
While I didn’t find much wrong with it at the time, perhaps the whole performance was too flamboyant and busy that it overwhelmed the excellent song.
The Igranka Award for Biggest Surprise
The winner is…
Armenia – Parg – Survivor
As I said in my review of SF2, a stunning presentation, full of energy, and powerful vocals. That elevated this from my 30th ranked song before Eurovision to one of the highlights from the second semi final.
The Tick-Tock Award for Biggest Semi Final Injustice
The winner is…
Ireland – Emmy – Laika Party
Even if it was on the fun and frivolous side, and Emmy’s voice was nothing special, the performance was excellent and highly entertaining. The problem is, Czechia missed out from qualifying too, so the second semi final was very tough in hindsight. If I had a choice, I would dump Malta (Miriana Conte – Serving [Crap]) for Ireland.
The Lenna Kuurmaa Award for Best Voice
The winner is…
Israel – Yuval Raphael – New Day Will Rise
The second win in a row for Israel following Eden Golan in 2024. This year was between Yuval and Claude from the Netherlands. Ultimately, I just prefer the female voice, not that I’m sexist!
The Polina Gagarina Award for Best Vocals
The winner is…
Greece – Klavdia – Asteromata
This woman was amazing. Asteromata is only half the song without her. Special mention to Sissal from Denmark (performing Hallucination) for similar reasons, too.
The Tornero Award for Best Artistry
The winner is…
Luxembourg – Laura Thorn – La Poupee monte le son
A song about a doll speaking up and breaking free from the men wanting to control her, this was a brilliantly artistic portrayal of that message.
The Open Your Heart Award for Best Song
…and…
The Cool Vibes Awards for Best Eurovision Entry
The winner is…
France – Louane – Maman
A double winner!
France was my favourite song all along, and remained so, while Louane didn’t disappoint on the Eurovision stage. As I said in my Grand Final Review, “Such a powerful and emotional finale to Maman, and it gets me every time. The tone of Louane’s voice is delightful and she beautifully sings with strong emotion throughout.”
Those are the awards for another year! For the second year straight and following from Switzerland’s Nemo, nothing for the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest, this time Austria’s JJ with Wasted Love. The only realistic category for contention was Best Artistry and there was simply no way he could displace Austria. If there was a chance of displacement, it would be Voyage by Zoë Më for Switzerland. There are only so many awards!
Information about the category title holders
Basel 2025: It’s JJ with Wasted Love for Austria – Grand Final Review
Mr Eurovision Australia 